Direction: Andrey Konchalovskiy
Country: Russia
Intensified by the stunning black-and-white cinematography of Andrey Naydenov, the historical Russian drama Dear Comrades is a fascinating, if disturbing account of the Novocherkassk massacre in 1962, when unarmed protesters were killed by the Soviet army and KGB snipers. The adroit filmmaker Andrey Konchalovskiy (The Postman’s White Night, 2014; Paradise, 2017) co-wrote it with his collaborator of recent years, Elena Kiseleva.
The protagonist of this cruel tale is Lyuda Syomina (Julia Vysotskaya in her sixth collaboration with Konchalovskiy), a single mother and inflexible communist who works for the Regional Committee Secretary, Loginov (Vladislav Komarov). As a well-positioned member of the party, Lyuda gets the best goods available, even when the country is sunk in an economical crisis, recently aggravated by a steep increase in prices and considerable cuts in wages. In her view, this is just a temporary hardship. But when the small industrial town goes fully on strike and a pacific protest takes place, a violent retaliation is commanded by the leaders. Her primary concern automatically shifts to her daughter, Svetka (Yuliya Burova), who works in a factory and was among the instigators.
The film compellingly builds the spirit of the time, addressing the intimidating blockades, the fear of an imaginary anti-Soviet movement rooted in America, sly intelligence maneuvers, the blood spilling of innocent workers and demonstrators, and an abhorrent attempt to wipe out any vestige related with a crime perpetrated by the Russian government against their own people.
Fanatic ideology can totally dehumanize and that’s what the film shows, speaking volumes about the indifference of officials who navigate morally murky waters just to prove loyalty to a shattered party.
Carried out in a flowing visual manner, Dear Comrades is both cold and moving.
