If you came to this film expecting a high quality Russian film, you'll be severely disappointed. If you've come here expecting a good Russian film, you'll be disappointed too. This is not even on the level of Day Watch, Night Watch or anything one would even consider "okay."
If people expressed their disappointment with Burnt by the Sun 2, then this film is even worse than that.
It looks like a TV production, and guess what? It actually is. Digital, overlit, overacted, comical. It is propaganda quality, not cinematic, but more of a TV public service announcement. It feels more like a history channel documentary re- enactment scene than anything even remotely cinematic.
I've seen historical re-enactments on Youtube and shorts on Vimeo that look more professional.
There are terribly awkward moments where someone attempts to speak German and the Germans say "What is he doing?" "He thinks he's speaking German." The delivery was flat and there was nothing funny about it. Oh, and whenever Germans speak, it is dubbed, so even if the actors give it their best, the whole conversation is dubbed flat by one person. Yes, 4 Nazis speaking but one Russian voice speaking in the flattest voice possible translating their speech. (You can hear both voices, and the background noise and the music).
Also it attempts random humor such as the Nazi officer passing the bread to his subordinate who is not sure what to do with it. It's really weak.
I won't get into the politics of it, but I will confirm that the Ukrainian welcoming committee left a loaf of bread in the toilet and thought it was still presentable to guests and that the collaborators spoke Ukrainian.
If people expressed their disappointment with Burnt by the Sun 2, then this film is even worse than that.
It looks like a TV production, and guess what? It actually is. Digital, overlit, overacted, comical. It is propaganda quality, not cinematic, but more of a TV public service announcement. It feels more like a history channel documentary re- enactment scene than anything even remotely cinematic.
I've seen historical re-enactments on Youtube and shorts on Vimeo that look more professional.
There are terribly awkward moments where someone attempts to speak German and the Germans say "What is he doing?" "He thinks he's speaking German." The delivery was flat and there was nothing funny about it. Oh, and whenever Germans speak, it is dubbed, so even if the actors give it their best, the whole conversation is dubbed flat by one person. Yes, 4 Nazis speaking but one Russian voice speaking in the flattest voice possible translating their speech. (You can hear both voices, and the background noise and the music).
Also it attempts random humor such as the Nazi officer passing the bread to his subordinate who is not sure what to do with it. It's really weak.
I won't get into the politics of it, but I will confirm that the Ukrainian welcoming committee left a loaf of bread in the toilet and thought it was still presentable to guests and that the collaborators spoke Ukrainian.