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Dear Comrades!

Play trailer 1:55 Poster for Dear Comrades! Released Jan 29, 2021 2h 0m History Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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93% Tomatometer 58 Reviews 80% Popcornmeter 50+ Ratings
When the communist government raises food prices in 1962, the rebellious workers from the small industrial town of Novocherkassk go on strike. The massacre which then ensues is seen through the eyes of a devout party activist. Dear Comrades received critical praise out of the Venice Film Festival, with Variety calling it "scintillating" and "meticulous and majestic, epic in scope and tattoo-needle intimate in effect," and The Playlist describing it as "a fascinating blend of dark satire and bleak archaeology."
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Dear Comrades!

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Critics Consensus

Dear Comrades takes a sharp, commanding look at a dark chapter in Soviet history made even more effective by its director's cold fury.

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Critics Reviews

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Justin Chang Los Angeles Times [T]hese crisp, high-contrast images speak to another impulse as well: to look into a past shrouded in the fog of delusion and doublespeak, and to see through it with a clarity that burns and even heals. Feb 10, 2021 Full Review Anna Smith Deadline Hollywood Daily It's Konchalovsky regular Vysotskaya who stays with you, as a complex heroine whose utopian Soviet dream is gradually unravelling. It's a remarkable performance at the center of a devastating film. Feb 9, 2021 Full Review Ignatiy Vishnevetsky AV Club The script is filled with flat, rhetorical speeches that are done no favors by Konchalovsky's static direction. Rated: C Feb 6, 2021 Full Review Carmen Paddock TAKE ONE Magazine By the film’s conclusion, the repetition of pledges and party songs have taken on a cold, angry edge under the remaining characters’ manic coping. DEAR COMRADES! argues that all are culpable. Nov 30, 2023 Full Review Vadim Rizov Filmmaker Magazine The irony is beyond blunt, the film increasingly distended, its impressive reconstruction not leading anywhere particularly beyond “the early ’60s were not a great time in USSR history.” Nov 29, 2022 Full Review Josh Parham Next Best Picture The style never reaches hyperbolic levels, even when the chaos descends on the streets, yet the storytelling remains incredibly captivating. Rated: 8/10 Jun 5, 2022 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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An The movie does what it's supposed to do, showing part of history with its drama, which worked as intended, IMO. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 09/25/23 Full Review Audience Member This film portrays life under a communist regime. The way citizens under this regime are treated is truly odious. At each turn they are divested of power, and civil liberty. The enmity between state and citizen is extremely apparent. The temerity of the youth and oppressed comes at a heavy price. I felt completely immersed in the story. It was an amazing masterpiece. I have a whole new appreciation for freedom. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/19/23 Full Review Audience Member 'Dear Comrades' is a sensational, devastating work of cinema. Director Andrey Konchalovskiy has used his considerable skills to craft a film that pulls no punches in portraying in riveting realism the vile, reprehensible lengths that Soviet figureheads in the KGB would go to in order to insure their ever-failing communism and protect 'the Motherland'. Konchaloskiy and screenwriting partner Elena Kiseleva wrote up a screenplay that is equally insightful, honest, and gut-wrenching both visually and in the dialogue. Well done on the translation in general, as well. The script has its teeth bared, pulling no punches in delivering the insanity, desperation, utter outrage and consternation, and of course the outright fear that such murderous actions could be taken on your own people for simply wanting a livable wage to survive on. The full gambit of emotions is truly palpable, especially when portrayed by such accomplished acting. Komarev, Gusev, and Burova are all impressive. Erlish as the father who has seen this all before is all too real in the sense of complete hopeless resignation in the face of the massacre and the witch hunt that follows. Which leads us to Yulia Vysotskaya, the heart and soul of this film. As Lyuda, a committee member who goes from disgust over the actions of the workers to the broken, devastated figure riddled with regret for her words and terror at the thought of her daughter being one of the victims. There's not a single misstep I can recall in her performance. If award nominations and wins were truly going to the most deserving, then she and Konchaloskiy should have an armful each. The scene at the cemetery where bodies were dumped like refuse onto the coffins of others is a hard one to get through, but ultimately a key moment. Black and white film was just the way to go here, helping to put us in the setting so authentically, as good production design should. This does seem to very much be, in many stark, bare bone ways, Russia in 1962. The rundown flats, base holding rooms, streets, the morgue and hospital recreate the time and place so well. This is far better cinema than recent Best Picture winners such as 'Green Room' or 'CODA'. 4.6 stars Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 01/20/23 Full Review Audience Member The characters are caricatures (maybe Konchalovsky wanted them to be something like archetypes but didn't succeed) and the dialogue is as flat and unnatural as it can be. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/22/23 Full Review Audience Member Tried to watch it, but it was so boring Rated 1 out of 5 stars 02/16/23 Full Review ari v Perhaps searches around for that ending some, but sure does find it. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Dear Comrades!

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Movie Info

Synopsis When the communist government raises food prices in 1962, the rebellious workers from the small industrial town of Novocherkassk go on strike. The massacre which then ensues is seen through the eyes of a devout party activist. Dear Comrades received critical praise out of the Venice Film Festival, with Variety calling it "scintillating" and "meticulous and majestic, epic in scope and tattoo-needle intimate in effect," and The Playlist describing it as "a fascinating blend of dark satire and bleak archaeology."
Director
Andrey Konchalovskiy
Producer
Alisher Usmanov
Screenwriter
Elena Kiseleva, Andrey Konchalovskiy
Distributor
NEON
Production Co
Production Center of Andrei Konchalovsky
Genre
History, Drama
Original Language
Russian
Release Date (Theaters)
Jan 29, 2021, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Feb 5, 2021
Runtime
2h 0m
Sound Mix
Dolby Digital
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