9-ta Kompania < 2024 >

But here is the masterstroke of the film:

Wait, what?

9/10 Watch it for: The final battle sequence and the last five minutes of silence. Warning: Bring tissues. And maybe a stiff drink. Have you seen 9th Company? Do you think it is better than Platoon? Let me know in the comments below. 9-Ta Kompania

They fight. They lose limbs. They cry for their mothers. They hold the hill.

If you only watch one war film from post-Soviet cinema, make it 9th Company ( 9-Ta Kompania ). But here is the masterstroke of the film: Wait, what

Here is why this film still stings, nearly two decades later. The film follows a group of young recruits drafted into the Soviet Army during the final years of the Afghan War (1979-1989). We watch them transform from clumsy, frightened boys into hardened soldiers.

Directed by Fyodor Bondarchuk and released in 2005, this film is often compared to Platoon or Full Metal Jacket . But while it borrows the visual grammar of Hollywood, its soul is uniquely, brutally Russian. It is not a patriotic parade. It is a funeral dirge for a generation that bled for a country that no longer existed. And maybe a stiff drink

As the sun rises, the handful of survivors survey the carnage. They have won. They have held the line. A helicopter arrives, not with ammunition, but with news. The radio crackles: