"Soldat", directed by Paul Jenkins, presented at the Montreal World Film Festival, August 22-September 2
"Soldat" is a documentary made by the British television producer/director Paul Jenkins about the present state of the Russian army. This is not the first film in which Jenkins has treated this subject for British television viewers. Unfortunately, I am ignorant of his previous works. Soldat tells the story of a group of young recruits from Moscow, who end up in a motorized infantry brigade in Saratov.
The film begins by showing us the search for and registration of draftees in Moscow. A policeman and a draft board employee scour their district for draft dodgers, who utilize all possible means to avoid military service. A few parents are ready to rid themselves of their thuggish or drug-dependent offspring. As in the old days, they hope that the army will turn their sons
“into men.” But most families view the two-year service as a calamity, and only advise their sons to avoid Chechnya, if at all possible.
The inductees passively bear their scalping by the army barber, the coarse uniform, the repetitive training and barrack discipline. We observe as a sergeant repeats the same exercise of dressing and undressing, training the recruits for a rapid formation on the parade ground. After a few weeks of basic training the recruits take an oath to serve the Fatherland and are formally inducted into the armed forces. They are then transferred to common barracks.
"Soldat" is a documentary made by the British television producer/director Paul Jenkins about the present state of the Russian army. This is not the first film in which Jenkins has treated this subject for British television viewers. Unfortunately, I am ignorant of his previous works. Soldat tells the story of a group of young recruits from Moscow, who end up in a motorized infantry brigade in Saratov.
The film begins by showing us the search for and registration of draftees in Moscow. A policeman and a draft board employee scour their district for draft dodgers, who utilize all possible means to avoid military service. A few parents are ready to rid themselves of their thuggish or drug-dependent offspring. As in the old days, they hope that the army will turn their sons
“into men.” But most families view the two-year service as a calamity, and only advise their sons to avoid Chechnya, if at all possible.
The inductees passively bear their scalping by the army barber, the coarse uniform, the repetitive training and barrack discipline. We observe as a sergeant repeats the same exercise of dressing and undressing, training the recruits for a rapid formation on the parade ground. After a few weeks of basic training the recruits take an oath to serve the Fatherland and are formally inducted into the armed forces. They are then transferred to common barracks.