In the last century, countless films have been made about war, but Blockpost is different in almost every respect. No hysterical fear as in Vietnam films, no bloody battles, no soldiers whose whole life-story is told, not even a pacifist pamphlet. So what is there? Somewhere in the Caucasus – it is not stated anywhere that it could be Chechnya – a platoon of soldiers is stationed. They are expected to guard a road leading to a cemetery. Most of the day it is quiet. The villagers come and go, a girl offers her sister ‘for sale’, payment is in the form of bullets. Far away is a sniper, and that means the soldiers have to be constantly on their guard. They exchange typically Russian jokes between themselves (who better to direct than Rogoshkin – Living With an Idiot, Peculiarities of the National Hunt). The soldiers do everything to drive out boredom. They set booby-traps to kill sheep, but make sure they do not get into a fight with the local militias. They spend most of their time waiting for new orders. Waiting, that is what war means to Rogoshkin. The film is amusing thanks to its dry wit, but in the background there is the continual threat that maintaining the status quo will turn out to be an impossible balancing act.
Film details
- Country of production
- Russia
- Year
- 1998
- Festival edition
- IFFR 2000
- Length
- 95"
- Medium/Format
- 35mm
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