Dear Comrades! (2021)
89%RT Audience Score: 80%
Awards & Nominations: Nominated for 1 BAFTA Award
14 wins & 37 nominations total
Dear Comrades takes a sharp, commanding look at a dark chapter in Soviet history made even more effective by its director’s cold fury
Dear Comrades!” is a black and white film that takes you on a journey through the Russian contemporary story. The film is a real and raw depiction of the pain and suffering that the people of Russia went through. The lead character’s love for the government is shattered when she witnesses the apathy firsthand. The film is captivating and the director, Andrei Konchalovsky, is eloquent in his storytelling. The film is a must-watch for anyone who wants to understand the past and present of Russia. Plus, the crisp, high-contrast images are a treat for the eyes!
Production Company(ies)
Razor Film Produktion GmbH, Highlook Communications, Group Rotana Film Production
Distributor
NEON
Release Type
Streaming, Streaming (Hulu), Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
Novocherkassk, Rostovskaya oblast, Russia
MPAA / Certificate
Year of Release
2021
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Color:Color
Black and White -
Sound mix:Dolby Digital
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Aspect ratio:1.33 : 1
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Runtime:2h 0m
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Language(s):Russian
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Country of origin:Russia
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Jan 29, 2021 Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Feb 5, 2021
Genre(s)
History/Drama
Keyword(s)
Dear Comrades, History, Drama, Russian, Andrey Konchalovskiy, Alisher Usmanov, Elena Kiseleva, Yuliya Vysotskaya, Vladislav Komarov, Andrey Gusev, Yuliya Burova, Sergei Erlish, Alexander Maskelyne, NEON, Dolby Digital, Soviet Union, Novocherkassk, Strike, Massacre, Food Prices, Communist Government, Party Activist, Venice Film Festival, Variety, The Playlist, Los Angeles Times, Deadline Hollywood Daily, AV Club, San Francisco Chronicle, Washington Post, Observer, Next Best Picture, Gadgets360, Cinematismo, Cinemanía, In Review Online, Battleship Pretension, Horror Movies, MCU Movies, Netflix Series, TV Shows, Renewed & Cancelled TV Shows, TV Premiere Dates, Worst Horror Movies, Advertise, Careers
Worldwide gross: $294,535
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $320,338
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,838
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 34,933
US/Canada gross: NA
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend:
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): NA
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): NA
Production budget ranking: NA
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA
Vladislav Komarov – Loginov
Andrey Gusev – Viktor
Yuliya Burova – Svetka
Sergei Erlish – Lyuda’s father
Alexander Maskelyne – Professor Ovodov
Director(s)
Andrey Konchalovskiy
Writer(s)
Elena Kiseleva, Andrey Konchalovskiy
Producer(s)
Alisher Usmanov
Film Festivals
Berlin, Venice
Awards & Nominations
Nominated for 1 BAFTA Award
14 wins & 37 nominations total
Academy Awards
All Critics (57) | Top Critics (18) | Fresh (54) | Rotten (3)
[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.
February 10, 2021
Justin Chang
Los Angeles Times
TOP CRITIC
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.
February 9, 2021
Anna Smith
Deadline Hollywood Daily
TOP CRITIC
The script is filled with flat, rhetorical speeches that are done no favors by Konchalovsky’s static direction.
February 6, 2021 | Rating: C
Ignatiy Vishnevetsky
AV Club
TOP CRITIC
Setting political movies in the past is an easy, usually safe way to signal virtue. But with its eerie resonances of 2021 reports from Moscow to Washington D.C., this monochrome aesthetic object looks like something that draws real blood.
February 2, 2021 | Rating: 4/4
Bob Strauss
San Francisco Chronicle
TOP CRITIC
“Dear Comrades!” may not make perfect sense of the past, but it goes a long way in allowing people to look at it with a clarity that manages to be exacting and compassionate at the same time.
January 28, 2021 | Rating: 4/4
Ann Hornaday
Washington Post
TOP CRITIC
Throughout, Konchalovsky juxtaposes wide-ranging events with seemingly insignificant details to dramatic effect.
January 17, 2021 | Rating: 4/5
Mark Kermode
Observer (UK)
TOP CRITIC
The style never reaches hyperbolic levels, even when the chaos descends on the streets, yet the storytelling remains incredibly captivating.
June 5, 2022 | Rating: 8/10
Josh Parham
Next Best Picture
The Dear Comrades! lead runs into the machinery of the government she loved – and witnesses the apathy firsthand. Can’t get blood off the streets? Have a party and pour a new layer of asphalt.
December 29, 2021
Akhil Arora
Gadgets360
A real and raw visit to the russian contemporary story in a black and white with so much colour and pain. [Full review in Spanish]
July 10, 2021 | Rating: 4/5
Guillem Martinez Oya
Cinematismo
[Director Andrei Konchalovsky] is even more eloquent. [Full review in Spanish]
July 6, 2021 | Rating: 3.5/5
Carlos Marañón
Cinemanía (Spain)
What Konchalovsky is ultimately offering here is a nuanced rebuttal of the notion that brutality ended with Stalin, but … he welcomingly complicates the material.
June 6, 2021
Molly Adams
In Review Online
…with a classical sense of framing and triangular blocking, … Dear Comrades sometimes seem[s] as if it were produced contemporarily with the events depicted.
March 23, 2021
David Bax
Battleship Pretension…
Plot
In 1962, a devout party activist witnesses the massacre of rebellious workers in a small industrial town after the communist government raises food prices in Dear Comrades.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
The lead actress, Yuliya Vysotskaya, delivers a remarkable performance as a complex heroine whose utopian Soviet dream is gradually unraveling.
Andrey-Konchalovskiy.jpg
