Comrades (1935): Old Friends, New Problems

Is this for you?

Honestly, you'll know within ten minutes if you're gonna stick with Comrades. If you love old-school Soviet cinema where people stand around looking stern and talking about progress, you'll eat this up. If you need pacing that doesn't feel like a slow walk through deep snow, maybe skip it. It's not flashy, but it's got a weird, heavy heart.

It’s 1935. You can almost smell the paper mill dust through the screen. Zaitsev arrives, and he's got that look of a guy who thinks he’s fixing things when he’s really just breaking them.

The friendship trap

The core of the movie is basically: what do you do when your best war buddy turns into a jerk? It’s a classic, but watching it play out in this specific, tight-knit town setting makes it feel a bit claustrophobic. You really start to feel for the guys who just wanted to keep their heads down and do their jobs.

There's this one scene where they're sitting around, trying to rekindle that old military camaraderie, but the air is just thick with unspoken awkwardness. It’s brutal. It reminds me a bit of the tension in A Man's Land, where the past just won't stay buried no matter how hard you dig.

Small details that stuck

• The way Zaitsev keeps adjusting his coat when he's nervous. It’s a tiny, annoying tic that makes him feel like a real person.
• The paper mill machinery looks like it could crush a hand at any second. It’s always chugging away in the background.
• Some of the extras in the town meetings look like they're just waiting for lunch. They keep glancing at the camera, which is honestly kind of charming.
• The lighting in the office scenes is way too dramatic. Like, why are they talking about production quotas in total shadow?

The whole thing eventually crumbles, like you knew it would. It’s not a happy ending, exactly, but it feels earned. It's not trying to be The Yellow Handkerchief with all that emotional payoff, but it hits hard in a very quiet way.

The final act feels like it’s rushing to get the point across, though. It’s like the writers suddenly remembered they had a runtime limit. Suddenly, everyone’s making speeches, and the nuance just flies out the window. Still, I’d take this over most modern stuff that tries to be 'deep' and just ends up being loud. 📽️