Aerograd: Giant Landscapes, Stiff Lips

Is this for you?

If you like movies that feel like big, stormy paintings where everyone is shouting about the future of humanity, you’ll probably find something to love here. But, if you get annoyed by characters who act more like slogans than actual human beings, maybe steer clear. This isn't a tight thriller. It’s a messy, loud, and weirdly hypnotic Soviet epic that feels like it’s being screamed at you from across a very large, snowy field.

Dovzhenko really knows how to frame a face against a mountain. There are shots in Frontier—or Aerograd, as the real ones call it—that just make you stop and think about how small we all are. But then, someone starts talking about the glory of the state, and the magic kind of evaporates for a minute.

The Pacing is... Well, It's Heavy

The film has this way of stopping dead in its tracks. You'll be watching a tense standoff in the snow, and then, suddenly, we’re watching a guy talk about planes for five minutes straight. It’s not smooth. Sometimes it feels like two different movies glued together with frozen spit.

• The wind noise is almost a character on its own.
• The actors have these intense, unblinking stares that feel like they're looking into your soul (or just at a cue card).
• The scale of the sets, or just the locations, is genuinely huge.

I found myself thinking about Richard the Lion-Hearted while watching this. They both have that weird obsession with duty that feels so archaic now. Like, no one in these movies ever just sits down to have a cup of tea without it being a statement about their loyalty to the crown or the party.

There’s a moment with a character near a cliff edge that feels so dramatic it’s almost funny. It lingers for a heartbeat too long. You can almost see the director yelling at them to hold the pose just a bit more. Classic.

I didn't care much for the political grandstanding, but you can’t deny the raw energy. It’s a weird, exhausting, but strangely beautiful piece of work. Just don't go in expecting a normal war movie. It’s more like a fever dream about industrialization and snow.

Also, the sound design is bizarre. Sometimes the dialogue is perfectly clear, and other times it sounds like it’s being recorded inside a tin can at the bottom of a well. It adds to the charm, I guess? Or maybe it’s just old. Who knows. ❄️