Mitroshka: A dusty, honest look at the 1923 revolution movie

If you are looking for something to watch tonight that isn't a superhero movie or a polished drama, you might actually like this. Mitroshka - soldat revolyutsii is for the person who likes digging through old boxes at a thrift store.

It is definitely not for anyone who hates reading title cards or can't stand black-and-white graininess. If you need 4K resolution to enjoy a movie, just skip this one right now. 🏃‍♂️

I found this while looking for stuff similar to Red Courage, but this one feels much older and much more 'real' in a weird way. It was made in 1923, so the people in the background aren't just extras in costumes.

They look like people who actually lived through what the movie is trying to show. There is this one scene where Mitroshka is just standing there, and his hat is slightly crooked, and he looks like he hasn't eaten a real meal in weeks.

O. Appak plays the lead, and he has these eyes that just stare right through the camera lens. It’s a bit creepy sometimes, honestly.

The story isn't complicated, which is nice because my brain was tired when I hit play. Mitroshka is basically a peasant who becomes a soldier because, well, that’s just what happened back then.

It reminds me a little of the vibe in Under Two Flags, but way less Hollywood and way more 'Soviet dirt.' There is a lot of dirt in this movie.

The way the soldiers move is kind of stiff, but also frantic. It’s like they are all caffeinated even though coffee probably wasn't easy to find in a revolution. ☕

One thing that really stuck with me was the lighting. It’s not 'good' lighting by modern standards, but the shadows are so deep they look like ink.

There is a moment where a group of men are huddled in a room, and you can barely see their faces. Only their eyes are reflecting the light.

It makes the whole thing feel secret and dangerous. You can almost smell the old wool coats and the gunpowder through the screen.

The pacing is... well, it's a silent movie. Some parts go by so fast you miss a name, and then other parts linger on a landscape for what feels like five minutes.

I noticed a dog in the background of one shot that clearly wasn't supposed to be there. It just wanders across the frame while the 'soldiers' are talking.

I love stuff like that. It makes the movie feel like a captured moment rather than a perfectly staged production.

The writing by Vasili Kamensky is pretty straightforward. It doesn't try to be fancy or philosophical.

It’s just: here is a boy, here is a war, here is what happens when they meet. It’s a bit like watching Black Friday if it were about political upheaval instead of whatever that movie was doing.

Some of the title cards are a bit dramatic. They use a lot of exclamation points!

It’s like the movie is shouting at you to make sure you know that the Revolution is very important. But then it cuts back to a quiet shot of Mitroshka looking confused, and the contrast is great.

I didn't recognize most of the cast, like Gavriil Marinchak or Anton Klimenko. But they all have these intense faces that you just don't see in movies anymore.

Modern actors have too much skincare, I think. These guys look like they were carved out of wood.

There’s this one part where a character is trying to hide something under a floorboard. The camera stays on his hands for a long time.

The dirt under his fingernails is actually there. It’s not makeup.

I wonder if the actors knew people would be watching this on computers a hundred years later. Probably not.

The film quality is pretty rough in spots. There are lines and splotches that dance across the screen.

Sometimes it gets so bad you can't tell who is who for a second. But weirdly, that adds to the experience.

It feels like you are watching a ghost story. A very loud, political ghost story.

I wish there was more music, or at least a better score for the version I saw. The silence gets a bit heavy after a while.

But then you see a horse run across a field, and the way it’s filmed is so raw it wakes you up. It’s not like the horses in Red Courage that look all groomed and pretty.

These are workhorses. They look tired too.

I wouldn't say this is the best movie ever made. It’s probably not even in the top fifty silent films.

But it has a soul. It’s trying to tell you something about how it felt to be alive in 1923.

There is no CGI. No green screens.

Just people, heavy coats, and a lot of very real-looking rifles. If you have an hour and you want to feel like you traveled back in time, give it a shot.

Just don't expect a happy ending or a clean plot. History isn't really like that anyway.

I think I liked the parts where nothing was happening the most. Just the shots of the village and the way the smoke comes out of the chimneys.

It’s a mood. A very cold, dusty, revolutionary mood. 🚩

One reaction shot of a woman in the crowd—I think it might have been Zoya Kurdyumova—lingers for so long it almost feels like the film got stuck. But then she blinks, and you realize she’s just really, really sad.

It’s those little moments that make it worth the watch. It’s not a masterpiece, but it’s definitely honest.