Razgrom: A gritty, messy look at survival

Is this for you?

If you have a thing for old Soviet-era war dramas that feel like they were filmed during an actual blizzard, you’ll probably find something to chew on here. If you need your action scenes to be clear and your heroes to be likable, just skip this. It’s rough, it’s muddy, and it moves with the urgency of a wounded animal.

The whole movie feels like it’s vibrating with tension, even when nothing much is happening. It’s 1921, everyone is tired, and nobody looks like they’ve had a decent meal in weeks. You can practically smell the wet wool and gunpowder.

The messy reality of the retreat

Levinson’s detachment gets pushed into a corner by the Japanese forces, and the film really leans into the claustrophobia of it. There's this one moment where they’re moving through the brush, and the silence is so heavy it’s almost annoying. Then, out of nowhere, they’re scrambling through the mud like their lives depend on it—which they do.

The pacing is honestly all over the place. Sometimes it stops dead for a monologue, other times it’s just a blur of movement that’s hard to follow. It reminds me a bit of the frantic energy in Men Without Law, though they are obviously very different types of movies. Still, that same feeling of being trapped by your own choices hangs over everything.

• The lighting is incredibly harsh, which makes the forest look less like a landscape and more like a cage.
• I’m still not sure what half the extras were doing in the background of the camp scenes.
• The dialogue is sparse, which is a mercy, because whenever they start talking about ideology, it gets a bit tedious.

There’s a specific scene where they’re checking the perimeter and the camera lingers on a guy’s face for way too long. He’s just shivering. No heroic music, no dramatic reveal, just a dude shaking from the cold while someone whispers about the Japanese being nearby. It’s weirdly effective.

You can tell the budget wasn't exactly overflowing. Some of the wider shots of the 'battle' look like they were filmed with about twelve people and a very enthusiastic horse. It doesn't ruin the movie, though. It actually makes it feel more like a desperate, small-scale skirmish rather than some epic, bloated production.

It’s not a masterpiece. It’s definitely not a light watch. But there’s something about the way it captures the sheer misery of being on the wrong side of a pincer movement that sticks with you. You won’t walk away feeling 'inspired' or 'entertained,' but you’ll definitely feel like you’ve been through a long, exhausting hike in the woods. 🌲