At first glance, it would be easy to think the forthcoming drama, “Dear Comrades!” was somehow lost to time back in the ‘60s and restored in 2020 for all to see. Maybe that’s due to the black and white cinematography and the classic aspect ratio. However, make no mistake, “Dear Comrades!” is a very new movie and should be required viewing when it arrives later this month.
READ MORE: The 100 Most Anticipated Films Of 2021
As seen in the trailer, “Dear Comrades!” tells the tragic true story of a worker strike in the small industrial town of Novocherkassk in 1962. Of course, back in the communist USSR, strikes weren’t something that the government enjoyed all that much and the result is a tragedy that is brutally captured in the period drama.
The film stars Julia Vysotskaya, Vladislav Komarov, Andrei Gusev, Yulia Burova, and Sergei Erlish. “Dear Comrades!” is directed by Andrei Konchalovsky, who also wrote the screenplay alongside Elena Kiseleva. Konchalovsky is an acclaimed filmmaker over the past six decades. His most recent films include “Sin,” “Paradise,” and “The Postman’s White Nights.”
READ MORE: ‘Dear Comrades’ Is A Beautifully Crafted Look At A Bloody Soviet Tragedy [Venice Review]
In our review from last year’s Venice Film Festival, we compared the film to “Cold War” and said, “Both aesthetically and thematically the film is sure to provoke comparisons to Pawel Pawlikowski’s ‘Cold War,’ which posited a similarly damning depiction of the Soviet propaganda machine. But where ‘Cold War’ feels distant in its retrospective lens, ‘Dear Comrades!’ is very much rooted in the history it seeks to depict. This is no doubt down, in part, to the film’s production design: Arguably its strongest aspect, everything from the era’s brutalist architecture to its faded propaganda posters are astutely reproduced. It’s like holding a relic in your hands.”
“Dear Comrades!” arrives in Virtual Cinemas on January 29 before arriving on VOD and Hulu on February 5. You can watch the trailer below.
Here’s the synopsis:
When the communist government raises food prices in 1962, the rebellious workers from the small industrial town of Novocherkassk go on strike. The massacre which then ensues is seen through the eyes of a devout party activist.
