Two films, one made during the twilight years of the Soviet Union and the second during the Putin era, tell essentially the same story, but with striking differences in tone and style. The films offer a salient look at Russia's changing attitudes as Putinism took hold and the post-Cold War era faded into memory.
The plots are drawn from a turning point in Russian history, as young men are sent to fight in Afghanistan. The soldiers begin with a sense of purpose and a commitment to reshaping Afghanistan, a rugged country deeply steeped in tribal traditions and Islam. But the environment turns on them in the worst possible way. Afghanskiy Izlom (Afghan Breakdown), made in 1990 - a year after Soviet forces officially withdrew from the country - tells the story of the military unit sent to conduct mop-up operations toward the end of the war. At the outset of the story, the soldiers display a dedication to military duty and discipline. They function with a sense of purpose. As the action progresses, however, the violence of the war, and the anxiety felt by all over the fundamental changes altering the Soviet Union during the perestroika of 1986-1990, lead to a disintegration of unity and moral purpose.
Sadness and uncertainty prevail, and the movie's realistic action sequences don't stop it from mirroring the melancholy that defined the Soviet Union's attitude toward the consequences of this war: traumatized veterans, disabled military personnel with no access to treatment, billions spent on a war that led nowhere for a country facing an existential crisis, and the very idea of the socialist future left under threat.
in the grand Soviet tradition of sad and dramatic endings, the lead character is shot in the back as he moves through ruins of yet another destroyed Afghan village - perhaps alluding to the film's critique of Soviet actions that over the course of a decade essentially failed to accomplish Moscow's original objectives.
Fifteen years later, a very different film portrayed the same war. Devaytaya Rota (Ninth Company) was a 2005 big-budget production that overly dramatized the events of January 1988. The film tells the story of the Airborne Guards Regiment as they defended a high point against Afghan mujahideen in the closing months of the war. In reality, the unit suffered relatively few causalities, but this film tells a different story. Its dramatic sequences show young Russian men facing almost certain death - the company is decimated in spectacular, bloody close-quarter fighting. Devyataya Rota moves the audience to tears as young soldiers' stories, wishes, desires, fears, and the friendships forged in fighting, culminate in massive battle sequences where their lives are snuffed out.
Rota's stark realism is shown most vividly approximately one hour through the film, when newly-minted Air Cavalry soldiers land at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan - the same base that Americans would use following their 2001 invasion. As soldiers disembark from the aircraft, newly demobilized Marines rush to fill its seats, eager to get home to the Soviet Union. One of the returnees grabs hold of one of the lead protagonists and gives him a safety amulet as a gift. As the aircraft rises toward the mountains that frame the base, a surface-to-air missile is launched by the Afghans, hitting the Russian aircraft broadside. The wounded plane turns about to land back at the base, only to burst into a fireball as it attempts to crash land.
Izlom was made at a time when Soviet society were breaking apart and law and order was breaking down. Government authority came under question, and history was critically re-examined. Rota shows the Afghan War in a far different light. Its young men rise above the conflict and its savagery through personal sacrifices, showcasing military discipline that eventually wins the battle.
If Izlom showed the Soviet Army as it approached its lowest ebb, then Rota is a signpost for the military Vladimir Putin desires for Russia - one imbued with a sense of purpose and personal commitment to finishing the mission. Rota's action sequences and musical scores mirror Hollywood productions such as Apocalypse Now and Hamburger Hill. The film was generally well received by Russian audiences, earning a respectable amount after the initial release. Izlom's protagonists were not hailed as heroes, but Rota's young soldiers were. This is the cultural advent of Putin's Russia - a nation that does not want to abandon its warriors to critique and forgetfulness and will gloss over actions taken in a conflict of questionable importance to the Soviet state.
