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A Russian Youth
A Russian Youth
7.7
/10
3,395 Ratings

A RUSSIAN YOUTH

Мальчик русский - Malchik russkiy

Directed by Alexander Zolotukhin
Russia, 2019
Drama

Synopsis

A teenage soldier in World War I—a simple village boy with a naive youthful dream of fame and medals—throws himself into the unknown and goes blind in the first battle, thus taking on a new job: intercepting enemy planes by listening to the air through huge metal funnels.

Synopsis

A teenage soldier in World War I—a simple village boy with a naive youthful dream of fame and medals—throws himself into the unknown and goes blind in the first battle, thus taking on a new job: intercepting enemy planes by listening to the air through huge metal funnels.

Our take

As seen with Kantemir Balagov, master Aleksandr Sokurov is mentoring a new generation of gifted Russian filmmakers. Intriguingly blending a painterly WWI tale with contemporary orchestra rehearsals, Zolotukhin’s debut is awe-inspiring: at once a film from another era, and a pioneer of something new.