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But their independence did not come easily.
In fact the Chechens are essentially a Muslim nation of about a million and a half, and since the early 19th century the Chechens have been fighting the Russians for their independence. Understanding a bit of history helps the viewer understand the political tensions in the film. The dictator Joseph Stalin ordered the entire population of Chechens deported to Central Asia in 1944, because the Chechens allegedly collaborated with the Nazis to bring down the Russians. This bitter memory is part of what drives the Chechens to insist on being independent of Russia.
Another subplot that has impact is the fact that the two captive Russian soldiers may be wearing the same uniform but they see the world in vastly different ways. They both dance to a Louis Armstrong song ("Let My People Go") and yet they bother each other too. But when the older soldier, Sasha, comes down to earth from his crustiness and becomes softly nostalgic, he reaches out and touches the hand of his younger colleague and the music in the soundtrack blares the song "The Slavyanka,"...
Again, as presented earlier in this paper, a perceptive person viewing this film could reach a conclusion that this is a pacifist film; at the very least the director and screenwriter have brought a short story from a giant of literature into a modern context and presented most of the characters as quite human and likable. The Muslim nation has been brutally mistreated over the centuries by the Soviets / Russians, so the story takes that overall theme and brings it down to earth with very human tensions that result in very human interactions. This film shows tired soldiers juxtaposed against fierce rebel fighters whose convictions are more powerful than the Russians. Interestingly, one of Dina's roles is to tell the soldiers they will have a proper burial, but the audience does not know at the end exactly what happened.
In fact the Chechens are essentially a Muslim nation of about a million and a half, and since the early 19th century the Chechens have been fighting the Russians for their independence. Understanding a bit of history helps the viewer understand the political tensions in the film. The dictator Joseph Stalin ordered the entire population of Chechens deported to Central Asia in 1944, because the Chechens allegedly collaborated with the Nazis to bring down the Russians. This bitter memory is part of what drives the Chechens to insist on being independent of Russia.
Another subplot that has impact is the fact that the two captive Russian soldiers may be wearing the same uniform but they see the world in vastly different ways. They both dance to a Louis Armstrong song ("Let My People Go") and yet they bother each other too. But when the older soldier, Sasha, comes down to earth from his crustiness and becomes softly nostalgic, he reaches out and touches the hand of his younger colleague and the music in the soundtrack blares the song "The Slavyanka," which is a patriotic hymn in Russia.
In conclusion, that touching moment between Russian soldiers, and the relationship between Vanya and Dina, among other soft, human scenes, is apparently designed by the director Sergei Bodrov to reveal the irrationality of war. Again, as presented earlier in this paper, a perceptive person viewing this film could reach a conclusion that this is a pacifist film; at the very least the director and screenwriter have brought a short story from a giant of literature into a modern context and presented most of the characters as quite human and likable. The Muslim nation has been brutally mistreated over the centuries by the Soviets / Russians, so the story takes that overall theme and brings it down to earth with very human tensions that result in very human interactions. This film shows tired soldiers juxtaposed against fierce rebel fighters whose convictions are more powerful than the Russians. Interestingly, one of Dina's roles is to tell the soldiers they will have a proper burial, but the audience does not know at the end exactly what happened.
" (p. 28) Once Farmer got involved with Haitian culture, he also found himself entangled in many dilemmas both ethical and political. The first one came in the form of science and magic. Is it ethical to learn sorcery and allow people to think that you are using magic to cure them when you obviously believe in the power of medical science far more than magic? Farmer offered an explanation of
North Korea In the film Welcome to Dongmakgol (2005), Korea is portrayed as the naive and innocent victim of foreign imperialists and ideologies that divide the country in half and then destroy it. Symbolically, the village of Dongmakgol high up in the mountains is Korea, and is populated by simply, friendly, humane people who are not even aware who Kim Il Sung is or that the country has been divided and
Women and the Home Front in Western North Carolina and Eastern Tennessee during the Civil War This paper examines the living conditions and attitudes that shaped the lives of the women in western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee during and after the American Civil War. The thesis statement should deal with the breakdown of long standing ties between the people of the mountains as they chose to fight for the
Battle of Mogadishu, October 1993 According to Alex De Waal (1998), U.S. helicopters fired at least 50,000 Alpha 165 and 63 rockets on 3 October 1993 during the course of the battle near the Olympic Hotel in Mogadishu, in which eighteen U.S. soldiers died and one was captured. "The importance of this inglorious episode in American military history lies not only in the as-yet-undocumented carnage among the residents of Somalia's capital
Battle of Zhawar in the Soviet-Afghan War "Afghanistan is a country of strong beliefs and traditions in the population oppose the Soviets and the hostile communist ideology of the government of Afghanistan. The communist ideology directly attacked the ethnic structure, community structure and religious beliefs of the people and the people violently rejected this ideology," which eventually led to the most embarrassing Soviet defeat in the history of the Soviet
Internal Struggle for Identity and Equality in African-American Literature The story of the African-American journey through America's history is one of heartbreaking desperation and victimization, but also one of amazing inspiration and victory. Any story of the journey that fails to include these seemingly diametric components of the African-American journey is incomplete. However, African-American culture reflects both the progress of the African-American community, its external struggle to achieve equality, and