Harvest Time by Marina Razbezkkina

Harvest time does an excellent job depicting a very difficult period during Soviet history. This movie illustrates the delicate line between work, family, and pride. Antonia, a mother and wife to a warfront vetran without legs, is forced to take sole responsibility for the well being of her family. After recieving the Red Flag for being the best tractor operator in the region. This award brought her great prestege within her community becuase she is the first woman to ever recieve the Red Flag. When the Red Flag is threatened by a plague of mice, Anotonia becomes obssessed with its preservation. After its destruction, she becomes overwhelmed by the duality of her roles. The death of her husband, which was probably initiated by his drinking habits, later followed by the death of her son in war became too much for Antonia and she moved out of the house. I had trouble following why this happened and the events that took place after.

The Recruiter by Gulshat Omarova

This movie was very well filmed. It displayed an assortment of camera angles which seemed to correspond with the action taking place. I enjoyed the far away shots that captured large scenes of action such as when Schizo was recruiting men for fighting.
I was suprised at the varying dynamics in this film and how it illustrated the tough times of that area. It also higlighted the racism in that area. Schizo was basically a pawn to a white alpha-male figure, Sakura, who was in a relationship with his mother. It was very disheartening to see the Shakura and Schizo's relationship dynamics change so rapidly and extremely becuse it was obvious that Schizo looked up to Shakura.
The movie provided realistic insight into the times. It took twists and turns that I didn't expect which catorgorized this movie as a winner in my book.