Landscape Is Unique, But War Themes Of ‘Prisoner’ All Too Familiar

Tales of young men and war are as old as time itself. Yet though the overall theme remains familiar from country to country, each generation has its own way of deciding which message will be carried over as cultural legacy.

In the 1990s, we should be as far away from the notion of war as an act of glory as we are from the once-popular idea that the shape of a man’s head will tell us something about his criminal tendencies.

Yet wars continue to be fought. And filmmakers continue to study them.

Once in a while, if we are lucky, the resulting stories make war out to be the violent, vicious, utterly cruel and ultimately pointless activity that, underneath, we all know it to be. In the 1990s, it seems as if most of those movies have come from Europe.

One such example is “Prisoner of the Mountains,” a Russian film that has been nominated for an Academy Award as Best Foreign Language Picture.

Based on a story by the great Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy, “Prisoner of the Mountains” is set in a Chechnya-like country and concerns what happens when a Russian army patrol is ambushed and two soldiers taken prisoner.

The man who takes possession of the prisoners is a village elder named Abdul (Jamal Sihouralidze) who holds the young Russians for his own purposes: with his own son languishing in a Russian jail, he wants to use them as a means of barter.

But, as always, there are complications. Not only do the typical war-time problems have to be addressed - roving bands of rogue soldiers who make their own rules, the prisoners anxious to escape, mistrust that abounds on both sides - but this is a special case: Much like some American troops in Vietnam, these Russian troops are struggling in vain to maintain their focus.

Leaders in particular are more concerned with the quality of caviar than in pursuing a quick and just peace. And all too often, simple vengeance is the motivator of choice.

In such an atmosphere, the common man typically gets lost. And that, more than anything else, is what threatens the two soldiers - veteran sergeant Sasha (Oleg Menshikov) and private Vanya Gilin (Sergei Bodrov Jr.) - the FNG (or, as they were known in Vietnam, Freakin’ New Guy).

Told unhurriedly by director and co-screenwriter Sergei Bodrov, “Prisoner of the Mountains” spends a lot of time acquainting us with the harsh geography of this mountainous region. It recalls one of 1995’s Foreign Language Oscar nominees, the Macedonian film “Before the Rain,” both in its studied feel for landscape and for its overall somber tone toward the possibility that humankind is going to soon - if ever - purge war from its soul.

For all that, though, “Prisoner of the Mountains” misses much of the emotional quality that is inherent in the subject matter. That may be because it doesn’t work hard enough to bring the various characters alive; even Ivan, played by the son of the director, never seems to become much more than a symbol (the potential waste of innocent youth) than a real, living, breathing human being.

In the end, though, this simply may be the jaded view of someone who has seen too often the same story told over and over. For you can change the countries - Cambodia, say, or Nicaragua - and you can even change the characters, but you just can’t change the operative feeling of sadness. Nor, for that matter, should you.

Because in the final analysis, grief is the only appropriate emotion for a human contest that no one can ever win.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: “Prisoner of the Mountains” **-1/2 Locations: Magic Lantern Cinemas Credits: Directed and co-written by Sergei Bodrov, starring Oleg Menshikov (Sasha), Sergei Bodrov Jr. (Vanya), Jamal Sihouralidze (Abdul), Susanna Mekhraliyeva (Dina) Running time: 1:38 Rating: R