On June 21, BROTHERHOOD, a Golden Goblet Awards Competition Film was screened in Shanghai Film Art Center. Russian director Pavel Lungin, who won the "Best Director Award" at the Cannes Film Festival, attended the after-show meeting to share the behind-the-scenes story with the audience.
Based on the true events of the Soviet Union\'s 108th motorized rifle division\'s withdrawal from Afghanistan in 1989, BROTHERHOOD tells the story of an unusual rescue operation at the end of the war. The son of Soviet general Vasilyev was captured by Afghan guerrillas in a plane crash. Before leaving Afghanistan, the team decided to fight to save the general\'s son. The film focuses on a dust-laden history, restoring the tragic withdrawal of Soviet troops, showing the danger and horror of combat, as well as the twisted complexity of human nature in war.
BROTHERHOOD presents a cold battlefield, in which roles include ordinary Soviet soldiers, Afghan guerrillas, Afghan who lean towards Soviet, Afghan children who grow up in the war environment, Soviet soldiers secretly sold arms to the Afghan people...According to the director, every character can find a real-life prototype, He said, "This film is a film without a leading role. It is like a chorus, a whole body making its own voice."
Audiences accustomed to Hollywood\'s fast-paced war films with clear pros and cons may not be very comfortable with BROTHERHOOD. After all, in addition to the group image setting, the film does not define the pros and cons of the war, but presents the actions of many factions and characters in the war. "In fact, different people have different understandings of justice and fairness. The Soviet Union and Afghanistan certainly have different views. The world should not be black and white." Director Pavel Lungin said his original intention was to shoot it in a way that was "completely different from Hollywood". He said, "This work does not have any post-production special effects, but is all live-action shooting, presenting the real war and human nature. It can also be said that this is a realistic film, because it can reflect the cruel side of war, and also show the human nature of war."
Director Pavel Lungin said: "The fundamental theme of BROTHERHOOD is anti-war; the essence of every battle image is anti-war." Personally, he felt that the only right thing about the war was that it was over. He said, "The Soviet soldiers who had been in Afghanistan for ten years and they didn\'t know why they were fighting, what they were winning and what they were losing. They had lost the purpose of the war, and their psychology is a bit like that of Americans in the post-Vietnam war."
The director also revealed one thing that makes the audience\'s surprise that is the film was made on a cost of just $3 million, despite lots of war scenes. According to Pavel Lungin, the helicopters in the film are borrowed for free by the army, while the number of tanks, vehicles and all kinds of weapons and equipment is very limited. He said, "Film is the art of light and shadow. With certain skills, it can also make the audience feel as if they have seen a grand scene."