Prisoner of the Mountains (Kavkazski plennik)

Director: Sergei Bodrov
Screenwriters: Arif Aliev, Sergei Bodrov, Boris Giller

Institute History

  • 1997 Sundance Film Festival

Description

Sergei Bodrov’s Prisoner of the Mountains is a stunningly beautiful fable of love and war. The film unfolds high in a breathtaking mountain village against the contemporary backdrop of the Chechen War. Two Russian soldiers are held hostage by a Chechen man in his family home. His desperate hope is to exchange them for his own son, who has been captured by the Russian army. What results is an insightful exploration of bonds that develop between captive and keeper and the resonating effects of war on ordinary people.

What is most striking about the film, which won the Audience Award at Cannes, is Bodrov has taken this story and made it an exceptionally witty human comedy. He cleverly plays with the issues by giving the two Russians, who are literally linked together, two markedly different personas. Sasha, the veteran, is dashing and impulsive;Vania is young and raw, still a teenager in fact. The young daughter of the captor, wise beyond her years, serves as the voice of compassion. The hint of young love that could blossom between her and Vania at another time or place is only one reminder of the many casualties of wartime.

— John Cooper

Screening Details

Credits

As you use our Online Archives, please understand that the information presented from Festivals, Labs, and other activities is taken directly from official publications from each year. While this information is limited and doesn't necessarily represent the full list of participants (e.g. actors and crew), it is the list given to us by the main film/play/project contact at the time, based on the space restrictions of our publications. Each entry in the Online Archives is meant as a historical record of a particular film, play, or project at the time of its involvement with Sundance Institute. For this reason, we can only amend an entry if a name is misspelled, or if the entry does not correctly reflect the original publication. If you have questions or comments, please email [email protected]