FILM REVIEW: The Beast [a.k.a. The Beast of War outside the USA.]
© A.J. Malouin 2009
(Rating: 1 by The Film Snob.)
(See our side-bar page “How Caryl & Al and The Film Snob Rate Movies”)
(1988/USA. Directed by Kevin Reynolds.)
This is one of the best war/anti-war films ever made!!!
“The Beast” of the title is an isolated Russian tank, trying to make its way to an Afghan pass back into Russia during the 1979 Russian invasion of Afghanistan.
Inside the tank, a disillusioned and semi-mutinous crew quarrel with their tank commander over escape strategies and even the validity of the invasion itself.
Outside the tank, a group of on-foot Afghan rebels are hot on the tail of the Soviet tank, chasing it across the desert and toward the mountain pass.
“The Beast” was named Best Film at the 1989 Cleveland International Film Festival.
The film opens with a scene of almost unspeakable horror, committed by the Russian tank crew who has captured an Afghan rebel. As detailed in a January, 2009, interview with Gregory Feifer, author of “The Great Gamble: The Soviet War in Afghanistan,” this is an accurate description of the kinds of things that actually happened during that invasion.
Confused, angry, and uncertain of where they even were, many Russian soldiers committed atrocities against the Afghan population. It didn’t help, either, that many of the Russian “soldiers” were fresh conscripts who were totally devoid of training and experience. That’s no excuse for atrocities, of course, but it *does* help to humanize the Russian tank crew.
The opening atrocity is sooooo convincingly filmed that it apparently, according to other interviews, threatened the release of the film. Once that heart-wrenching set piece is behind us, however, the film settles down into a truly gripping story of frail humanity and wartime tension.
The tank team flails through the desert, low on petrol, and also low on brake fluid — which one of the crew has been drinking!
The Tank Commander regales the crew with tales of his success in earlier campaigns, but they react with varying degrees of disdain, ridicule, and mutinous behavior.
The most mutinous crew member is staked out on the ground and left behind, to be captured by the Afghan rebels. The rebels find him and the predictable human outcome occurs.
Because the tank crew speaks English, it is easy to think of these intruders as Americans and not Russians. The wonderfully written screenplay, however, makes it clear that these Afghans and these Russians could all be soldiers from *any* country.
All in all, “The Beast” is an incredible war film, and is well worth the time and cost of rental. The Film Snob loved it and will watch it again within three weeks. He’ll report his further reactions when he does.
(1 hr 51. Not rated in the USA. In English and Pashtu, with English subtitles for those not fluent in Pashtu. With George Dzundza as Daskal, Jason Patric, Koverchenko, Steven Bauer as Taj, Stephen Baldwin, Golikov, Don Harvey as Kaminski, Kabir Bedi as Akbar, Chaim Girafi as Moustafa (as Haim Gerafi), Shoshi Marciano as Sherina (as Shosh Marciano), Yitzhak Ne’eman as Iskandar (as Itzhak Babi Ne’Eman), David Sherrill as Kovolov, Moshe Vapnik as Hasan, Claude Aviram as Sadioue, Victor Ken as Ali, and Avi Keedar as Noor.)