"The Rifleman of the Voroshilov Regiment" admittedly has on one of the most overused and routine plots that exists in our traditional cinematic universe. It's yet another umpteenth version of the "Death Wish" story line, but still there are two tiny aspects that make the film quite unique and really made me want to see it. First of all, it's an authentic Russian production; entirely spoken in the native language and with those bizarre letters from the Russian alphabet used the title sequences. Honestly how many "regular" thrillers from Russia do you have the chance of seeing in your life? I've seen a handful of oddball Russian Sci-Fi movies from the sixties, and more recently the "Night Watch" trilogy, but those are all fancier films that were intended for the international export market. "The Rifleman of the Voroshilov Regiment" is a really small-scaled film, shot in a typical Russian village and starring ordinary Russian people. Secondly, the loving family member bent on extracting blood vengeance isn't the girl's father, brother or fiancée
It's her grandfather! On her way back home on a bright Wednesday afternoon, the incredibly cute teenage girl Katya is lured into the apartment of three macho thugs, one of which she went to school with. It naturally doesn't take long before they drug and gang-rape her. The investigation is rapidly closed, since one of the rapists' father is the police commissioner. Katya's devoted granddaddy Fjodorovich can't accept that his sweet girl locks herself inside the house and grows increasingly paranoid while those filthy scumbags remain unpunished, so he buys himself a massive – and I do mean MASSIVE – sniper rifle and meticulously prepares his quest for revenge. What are the differences between an average aged Charles Bronson and a retired 70-year-old one? I guess it's in the details. Fjodorovich carefully puts the flowerpots back on the table after he shot a rapist in the testicles from a window across the street, rejoins his friends who are playing chess on the market square and stands along in the curious crowd when the ambulance arrives. The screenplay also masterfully captures how Fjodorovich clearly doesn't care too much about what the possible consequences are for him in case he gets caught; as he purely acts out of love and compassion for his beloved granddaughter. "The Rifleman of the Voroshilov Regiment" is a slow- paced, but beautifully intense and absorbing drama rather than an exciting and furious revenge thriller. Our senior citizen Mikhail Ulyanov puts down a magnificent performance and, thanks to him coming across as a completely normal and prototypical grandfather, his character promptly earns all the viewer's sympathy and support. The rest of the cast is very good as well, the musical score is serene yet sublime and the climax (more or less anti-climax, in fact) is courageous, intelligent and subtle. This film is fairly obscure, but worth tracking down for sure. The copy that I own started with apologies from the company that provided the subtitles for all the probable errors. Yes, well, many of the wordings in English were quite incorrect, but on the other hand I never would have been able to follow the movie if it were in Russian, so I gladly forgive them!
