User reviews

Summary: Quiet life of a four member Moscow middle class family is disturbed when the father is reunited with his long lost son, who's only recently come back from the war and was badly injured. It is soon obvious that his scars are not only physically, but emotional. He sees "spooks" everywhere, and his new found family is the only thing he has left in the world, other than one or two army buddies. Family is divided over him, mother sees him as an unstable element, while the son takes an instant dislike to him.

I loved this movie. It's a film that is long due in Russia. Russia has fought Vietnam style wars for the past 20 years and the soldiers who come back are often traumatized. The movie is about one such soldier, trying to adjust to peaceful life. Well, he isn't really trying, for him the war hasn't finished. He sees enemies everywhere. The return of the son also highlights the dormant problems present in the family. The film has its funny moments too, but it's not slap-stick humor, like in say Two Towers where at the most dramatic moments they have the dwarf do and say all the stupid things, it fits perfectly into the movie. The film also highlights the problems in Russian society, that soldiers that place their life on the line of fire are discarded when they are back. A very, very good film, worth watching by everyone.