Afghan Breakdown (Afganskiy Izlom in Russian) is a 1991 movie about the Soviet war in Afghanistan directed by Vladimir Bortko and co-produced by Italy and the USSR. 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about motion pictures. ... Combatants USSR Democratic Republic of Afghanistan Mujahideen Rebels supported by nations such as the United States, Pakistan, and China Commanders General Boris Gromov Gulbuddin Hekmatyar Sibghatullah Mojadeddi Ahmed Shah Massoud Abdul Ali Mazari Indirect and Minor roles Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq Osama Bin Laden Casualties Over 15,000 Soviet military...

Michele Placido, from the Italian mafia TV series The Octopus/La Piovra plays the main hero, Major Bandura, a commander of a unit of paratroopers. The events unfold just before the start of the Soviet pullout from Afghanistan. A son of a high ranking military boss arrives in Afghanistan, hoping to take part in combat and earn some medals before the war ends. This leads to a chain of events and a dramatic finale. Major Bandura, who had a chance to leave for home, decides to stay with his men and take part in another operation and at the end is shot in a remote village by an Afghan boy. Michele Placido (b. ... The Mafia, also referred to in Italian as Cosa Nostra, which is literally Our Thing in the Italian language, is a organized criminal secret society which evolved in mid-19th century Sicily. ... An American Paratrooper using a MC1-B series parachute Paratroopers are soldiers trained in parachuting and generally operate as part of an airborne force. ...

"Afghan Breakdown" was the first in-depth war drama on the subject made in Russia after years of Soviet propaganda and censorship. It was also the first to talk about how pointless the 9-year occupation of Afghanistan was, the traumatic experiences of the thousands of soldiers and officers, and the atrocities committed by the army. The only atomic weapons ever used in war - the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan on August 9, 1945, effectively ending World War II. The bombs over Hiroshima (August 6) and Nagasaki immediately killed over 120,000 people. ... There are many articles named Drama: Drama, the art form. ... U.S. propaganda poster, depicting a Nazi stabbing a Bible. ... The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ...

Vladimir Bortko visited Kabul and Kandahar in 1988 to do research on the ground. A view of the old city Kabul Kabul (34°32′N 69°10′E, Kâbl, in Persian کابل) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan with a population variously estimated at 2 to 4 million. ... For the 2001 movie by Mohsen Makhmalbaf, see Kandahar (film). ... 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The movie is still regarded by most veterans as the best account of the war, despite new box-office hits coming out like 9th Company. The term box office can refer to either: A place where tickets are sold to the public for admission to a venue The amount of business a particular production, such as a movie or theatre show, does. ... 9th Company (Russian: «9 рота») is a Russian / Finnish film about the Soviet war in Afghanistan released in 2005. ...

SPOILERS

Since this is NOT an English language movie, and, at least in my copy, there are no subtitles, it can be a bit confusing, so scene and plot descriptions follow. If you are fluent in Russian, just watch the movie...

Note the seeming pun IZLOM vs. Islam. Islam (Arabic: ; ( (help· info)), submission (to the will of God)) is a monotheistic faith, considered one of the Abrahamic religions, and the worlds second-largest religion. ...

This is a very long movie...

Scene 1: Local villagers conduct circumcision ceremony - two of the characters in this scene, the father and young son appear repeatedly in the movie.

Scene: A Russian unit is attacked, and loses the battle. Afghan mujahed walk the battlefield, slay survivors, and recover or destroy equipment.

Scene: A female approaches a hut, and is met by a Lieutenant Colonel. it develops that the women is the love interest of Major Bandura, who is married and has family back in Russia; The (lieutenant) colonel, Bandura's supervisor, reveals that he is in love with the woman. The woman takes note, as she is reminded, that the major has another life, another wife.

Scene: Our protagonist, Major Bandura and his unit first appear. A Russian paratroop unit "desantniki" engages in a ground battle, wins, takes prisoners, and treats them in kind. No quarter given.

Scene: The unit returns to base, as a helicopter arrives, and drops off a young officer. The officer asks for directions of Major Bandura, and is simply directed "Follow me." Major Bandura leads the officer to the Major's personal shack. The Major takes cleans himself up, and prepares for an after action report, and the two socialize. The Lieutanant sees a collection of handguns, and "likes" one. Bandura gives him the hadgun. "You are in the far east, such is the custom, if you say that like it, it is given to you." The Lieutenant is the son of an important official, who is escaping his father's influence, and getting "fresh air." Bandura informs him he will become a hero, he will recieve awards, it cannot be avoided. (Misha) Bandura's love interest enters, and lieutenant leaves. The woman and man scheme mildly to take some advantage from the fact that their new charge has important relatives.

Scene: Major Bandura reports the results of battle. The Colonel notes that a specific request has been made that the young officer be assigned to an experienced and heroic leader - Bandura. The lieutenant, in another room, meanwhile is noting all of the luxury items available to soldiers from the markets of Afghanistan, that cannot be purchased within the Soviet_Union (Japanese watches, and so forth.) The lietenant is summoned to meet his commander, is assigned to Bandura, and makes some social gaffes; The commander was once assigned under the lieutenant's father in Czechoslovakia - and the lieutenant opines that that campaign was politically inadvisable. Since the Soviet Union is in decline, the officers choose to ignore this impolitic remark. A trip is arranged so that Bandura, the lieutenant, and others may go shopping. The girls - nurses are to go with. Soldiers close out the scen by removing furniture from the office - a move is clearly in progress. State motto (Russian): Пролетарии всех стран, соединяйтесь! (Transliterated: Proletarii vsekh stran, soedinyaytes!) (Translated: Workers of the world, unite!) Capital Moscow Official language None; Russian (de facto) Government Federation of Socialist republics Area  - Total  - % water 1st before collapse 22,402,200 km² Approx. ...

Scene: Now to the motor pool, where a sergeant asserts authority over the lieutenant, and torments the lieutenant, asserting that he is not yet man enough to be a leader.

Scene: On the way to the market. A convoy drives through the Afghani countryside. Women in a truck sing a song to pass the time - Alla Pugacheva's "Starinie Chasy" - about time not standing still, and history being immutable. One of the singers is a women who may become the lieutenant's love interest. A local truck is run off of the road, and no note is taken of the accident. Alla on the Star Factory television show, 2004 Alla Borisovna Pugacheva (А́лла Бори́совна Пугачё́ва), pronounced Pougachova, born April 15, 1949 in Moscow, Russia, is perhaps the best known musical performer in Russia, her career having started in 1965 and continuing to this day. ...

Scene: Shopping in the local market. The market is (to the Soviet eye) teaming with merchandise. Most treat this as a routine event, but the lieutenant, under the guidance of a sergeant, is warned to be alert, lest he be killed, at any time, from any direction. A local behaves "oddly" and the lieutenant shoots the local, bringing the shopping trip to an abrupt, chaotic ending. Soviet redirects here. ...

Scene: The convoy back - and the reprise of the Pugacheva song "You cannot go back to the past, and time cannot be stopped..."

Scene: The commander orders a weapons sale to a local afghan tribe, his orders in turn come from higher.

Scene: Major Bandura arranges a meeting time and place with a local weapons merchant who sells to all sides. The merchant is the father from scene one, and the scene introduces the fathers oldest son, a pre-teen. The merchant also asks for some boxes to be used for furniture, as he is newly married to his second wife, and for some medicine for a sick child, all as an aside to the weapons deal.

Scene: Dinner in the major's shack, with the lieutenant, the major's grlfriend, and the a girl interested in the lieutenant. The younger girl has some psychological issues it seems, if nothing else, overly talkative. She mentions these are the best years in the lives of the nurses. Major Bandura, perhaps drunk, scoffs, then begs pardon. The young lieutenant and his girlfriend wander away. The relationship between Bandura and his girlfriend is at an end. "Would you look for me in Russia?"

Scene: The lieutenant wanders off into the darkness to fins somewhere private, with his new girlfriend. The assignation is interrupted - two soldiers in their quarters note that Tolstoy (or was it Pushkin?) once shot a fly. In drunken reverie, the soldiers try to do something similar - and the lovers scatter into the darkness.

Scene: The merchant is eating dinner with visitors, who pull a weapon on him. Dialogue is not in Russian. Tension mounts, but eventually the pistol is put away.

Scene: The troops deliver the weapons. The purchasor identifies himself as someone who has had many people killed by Major Bandura's soldiers. Major Bandura similarly identifies his lost bretheren at the hands of the local, who says simply, "those people were not under my protection. At the moment you are." The merchant identifies himself as being between powerful forces and in a constant position of fear. The local chief says invites the major to bring more weapons, as he will be fighting long into the future. Major Bandura says simply "without me."

Scene: The weapons convoy is ambushed on its return journey. The lieutenant is injured. The special effects in this scene are probably the weakest in the movie.

Scene: The major reports.

Scene: The major visits the hospital to see the wounded lieutenant. He similarly sees his girlfriend. Cut asides to see bodies being washed, a coffin being sealed for shipment back to the Soviet Union. An airman inventories returning cargo, coffins labelled for many cities, and the plane flies off towards the homeland, dropping flares, and more flares, and still more flares - so that a missile does not shoot it from the sky.

Many, many more scenes follow...

External links

• Afghan Breakdown on IMDB

Similar article (Афганский излом) from Russian Wikipedia http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%90%D1%84%D0%B3%D0%B0%D0%BD%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%B9_%D0%B8%D0%B7%D0%BB%D0%BE%D0%BC_%28%D1%84%D0%B8%D0%BB%D1%8C%D0%BC%29 The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) [1] is an online database of information about actors, movies, television shows, television stars and video games. ...