100 Days Before the Command
by Hussein Erkenov
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DVD details
Actor: Armen Dzhigarkhanyan, Oleg Vasilkov, Roman Grekov, Valeri Troshin, Vladimir ZamanskyDirector: Hussein Erkenov
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: Russian (Original Language)
Format: Color, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 71 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2000-10-17
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Water Bearer
DVD Reviews of 100 Days Before the Command
DVD Review: Uncaptivating
Summary: 1 Stars
A warning for future viewers: this film is PLOTLESS. There is no storyline here, no evolution of drama, no escalation of conflict, no central characters, no resolution. It comes off partially as a documentary, but as others have noted, it is filmed in such a surrealistic way it can not be called a documentary at all. There are long and lingering shots of nothing of interest, perhaps meant to add tone or mood to the film, but to what point? There is a sunset shot over water, land, and clouds that is repeated a number of times to convey the passing of time??? but it's the same cloud everyday!
That being said, the range of responses by Amazon viewers show that some deeply appreciate the film, some see a bit of value in it, while others find it mostly untenable. Some in their reviews have shared insights into eastern European culture and into Russian/Soviet military life which helped me to understand some aspects of this film. But overall the film fails to successfully convey its point. Whether you like this film or not will be entirely dependent on your own tastes, but it is an unconventional portrayal that made little sense to me.
DVD Review: Naked Boyhood At It's Best.
Summary: 5 Stars
If you're fed up with typical American prudishness concerning the body, and are tired of "American pie" films this movie is for you. Though in many aspects this film is surreal without a plot, you get to delve into the world of Russian army soldiers who are relaxed and comfortable with gang showering. No sexual hype is intimated, as they spend time in the shower room being relaxed, with the exception of one soldier telling the other in Russian, "stop oggling at me!" With this film on the American market, we are well on our way, in this country, to being relaxed about casual nudity in films. DVD Review: A documentary snapshot of Russian military life
Summary: 4 Stars
Some may be looking for deep symbolism in "100 Days".
One reviewer called it surreal.
It is very realistic actually, almost a documentary
about a real problem in Soviet and Russian society:
low morale and brutal treatment of recruits in an
Army dogged by a failed war in Afghanistan and the
collapse of the Soviet Union. To this day today's
Russian military has faced accusations of atrocities
committed in Grozny, Chechnya, which had been
tragic for both Russians and Chechens.
There have been Red Army scandals involving the
deaths of young men at the hands of criminally
sadistic officers and NCOs. Drug abuse, alcohol
and even male prostitution have been known to occur
on Army bases.
In one incident, commanding officers got recruits
to perform sexual services for a third party while
the officers took payment. There have been rapes
and desertion and suicide is not any surprising
event.
Just to escape the stultifying army environment,
recruits had been known to get high off their
boot polish. Many have gone blind from such
dangerous activity.
Viewers of "100 Days" who attempt to make sense of
all the nudity and strange broken down landscape
shouldn't trouble themselves too much. Such places
and activities literally did exist and were not such
uncommon sites around 1990.
The boys rubbing eachother down nude is not just
some bizarre symbolism. Men of all ages did and
still do rub eachother down in the age old Russian
tradition of the "Banya" or communal bath and sauna.
To some Westerners it may look "gay" but it really
is a traditional Russian cultural phenomenon.
The broken down, abandoned looking landscape was
not a surreal movie set designed for effect. Soviet
army bases were horribly dilapidated as much of Soviet
society was at the point of collapse.
The translations are indeed peculiar as one review points
out.
The original Russian title "Sto Dnej Do Prikaza" should
actually be translated as "A Hundred Days 'Til Orders Arrive"
(i.e. Orders to get discharged or move on to another
place)
The producers maybe should have prefaced the film with some
background on Soviet/Russian society and culture back in 1990
so the realistic episodes of the film would not seem meaningless
and "surreal."
DVD Review: Picturesque DVD's make nice beverage coasters....
Summary: 1 Stars
This is one creative way in which to recoup some of the loss incurred by buying this nightmare. If you are one of the unfortunate who rent this waste of time(like I was) recommend that your local video store make one empty space on their shelves and toss this loser. This 71 minute "experience", which feels more like 100 Days of Viewing Hell, is nothing more then a montage of artsy, disjoined, surreal scenes. It quickly becomes boring after the first 5 minutes, tedious after 10 minutes, and downright irritating at around 15 minutes. I actually made the mistake of suffering through to the end, hoping that something magical would happen to make everything half-way understandable. This film could only appeal to the rare, artistically elite, filmgoer who finds anything as superficial as character development or cumbersome as plot layout simply uninspiring.DVD Review: Male Nudity in all Honesty and Naturalness
Summary: 4 Stars
It's always wonderful to see European films that portray nakedness in a natural, non-pornographic setting; what a refresher from the average "American-Pie" films which I find phony. Furthermore, I myself am a Slavic person (born in the US)so I felt right at home with the movie, even though Communist oppression has never been conducive to the sensitive human spirit which is very much candidly seen in the young faces and eyes of the young boys in the film. It's also very refreshing to view a film where young boys are comfortable being naked with each other, without all the sexual shallowness very much associated with nudity in many other films. Watching this movie made me feel good and at home. It's only a shame that this film did not have a concise plot; it was a little on the messy and surreal side.
Description of 100 Days Before the Command
Visually astonishing, erotically charged and emotionally jarring. 100 Days Before the Command is Hussein Erkenov's courageous and stinging indictment of Communism. Five young Red Army recruits struggle for survival against the merciless violence that surrounds them on a daily basis. Their only means of saving their dignity is by preserving the humanity and compassion they share for each other. Although not an overtly gay film, Erkanov's 100 Days Before the Command is remarkably direct in it's homoerotic imagery and subtexts. The film includes scenes where the soldiers share an intimacy and tenderness that is far removed from the brutality of most of their waking hours. (Amazingly all the roles are played by real life soldiers except one professional actor.) Banned by Soviet censors upon its initial release, Erkenov was forced to create his own sales company in order for the film to be screened at the 1995 Berlin Film Festival. 100 Days Before the Command is a unique entry into the world of post cold war film making from behind the former Iron Curtain.General DVDs
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