Movie
http://www.fileserve.com/file/QPXw4Qz
Interviews with naval and military cadets in Russia explores such topics as male-bonding, hazing, patriotism, brotherhood and alcohol abuse.
Including the movie
БЕРЁЗА [aka Berioza, Birch] (Canada, 1995, Directed by Steve Kokker, 30 min.)
Steve Kokker's first film is the troubling, but erotic, tale of the seduction of a straight Russian soldier.
Komrades (Canada, 2003, Directed by Steve Kokker, 64 min.)
The naval academy of St. Petersburg is the focus of this warts-and-all hourlong documentary. Komrades examines the sometimes loyal, sometimes unhinged life of the modern-day recruit in Russia, and contrasts these frank interviews with archived stock footage and training films produced by the government.
Interviews with naval and military cadets in Russia explores such topics as male-bonding, hazing, patriotism, brotherhood and alcohol abuse.
He was standing in front of the country's largest naval college, the Admiralty in St. Petersburg. The first Russian sailor I'd ever met. We struck up a conversation and agreed to meet later that evening. I didn't expect him to show up with a gang of naval cadets..." says director/writer Steve Kokker who went to Russia to document male bonding in the military. He got that on camera and much more. With this very up-close film we get an ear full of words from the men and an eye-full of some extra-sweet candy. There are several snippets of one cadet lying on his bed naked speaking to the director about just how close he is to his buddies. Many of the soldiers look like performers from the latest Bel Ami film. But the film isn’t all eye candy, there’s a story here too. The young men are sent off to the service for many years without their families, lovers and friends. What happens is that they create a new, all-male family extraordinarily documented in this surprisingly insightful and erotic film.
Take one cute gay Canadian documentarian with a bit of a uniform fetish, 15 cute Russian Naval Academy Cadets, add many, many bottles of Vodka and some American cigarettes and you get a documentary such as this.
The film maker stated that he started this documentary because he had "a bit of a thing" for Russian boys in "perhaps the world's cutest uniforms" but after talking with the boys he quickly went beyond the initial attraction.
In Russia, military service of some type is mandatory for all Russian males. The choices are either 2 years in the unbelievably harsh environment of the Russian Army or 5 years as a military cadet followed by 5 years of active service. Very few Russian males have the means of buying their way out of their military commitment.
The guys in this film are from both camps, the naval academy and the regular army. While the naval academy guys have a MUCH longer commitment it seems that they are generally better supervised and conditions while not ideal are at least humane.
The Army on the other hand has a reputation of severe hazing and abuse of power by the older soldiers over the younger. It's estimated that over 3000 soldiers die each year and these are NOT from training accidents but from hazing related incidents.
The filmmaker (and the audience) may have started this documentary with prurient interests but after the first few young guys open their hearts and souls to the camera we quickly become interested in the young men themselves and their ordeals.
We are also won over by the boys honest declarations of love for their fellows and their willingness to die for each other.
One film-goer asked the film maker "Did you meet any homely Russian boys" but it's not just their appearance that gets you. As the film maker said, these guys have very open souls.
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