Prisoner of the Mountains (1996) on Netflix
A raw recruit, Ivan Zhilin, and the battle-hardened sergeant Sasha are captured by Chechen fighters. The village chief Abdul-Murat keeps them in a stable to trade for his son.
- Netflix3.5/5
- IMDb7.4/104,990 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes88%
Plot summary
Ivan Zhilin is a new recruit in the Russian army during the First Chechen War, sent to the Caucasus, where separatist fighters wage a guerrilla war, leaving his mother behind. When his armored vehicle is attacked, he and a battle-hardened sergeant, Sasha, are captured and taken to a mountain village, where the chief, Abdul-Murat, locks them in a stable. Abdul-Murat means to trade the two soldiers for his own son, a captive held in a Russian stockade, because earlier ransom attempts failed. The first attempts to arrange an exchange come to nothing. The prisoners' guard is Hasan, and Abdul-Murat's teenage daughter, Dina, lives in the village.
Cast
- Susanna Mekhraliyevaas Dina
- Aleksey Zharkovas Maslov, the Russian Commander
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Prisoner of the Mountains (1996)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Director Sergei Bodrov told The New York Times that the film helped start peace talks between Russia and its neighbors: it was screened to President Boris Yeltsin on a Sunday, and discussions began the next day.
- Sergei Bodrov had loved Leo Tolstoy's story since childhood, and adapted it from its originally pro-Russian slant into a more universal film, expanding the role of a second soldier.
