Wonderfully offbeat film!

Really Surprised!

Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

It's 1999, the Second Chechen War. Young Russian Army recruit Kolia is filming the troops. They kill an elderly couple. Their 9 year old son Hadji escapes with his baby brother. He leaves the baby with the neighbors and joins the refugees going north. Alone and turning mute, he is taken in by french woman Carole who is writing a report for the EU Human Rights Committee. Helen (Annette Bening) runs the local humanitarian effort and dismisses her work. Meanwhile, Hadji's sister actually survived the massacre and sets off searching for him. The movie also follows Kolia as he signs up with his friend. He faces brutal treatment in the Russian Army and is then sent to the front.This is a French film made in Georgia. I like the kid and the French woman, no matter how unlikely the situation. The sister's story has a few compelling moments although the reunion is never in doubt. Kolia is never that compelling to me. His part could function much better by itself which would look closer to Full Metal Jacket. By itself, his story has value. The production and the war torn setting all look fine. It's just that I don't care that much about him and I kept waiting for the movie to return to the boy. I also have an issue with her boring speech to the committee. She has a great prop for her report. She could simply film Hadji talking about losing his family and that would be infinitely more riveting than her report. It seems like an obvious move for the story and for her character. It would then be even more heartbreaking when her boss reprimands her for her supposed stunt. Somebody should write better. Overall, I like the kid and his journey. The other stuff and the minor problems detract from a better score.

I'm Chechen and I've seen the war in my country. This story is only a simple story from a hundred of thousands other stories of Russian- Chechen wars.As someone that have seen the war, it was very difficult for me to watch this movie, I'm a man and I was watching it with the tears in my eyes, it has reminded me all the horrible dark nights in my country.I'm honestly thankful to Mr. Michel Hazanavicius. It's very obvious that he did not make this movie for money and success but because he thought that someone has to tell the truth. You will see many people saying that this movie has a political goals, anti-Russia propaganda etc and etc, however truth is truth neither you like it or not. Those are mainly people who did not suffer even a 1% of pain that Chechen people did. at least 35% of Chechens were killed in last two wars, about 40.000 of them were children. They burned people alive, just simple example, google "Samashki massacre" and thats from the war in 1994. The Search is about the second war 1999 which was much worst than the previous war. The history of Chechnya and Russia is horrible, there been so many wars in last 400 years, the history is indeed horrible.This movie shows a very little percent of what was really happening in Chechnya, however it tells the truth, It's very disappointing that now days not many people really wants to hear the truth, not much people do really care and that's what movie tells as well.The genocide of Jewish people, the genocide of Chechen and all the other people genocides, those are not only problem of certain people/nation but the problem and the issue of the world and all the people.This is a very honest and based on a true stories movie, this isn't a comedy and action for fun, this is a movie that made with heart for the people that still care.--- Dear Michel Hazanavicius,Thank you very much for this movie from all the Chechen people around the world, one day in Independent Chechen Republic you will be our most welcomed guest. We believe in it.

Academy Award winning director, Michel Hazanavicius, directs a beautiful film about four interconnected stories that face the tragedies of the Chechnya War. I honestly was not even aware of what this war entailed until I saw this film. Hazanavicius previously directed the Oscar winning film The Artist (2011) and thus takes a very dramatic turn with his newest feature. The Search is not lighthearted at all like his previous films. It is rooted in darkness and horror. The film opens up to a soldier filming a family being slaughtered as a form of entertainment. The entire mood becomes dark, and that effect is not due to the grayish tint that happens to be present throughout the film. The darkness is due to the realities of war and the effects it has on everyone from young men thrown into mandatory military service to children left as orphans. The plot follows Hadji, a young lad who witnesses his family's murder by the soldiers at the beginning of the film. Hadji flees his home in search of someplace safer and is reluctant to be picked up by refugees and taken to an orphanage. He does not know however that his teenage sister, Raissa, managed to survive. She begins to search for Hadji, whom she believes is still alive. The plot thickens as we now move on to see a young Russian teen, Kolia, recruited for military duty. This becomes the most disturbing part of the film. As we see Hadji's life slowly improving after befriending a human rights worker, the film follows the slow deterioration of a young man's morals by the facets of war. Kolia transforms from a normal teenage boy into a ruthless killing machine that embodies no hope of redemption. He learns to kill innocence and leave what's left of his childhood behind. This transition in the film offers an interesting perspective. The audience goes from watching the horrors caused by war to sympathizing with a Russian soldier who becomes responsible for more destruction in the future. As one innocent life begins to improve, another innocent life begins to decline. Kolia never wanted to join the Russian military shown by his suicide attempts and frequent moments of hysteria. Hadji obviously didn't want his parents murdered. Therefore, both stories offer two dramatically different sides of war traumas. While Hadji's future remains hopeful however, Kolia's spirals downhill into a black box of despair. It's interesting to see that the people responsible for warfare have the most tragic endings. The point is, no matter which side you're on, war offers no benefits to the players directly involved. It transforms and configures humanity into a world nobody would want to live in. Children are forced to mature way beyond their years, and families are torn apart.With the help of the human rights worker, Carole, Hadji's situation goes from horrible to optimistic. Berenice Bejo plays Carole. Once again working with Michel Hazanavicius, the Oscar nominated actress delivers another masterful performance. She provides a light at the end of the tunnel effect. Carole houses young Hadji after seeing him wandering the streets alone and without any provisions. The human rights worker establishes a connection with Hadji after several unsuccessful tries due to Hadji's complete silence. He's experienced traumatic events that would obviously leave someone shell shocked and saddened. It is Berenice Bejo who steals the show. With her persistent attitude in trying to raise support and awareness for the innocent victims of the Chechnya War, she ignites a burning passion to help especially after hearing other victims' stories. The best scene showing this determination and relentless attitude is when Carole is on the phone with a European Union correspondent. She has been trying to arrange a meeting to inform people of the issues she witnesses every day. Her speech, backed with a mixed range of power, frustration, and genuine care, not only gets her a meeting but also leaves the audience wanting to help the situation too. Although family is destroyed in this film, it offers a positive alternative. Carole wants to adopt Hadji, but we know that Raissa is still alive and searching for him. This puts us in a perplexing spot because we want both Carole and Raissa to achieve what they have been searching for all along. Carole searches for inspiration and meaning to her work and life finding that in Hadji, while Raissa searches for what's left of her family. The Search offers multiple perspectives at the negative effects of war. The soldier, innocent child, and maturing teenager face direct effects while the orphanage head, EU correspondent, and human rights worker face indirect effects. The complexity of each situation is made so easy to watch and understand. Michel Hazanavicius is a great director, and I will always continue to search for his future films.

I will not elaborate movie plot in detail, it is a remake of the award winning movie of the same name from 1948, and of course it is a similar story. But I must say that it is a important movie about a forgotten conflict in Chechnya. The reception of the movie was poor in EU and it is clear why. The Director shows the reality of European and Russian politics, the europeans are indifferent to the problems of small oppressed nations in the former SSSR, and reluctant to do anything against the Russian terror. I was surprised to see an European movie which clearly takes sides with the victim and does not try to detach from the conflict, something which has always been popular among the political correct movie-makers, quoting „both sides are equally guilty". And we see a surprising accurate depiction of the training in the Russian army, a traditionally brutal thing. All in all, a must see movie. The truth must be told and the crimes must not be forgotten.