The film is based on a script by writer and war correspondent Alexander Chervinsky. The lead role of Major Bandura is played by Italian actor Michele Placido, known for his role of commissar Cattani in the series “The Octopus”. The role is dubbed by Oleg Yankovsky. Alexander Rozenbaum has a minor part, playing himself performing at an army club.
The action of the film takes place at the end of military operations in Afghanistan, during the period of the Soviet troops’ withdrawal. The group of paratroopers under the command of Major Bandura (Placido) is joined by the young senior lieutenant Nikita Steklov (Filipp Yankovsky), the son of a high-ranking soldier who wants to take part in military operations and earn medals.
The platoon command reaches an agreement with an Afghan field commander, Adil, about neutrality during the time that troops are withdrawn, in exchange for several crates of automatic weapons, and flour. But the division column is caught in an ambush organized by Adil’s enemies. The paratroopers escape the ambush, but with major losses – Steklov is seriously injured. It is impossible to observe neutrality – at the end of the military operations, the bloodshed continues.
Source : 2010.ru.spbkinoforum.ru