From a British perspective, it's interesting to note the only really poor performance came from Ian Kelly (John),an English actor. Had it not been for his atrocious skills, the film would have been excellent. Casting him took some authenticity away from the film, but then again, why Ingeborga Dapkunaite as (Margaret) didn't have a single spoken line in the film didn't help either! Aleksei Chadov as (Ivan) put in a great performance, and all other elements came together to make good entertainment and a rare look at the Chechen "situation".

This is probably one of the most realistic films I've seen gore-wise. Family entertainment it ain't.

If you're male, and looking for something different from the usual blockbuster bore-fest, then give this a viewing!

On the one hand, "Voyna" (called "War" in English) seems like a cliché: the enemy - in this case the Chechens - kidnap some people, and a Russian soldier is sent back to try and get the ransom; when he can't, he has to turn into one bad mother.

Granted, that sounds like something that we'd expect out of Hollywood. But "Voyna" does have a certain interesting aspect, something that I can't quite describe. If this movie has a problem, I guess that it mainly lies in the whole issue of Chechnya. Wouldn't it be better for Russia's government just to let it become independent? Oh well. That's just my opinion. See what you think.

A British couple along with several Russians are held hostage by Chechen rebels . The British man John is released along with a Russian soldier Ivan . John is told by the Chechen leader Aslan that he was two months to raise $2 million dollars for the release of his companion Margaret otherwise she will be gang raped and beheaded

VOYNA is a very strange film . Reading the above premise you can be forgiven for thinking it's going to be a dark gloomy thriller and if I tell you the opening scene features a Russian soldier getting his throat slit and another being decapitated this will no doubt reinforce your opinion that it's ultra violent but that's not really how it works out . John and Margaret are a couple of touring actors appearing in Shakespearian plays and this film has a feeling that it's the theatre of the absurd . This however doesn't mean it's an exceptional film and quite often is as implausible as the worst Hollywood action blockbusters

One point people on this page have picked up upon is the score which seems to belong in another film but I do remember many years ago seeing a hard hitting documentary about the first Chechen War called THE BETRAYED that showed gut wrenching carnage and battle scenes from the front line with the most inapporpiate Euro-pop soundtrack playing over the action and one wonders if this influenced Aleksei Balabanov and he's trying to be ironic ? Whatever the reason it's slightly intrusive and interferes with the mood of the film

Actually that's the other more major failing of the movie and the tone is very uneven and is slightly perplexing . It's probably fair to say this is a black comedy featuring the absurdity of war . After seeing people getting tortured and beheaded by the Chechens John is released and Ivan decides to help him and we see a quest where they run in to many colourful characters . But even then you find yourself asking if perhaps Balabanov could have pushed the boat out with a bit more insanity and fatalistic cynicism . Some scenes are implausible and sit in an uncomfortable manner with scenes that seem deadly serious and one wonders what point the director might be making ?

At the end of the day VOYNA is a slightly unsatisfying film . It does hold the attention about a conflict that remains relatively unknown in Western Europe and just does enough to hold your attention but at the same time you'll be confused as to what the director is saying about this particular war