Afghan Breakdown
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Afghan Breakdown (Afganskiy Izlom in Russian) is a 1991 movie about the Soviet war in Afghanistan directed by Vladimir Bortko and co-produced by Italy and the Soviet Union (Lenfilm).
Michele Placido, from the Italian mafia TV series The Octopus/La Piovra plays the main hero, Major Bandura, a commander of a unit of Soviet paratroopers. The events unfold just before the start of the Soviet pullout from Afghanistan. A son of a high ranking military boss arrives in Afghanistan, hoping to take part in combat and earn some medals before the war ends. This leads to a chain of events and a dramatic finale. Major Bandura, who had a chance to leave for home, decides to stay with his men and take part in another operation and at the end is shot in a remote village by an Afghan boy.
"Afghan Breakdown" was the first in-depth war drama on the subject made in the Soviet Union after years of Soviet propaganda and censorship. It was also the first to talk about how pointless the 9-year occupation of Afghanistan was, the traumatic experiences of the thousands of soldiers and officers, and the atrocities committed by the army.
Vladimir Bortko visited Kabul and Kandahar in 1988 to do research on the ground. The movie is still regarded by most veterans as the best account of the war, despite new box-office hits coming out like 9th Company.
