The Soldier’s Fight: Personal and Political
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The Prisoner of the Mountains provides a contrast between the personal challenges and the political conflicts that a soldier might face during the Russo-Chechen war. The final sequence portrays the polarization of these opposing ideas through music, costuming, and arms. These mediums use strong symbolism and imagery to illustrate the intimacy of the individual fight versus the brash and cold antipathy of military initiatives.
An aged Chechen who is bound by honor and a young Russian soldier who is constricted by his own naiveté trudge through the biting wind up the mountainous terrain in the first shot of the final sequence of the film. Traditional Chechen music fades in as Abdul, the older man, follows Vanya, the soldier, up the trail. The relentless beat of the drum provides stability to the music, in much the way that unyielding Chechen traditions give strength to the villagers. However, the drum has ominous connotations, for each step taken by Abdul coincides with each beat and makes the rifle on his shoulder rhythmically sway. Once they reach the field, Abdul instructs Vanya to walk in the other direction and continue down the mountain without looking back. As Abdul lifts his rifle, the music stops. We hear the shot. The music, as if closely connected with the characters, pauses at the time of crises. This absence of sound is similar to the reverence of an intimate funeral; the personal connection between the guests and the deceased is contemplated in silence.
Abdul departs down one side of the mountain, and, after the realization that he is still alive, Vanya goes down the other. As Vanya escapes through a verdant field, sound returns in the form of roaring helicopters thundering towards the village. In opposition to the sanctity with which the personal rifle is treated, the music fades in as the arms are brought out. A modern Russian military march accompanies the political murder that is on its way over the mountains to the Chechen village. The politically sanctioned deaths of the villagers are denied the respect of silence. The din of both the diegetic and natural sounds overpowers that tragedy.
A war could be described by the quality of its weapons. The rifle that Abdul holds represents the personal connection that he has with his victims, while the helicopters of the Russian army are far removed from their many victims. The rifle has the power to kill, but every shot is well chosen, and therefore carries a message that is intended for a for a specific victim. The rifle affects only two men. Though their contrasting heritages would have them as foils, they have an intimate understanding of one another’s situation, and so the shot is lost somewhere in the atmosphere.
When an army has a cause to fight for, it sends fleets. It prepares dozens, hundreds, or thousands of armed objects to depart for some distant, faceless enemy with the purpose of obliterating that foe; it is bound by politics. Personal relationships hold no sway over government-funded missions. As the helicopters roar over Vanya, he knows that there will be no pause in the military march. Indeed, the explosions that will obliterate the dozens, hundreds, or thousands of unknown victims on the other side of the mountain will amplify the helicopter’s expression of impersonal political agenda.
A costume, while it is only on the exterior of the character, can reveal personal agendas within a film. The contrasting costumes create a rift between the color palettes of Dina and Abdul, and that of Vanya. The pale, stark background, while providing a contrast to the black robes, invokes the same colors of Vanya’s camouflaged gear. Despite this, Dina and Abdul somehow blend into the scenery over the course of the film, and it is Vanya who stands out. The robes are distinct from the mountains and the village, but they hold traditional values for the Chechens, so they seem more appropriate. Vanya’s camouflage is out of place in this foreign land.
Bodrov created nuances in the costumes to further illustrate the contradictions within each of the opposing sides. The Chechen rebels would like to think of themselves as the honest, straightforward opponent. They believe it is their right to live on this land and fight for it. They wear dark colored robes and large hats that stand out from their land as symbols of their defiance. On the other hand, they use this native attire, which one would associate with a harmless villager, to deceive foreigners. In one of the first scenes of the film, a Chechen family uses not only their clothing, but also the aid of a small cart of hay as a prop to help the rebels in an attack that results in the capture of Vanya and Sasha.
The Russian army uses their own type of deception by dressing their soldiers in classically militaristic camouflaged outfits. However well this clothing may hide them in the distant scenery, it amplifies their appearance and solidifies their role as the enemy in the village. The soldiers are caught between the safety that the uniforms provide them in combat and the stigmatic quality they acquire in the village.
Vanya is especially prominent as he runs alone through the expansive, empty field towards his freedom. The Russian helicopters suddenly appear from the top of the screen, and it only takes a moment for him to realize that they are not coming to save him. He screams and waves to stop the murder of the villagers, but his attempts are in vain. This final frame of the sequence sets a lone figure who represents the personal struggle at the bottom of the screen, while the strong, loud machines of the political initiative fly overhead; though understanding was gained through the personal fight, the political agenda prevails.
