The Guard

Less stunning than bludgeoning, Rogozhkin's grisly movie is like the old Living Theater play The Brig, but on wheels. It is set almost entirely on a prison train transporting jailbirds across the USSR. It focuses on a rookie guard, Chlustov, and the endlessly humiliating hazing he undergoes at the hands of his older colleagues; finally, the atmosphere of extreme violence and brutality causes him to crack. Prison metaphors aside, the movie is notable for pushing certain images of Russian masculinity as far as they will go; it strips men naked morally, spiritually and, ultimately, physically too.