We have no idea about the devastation in European countries during and after the War, as well the hardship caused by Stalin's new regime. If anyone feels Communists had it easy watch any movie about Russia, Stalin and the hardships of the people.

Wonderful film set in the immediate post-WW ll period,with amazing performances by the principal actors, particularly the two main female characters.

An intriguing movie with contrasting characters. One wonders what the war has done to them and what they would have been without it.

Jul 29, 2020

★★★★ ⅓ No disagreement with RogerEbert's very high mark, 4/4 stars, and describes the film "astonishing." A shocking account of horrors some Soviet soldiers had gone through in WW II.

https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/beanpole-2020

and variety.com: Exceptionally Crafted, Devastating ...

91% Rotten Tomatoes
7.1/10 IMDb
84% Metacritic
4/4 rogerebert.com
4/5 RollingStone.com

I couldn’t finish it. Unnecessarily long and with stilted acting. The plot could have developed in a wonderful movie, as this time period in Russia is tragic and fascinating, but alas, it wasn’t to be. I felt completely disconnected from the motivation of the characters, the interactions felt completely artificial.

Have to agree with the previous reviewer. Things move very slow in this movie and for no apparent reason. Stuck it out to the end still trying to figure it out. Weird stuff, or maybe I’m just not sophisticated enough to understand. I’ve come to the conclusion that if the so called expert media movie reviewers rate something highly I better run the other way. On the plus side there was no profanity.

This film does an excellent job of portraying the post war confusion facing the Russians after WWII. While I enjoyed the cinematography, the script, and the great performances of the cast, I found this movie to be unnecessarily long with many shots of people just staring off into space (Iya's PTSD notwithstanding), presumably contemplating their next action or words, or maybe just out of numbness or shock to their situation. There were also many character choices that seemed be things that real people just wouldn't do. I'm sure they were deliberate attempts to make the viewer uncomfortable, which they did, but also succeeded in making this viewer start losing interest at times.