It seems to be that stories of war, whether they are films, history books or otherwise, focus on one of two perspectives: the Anglo-American, or the German. It’s either English speaking diggers and GIs, or it’s blonde-haired, blue-eyed Nazi’s sauntering around and Heil-ing Hitler. It’s not often that Russian participation is considered, nor is the impact that World War II may still be having on the current generation of young Russians.

But We’re From The Future (My iz budushchego) does just that, looking at the realities of the Russian front line with quite literally a contemporary set of eyes. Four young men, living in modern-day St Petersburg, make their money by digging up and selling old war relics. They have no respect for the past, the sacrifice of their forefathers or the final resting places of the dead, and one even associates himself with a new breed of skinhead Russian Nazis.

The four have no qualms about what they are doing, which seems to be a common practice, until they stumble upon a set of old documents a battle site. Their own documents. Four Russian soldiers with their names and faces. Thinking they are hallucinating on cheap vodka, the group race down to the lake to swim off their trance, but find themselves surfacing in the lake over forty years earlier – Russia, 1942.

The men are thrust into battle and regiment life, and have a difficult time adapting to the harsh conditions – and, of course, explaining their situation. The few light-hearted moments of the film emanate from this dilemma, including an interesting beat-boxing scene which both stuns and impresses the old-fashioned Russian troops. Of course, there is a pretty, headstrong nurse involved and it is the romantic storyline that provides moments of respite from the hails of gunfire for both central character Borman, and the ladies in the audience.

But girls, don’t stress – We’re From The Future is a very easily watchable war film. There is little blood or gore, and no gratuitous violence – it is straight up rolling tanks, exploding grenades and falling men. I’m the sort of person who struggles to watch veterinary shows on TV without covering my eyes, but there were no flinching moments or ‘ugh, I didn’t need to see that’ thoughts during this film. In fact, if anything it gave me a much deeper appreciation of what war is like and what ‘our boys’ (because, at the end of the day, Russia was our ally) had to face at the front line in 1940s wartime. It is also interesting to consider the ideology that filmmakers in contemporary Russia present about their tumultuous past – it seems that the days of Stalin are almost considered as the glory days, and something that all Russians should hold close to their hearts.

Time travel films have been done before, and there is a fine line between cheese and believability. But We’re From The Future manages to remain on the side of realism, despite the fact that a successful quest for the retrieval of a certain object becomes necessary for their return. It’s inevitable that they succeed, but their path there isn’t without danger, suspense and heartbreak. Like many leaving the cinema, the four return with a newfound appreciation for the men and women who served their countries, and a newfound sense of patriotism for mother Russia.

Verdict:

The official synopsis is a little misleading, but the intense battle focus is enlightening, to say the least. It is an interesting insight into both the mindset of Russians today, and the perils and realities of frontline war – without being too in-your-face bloody or violent.