MovieChat Forums > The Beast (1988) Discussion > WHY would Koverchenko do that?

WHY would Koverchenko do that?

posted 10 years ago by whorse9
7 replies | jump to latest

At the end of the movie, why would Koverchenko want the mujas to let Daskal go? As soon as he made it back into the USSR, Daskal would've done everything in his power to make Koverchenko's life a living hell, and probably would've gotten him sent to the Gulags for being a traitor. The other two tankers would've probably held their tongues, but Daskal seems like the kind of guy who would murder Koverchenko if he couldn't get the Red Army to do it for him.

And why would the Taj grant Nanawatei to tankers who are not even asking for it for themselves? They didn't kill Koverchenko immediately because he begged for it himself, and even then they only would consider it because he they knew he was the enemy of their enemy (the tank). I mean, at the beginning of the film they murder Taj's entire extended family and nearly all his friends. How would he not still be furious with them about that? Especially the commander, the one who was truly responsible for it all.

[–] veo 9 years ago

Koverchenko wanted the mujas to let Daskal go because reality is not like in the movies. After all Daskal was a man, a fellow Russian, a comrade and his commander. Koverchenko was a decent person, so he felt it would have been a crime to let the mujaheedins kill Daskal.
As for granting Nanawatei to tankers... well, that's the whole mind-bending power of the cultural difference the film wants to illustrate.

Gognitti bailed. I made like Chow Yun-Fat.

[–] fgeorgio 9 years ago

1.Gulags didn't exist in 1980.
2.If Dashkal would manage to get to friendly forces alive I doubt that he would be able to save his own skin,let alone torment his previous subordinate

[–] francis_halama 9 years ago

Define "exist." From Wikipedia:
The Gulag institution was closed by the MVD order No 020 of 25 January 1960[35] but forced labor colonies for political and criminal prisoners continued to exist. Political prisoners continued to be kept in one of the most famous camps Perm-36 until 1987 when it was closed.

[–] darkness_surroundz 8 years ago

I think you mean Gulags CEASED to exist in 1980

[–] pschroeter 8 years ago

I just watched this movie and he flat out tells Daskal he wants him to live long enough to see the Russian loose in Afghanistan. I agree with Koverchenko being in big trouble but still love this movie.

[–] Bernnard_Black 8 years ago

I think Koverchenko let him live because it would make Daskal suffer; he would have lost his tank to a man he hated and left to die, and his motherland would loose a war. He'd have a tough time wrapping his head around that.

And I think Koverchenko KNEW he was in trouble if he went back; Russia in the 80's was not a place known for tolerance and understanding, so my guess is as soon as the real story got out, he'd be shot, and his family likely shot or sent to prison. But what was his choice? He didn't hate Russia, only Daskal; he couldn't very well live out his days in Afghanistan, so he chose to go home, knowing what it would mean.

Whores will have their trinkets.

[–] darkness_surroundz 8 years ago

its possible that Korv knew that Dash would never make it back alive-either due to the desert, or to rebel forces catching him