My Observations and thoughts

This film was sad but it also showed how the Ukrainians were struggling to break free from Russia back in 1918. Ukraine formed a Ukrainian People's Republic in 2017 and fought off the Bolsheviks to remain independent. Unfortunately, the Bolsheviks won in the end but this film would hopefully inspire Ukrainians to never forget the sacrifices of earlier generations.

https://www.csis.org/analysis/struggle-ukrainian-self-determination-and-identity

The Bolshevik General Muravyov was portrayed as a monster and he was very brutal in his crackdown on the Ukrainians once he gained control later. Maravyov was a big opponent of Ukrainization, the implementation of policies that allow Ukrainians to have their own culture and language.

The film does show the horrors of war and many of the war movies that I grew up watching did not show the body count. It does a great job of capturing the costumes and scenery of 1918. There wasn't a dubbed version so I had to watch the subtitles.