Stunning movie not for the faint of heart. Someone plodding yet engaging and like any good European movie It develops slowly.... yet Once you're in you're hooked. This is the collateral damage of War on the soul of humanity.

I agree the film may be biased against the Russians, but isn't that the way the West treats the Russians all along? Great performance from the little kid.

Thought it would be boring. Despite melodramatic, it's kinda effective.

The Search captures the brutality and horrors of war while succumbing to heavy handed storytelling that amounts to an exhaustive, dreary film.

No es el mejor trabajo de Michel Hazanavicius. Llena de facilismos, y un drama sin profundidad plagado de clichés, este trabajo merece quedarse guardado en el cajón del olvido.

Remember the light-hearted fantastical film that was The Artist? Well forget it if you're going to see this movie. From the same director comes one of the most depressing and heavy movies I've ever seen. Following a family separated during the second Chechen war in 1999, we see young orphaned children try to find each other while also completing the more difficult task of staying alive. In a parallel plot we witness a young Russian soldier as he is trained and dehumanized until he is left with no humanity. (Full review: http://onthedl.ca/blog/default/view/402/)

Though this was a difficult film to watch, it was beautifully orchestrated and presented the most convincing portrait of war and its toll that I have yet seen on film.

excellent fIlm?and remind people of Ukraine now

Michael; Hazavicious`follow up to the Artist is a bit of a mixed bag of a film with two story arcs circling around the events of the Chechen War in the late 90`s. The more arresting of the two is the one that tracks the orphaned son of a family who for the most part is murdered by the Russian millitary on suspected terrorism charges, and escapes into the war torn wilderness until is taken in initially by Annette Bening`s refugee centre and then Berenice Bejo`s human rights acitivist until the climax of the film. Watching the tender moments between the child and Berenice are very tender and heartwrenching all the star and really made the film for me. The other arc which seems to strictly be there just to pad the film and tie in to launch and end the film on a circular arc is the one of following a musician who is essentially forced to join the military when busted for drugs and gets enlisted strictly to avoid jail time. Nothing groundbreaking here and plays up some typical stereotypes of men in the trenches. Far from the greatness of the Artist but has its moments.

The grand return of Hazanavicius to the stage after many successes. But he who gave so much to comedy or mute cinema only brought excessive length to the war drama. Despite the original scenario, every story knows its own limit : too long, not original enough (i thought I watched a Russian version of FMJ), not credible ... Even the acting is poor. Well, that's only one mistake in his career.