valis1949 Obviously,this piece is not meant to be a realistic portrayal of life in the armed forces. The film is a composite of long, dreamy shots that almost convey a dreamlike atmosphere. Many times, it seems like a water color painting come to life. Characters are not in any way developed, but only used to further the subjective 'feel' of the film. 100 DAYS BFORE THE COMMAND is meant as a loose, artistic 'film-poem' designed to show experience in an imaginative way. Although it doesn't succeed 100%, it still creates a valid aesthetic experience. You will only be frustrated if you try to view it as something that might turn up on '60 Minutes'.

JoeytheBrit This is one of those enigmatic 'artistic' films beloved of intellectuals and elitists that will mystify everyone else due to the internalised nature of its narrative (if it can be called such) which makes its meaning virtually impenetrable. In fact trying to describe it is like trying to describe a colour to a blind man: each scene is its own little story that bears little or no relation to those that precede or follow it. People die, but we never learn why. People stare at each other without talking. There's a lot of nudity, and this being a film about soldiers, much of it is of a homoerotic nature. Oh, and there's lots of cameras – so they're probably quite meaningful, although I couldn't say why. In fact I think I might have been watching the out-takes.

vargaslaw This movie was either too deep and beyond my simple intelligence due to language and sufficient English subtitles or the people making this movie were uncertain of what the movie was suppose to convey. The movie was very vague, confusing and just left me feeling that I had wasted about 3 hours of my time. Yes, 3 hours, because I had to keep going back from the beginning to see if maybe I had missed something. Were these guys in boot camp? Were they in an insane asylum? Were they in a prison? I wish I could get the writer to tell us what he was trying to convey. I am really unable to give a summary because this movie jumps around from scene to scene. I don't know if at one point it is a real scene or someone's dream or imagination. In the end, I am uncertain if all the characters in the movie got killed, died or committed suicide. I do not recommend this movie.

peter-209 This is, and I guess, will remain, an extremely underrated film. There is no chance that those of us who are just a little bit intellectually lazy will like it. The viewer's participation in creating (or re-creating) the plot is absolutely required, to an even higher extent than in Bertolucci's "Besieged". This short film consists of several disconnected vignettes from the life of the Red Army soldiers living, training, working - and let us not forget: washing themselves - on an army base. The country is deserted and the buildings are dilapidated, but everything is beautifully shot. The atmosphere is oneiric, the dreams and imaginations blend with the reality, thus resembling the works of the Master - Andrei Tarkovsky or the Disciple - Aleksander Sokurov. There is not much dialog, which leaves us on our own to interpret sometimes surrealistic happenings on the screen. As in many other soldier movies, the topic is the clash between individual's humanity and the inherent brutality of the system. The clash is treated very delicately, there is not a single scene of the direct physical violence in the movie. Yet, we witness - or infer, for that matter - hazing and several deaths on the camp. Although not an overly gay film, it is remarkably open in its homoerotic subtexts. In contrast, the scenes with direct nudity, like those in the showers or the pool, are devoid of eroticism. They are shot in a documentaristic style, but the beautiful sacral music of Johann Sebastian Bach gives them another meaning and elevates them to unanticipated heights. The film opens with a biblical motto and it is not a chance that the story of St. George battling the dragon appears twice in the movie. Another hint to a deeper meaning of the film is that two persons of the cast are named Death and Angel... As for the acting, there will be some that will not like it, but, incredibly, all the roles are played by real-life soldiers, except for one professional actor (guess which). Watching "Sto dnei do prikaza" (and I recommend to watch it multiple times ) is a strange, difficult, but rewarding experience.