The Guide
The Guide
| 12 November 2014 (USA)
The Guide Trailers

American boy Peter and blind minstrel Ivan are thrown together by fate amidst the turbulent mid-30s Soviet Ukraine.

Reviews
Solidrariol Am I Missing Something?
StyleSk8r At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.
Sienna-Rose Mclaughlin The movie really just wants to entertain people.
Sarita Rafferty There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.
Kirpianuscus A testimony. this is the basic meaning of this admirable film. a blind man. a boy. Ukraine in the "30's. the geography of a world under dictatorship. and great cinematography. it is enough for describe a film escaping from the circle of worlds. because it is not exactly the film of a story. but a bitter remember. about a society. about a gray past. about a blind man. and a boy. in middle of embroidery of symbols.
Maryana Pigur This film is really valuable for me like for thousands other people. Because of its story lines, kobza-player's songs, picturesque Ukrainian nature and incredible mix of emotions like "laughing through crying". "The Guide" for me is a promise for the great future of cinema in my Motherland, because this film is valuable for Ukrainians only, but not for the whole world now. Let me begin from bad side of "The Guide". It's Jamala's unnatural play. She don't live in the film. She is trying to play. And this is the thing, which give opportunity for growing to Oles Sanin and Ukrainian cinema. Then, someone said Grin's play wasn't so good, but it can't be usual or whole-understandable for us, because he is a person from different country and culture both in real life and film. That's all about bad sides. Maybe, its worth to say smth about dialogs, but that which were played by brilliant actors are good and . I am completely sure co-scenes of Stanislav Boklan and Irina Sanina were the best, because of its authenticity and premiere on the "big screen". I should say a big "Thank you!" to Sergii Mihalchuk, who took a picture, and whole film team (I don't really know who should get the biggest appreciation, except of director and actors, of course). Another advantage its shooting in Ukrainian picturesque nature, which takes a heart with it for a long months (I have watched "The Guide" in November, but I still remember that moments of delight by simply watching native landscapes). Year, so many words without mentioning dramatic storyline in this film, which should play, actually, the main role. But for me it isn't smth new, unknown. I can't even imagine how it was. And I'm really stressful-less person, so it hasn't touched me. Only mentioned that it really-really-really and I have a huge reason to live for. Mistake isn't excused. But "The Guide" is still the best and you still should watch it to understand and to move our history on.
Volodymyr Lytvyn The Guide - one of the best Ukrainian movies ever. Must watch film, to understand current events in Ukraine. (Maidan 2014) History repeats itself, especially since Russian government has not changed it's policy toward Ukrainian nation. Based on Historical facts the movie portrays how Soviet/Russian government had always wanted to destroy Ukrainian identity,culture and its people. The movie is set in early 1930 Kharkiv, beginning of planed mass starvation (10 million Ukrainian civilians) by Josef Stalin, called Holodomor. It also teaches us about Ukrainian heroes, legendary Kobzars, spiritual leaders of Ukrainian nation. In addition to a powerful story that the movie tells, filming, acting and directing is at highest level of filmography.
zkossak This film's background is the Soviet Ukraine in the 1930s. It is a story of a 10 year old boy who is separated from his American father after the father is assassinated by Soviet NKVD agents for possessing documentation that reveal the atrocities that were being committed by the ruling communist party in Russia/Soviet Union. Millions of people were perishing from the forced famine that the Soviet government enforced to collectivize the farming community. The plot revolves around the boy's attempt to survive in Ukraine and get back to his home in the United States. He is aided by a blind minstrel (Kobzar). The story is a heart wrenching view of life under the Russian/Soviet communist dictatorship. The scenery is beautiful, the plot is mesmerizing and the acting is superb. I give it 10 stars.ZJ Kossak