The Golden Buttons is a remarkably restrained fly-on-the-wall observation of the cadets of a Russian military academy who will go on to join the National Guard reporting to Vladimir Putin. Director Alex Evstigneev films his subjects like a portraitist—a fixed camera at eye level taking in faces with neutral expressions—but his filmmaker’s eye also creates panoramic frames and symmetrical compositions that play with depth of field, echoing the detached precision expected from these young men as they’re molded into an ideal for which they are ill-prepared, all while exposing their vulnerability. Shots of worried or weeping boys are contrasted with Evstigneev’s faux portraits and the strict discipline that they evoke. The film’s soundtrack, often at odds with the images on the screen, repeats the boys’ lessons—a mix of encouragement, admonition, mantras, threats, cajoling, rules and repetitions, congratulations, and slogans, a rapid-fire lesson in indoctrination. These words collide with the still-fresh faces of these young people, with their rosy cheeks and bright eyes, presenting an unsettling report that, while never openly criticizing the Russian president, manages to clearly convey the danger behind his propaganda- and repression-fueled regime.

Claire Valade
Critic and programmer