So, if I had to explain why Andrei Konchalovsky’s films appeal so deeply to me, what would I say? That his women characters are always the entree in his films and often his male roles seem like the parsley sprinkled around them to enhance the presentation. Embodied often by his real-life wife Julia Vysotskaya, women like Lyuda in ‘Dear Comrades!’ appeal to my sense of womanhood, to my inner strength but also on a very basic aesthetic level. Lyuda is elegant, in her clunky shoes and with her hungry, lean body, as are the men around her. First and foremost Konchalovsky is a true artist, always loyal to the visual — the most important aspect of the seventh art.