“Afghanistan is nothing but time and dust, the Afghani keep the time and the foreigners leave with the dust”. In 1979, worried about the progress of the mujahideen, the Soviets invaded the country for ten years. For Pavel Lungin, here is an honest assessment of a disastrous conflict, a powerful movie about relationships and the absurdities of war, carried by extraordinary actors in one of the most unassailable lands in the world.