AllMovie

Of commissars and peasants, there are many tales told. This Yugoslavian film explores the many-sided character not only of those seeking to bring communist collectivism to a rural village, but of those being changed, the peasants. Each side brings its own mix of humor, kindness, and cruelty into the exchange. The movie seems to say that there are no villainous groups, only individuals. A stern but fair commissar attempts to bring order to a small village which is about to be flooded; he is "aided" by brutal soldiers, and resisted by hard-headed peasants. For his pains, he is beaten, mutilated, and left for dead before the floods come.