In a Russian POW camp, four Germans determined to end WWII agree to pose as Red Army soldiers. Are they patriots or traitors, heroes or opportunists? more
In a Russian POW camp, four Germans determined to end WWII agree to pose as Red Army soldiers. Are they patriots or traitors, heroes or opportunists? Although they go to the frontlines, their new Russian comrades are initially unsure whether to trust them. Three of them then accept a mission behind German lines, but they are unprepared to fire upon their countrymen and it ends up costing the life of a Russian soldier. In the meantime, the fourth man has fallen in love with Russian radio operator Svetlana. After being criticized by the other Russians, he too agrees to participate in the mission.. close
The first day of the war brings tragedy to a peasant woman, Pasha. Her husband and her toddler son die before her eyes. She and the other villagers leave more
The first day of the war brings tragedy to a peasant woman, Pasha. Her husband and her toddler son die before her eyes. She and the other villagers leave to go into the woods. Pasha leads the villagers to fight some German troops. Coming out victories, the partisans become a feared opponent of the Germans, with the leadership of Comrade P. close
Russian filmmaker Mark Donskoi, of "The Gorky Trilogy" fame, was responsible for the postwar Soviet drama The Taras Family (originally Nepokorenniye, more
Russian filmmaker Mark Donskoi, of "The Gorky Trilogy" fame, was responsible for the postwar Soviet drama The Taras Family (originally Nepokorenniye, and also released as Unvanquished and Unconquered). A semi-sequel to Donskoi's Raduga (1944), the story is set in Nazi-occupied Kiev. The drama focusses on the travails of a typical Soviet family and on the efforts by the Germans to force the reopening of a local munitions factory. The film is at its most grimly effective in a long sequence wherein the Nazis conduct a search for Jewish escapees, culminating in a horribly graphic re-creation of the slaughter of the Jews at Babi Yar. While Donskoi was critically lambasted for his cinematic "sloppyiness" during this sequence (hand-held camera, rapid cuts etc.), it can now be seen that he was attempting a realistic, documentarylike interpretation of this infamous Nazi atrocity. close
Set in Russia during the Battle of Stalingrad in the Second World War. The war is shown through the eyes of simple soldiers, who are dreaming about love more
Set in Russia during the Battle of Stalingrad in the Second World War. The war is shown through the eyes of simple soldiers, who are dreaming about love and being loved in a peaceful life, which most of them will never have. close