Cinema
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Posted on 04/10/2011 1:39:15 PM PDT by kronos77
"- This fortress, fortress here, we keep the defense, - This fortress, fortress here, we keep the defense..."
This film is perhaps the best, but certainly one of the best war films made in the past 20 years in Europe. Talking about the legend of the Second World War, the epic Brest fortress that was first attacked by the Nazi hordes, the first day of the war with the USSR 22nd June 1941.
The story tells of a young boy who is a trumpeter in the orchestra in Brest fortress and all the time movie battle through hell trying to find a girlfriend who is lost in the war. During his quest he survives the horrors of the battle in which he actively participate.
The film is full of scenes of war, desperate efforts of the Russian soldiers who defended the fort, during the most certainly futile struggle. While it is a fortress under siege, the German army has penetrated far beyond the fortress that is doomed to fail, but even when they find out, Russian soldiers decided to fight to the end. Excellent film directed complemented by the strong acting and perfect music. Scenes of war are almost epic, presented with the harsh reality.
Brest Fortress is something similar like the American fort Alamo, just became much larger and more powerful symbol of the perseverance of Russian troops, tragedies, and ultimate victory.
The film certainly has to be seen, and the quality of acting, directing and scenes of war, beyond almost all the western movies so far recorded.
The film shows the people and the destiny woven through this historical epic about the Brest fortress. Avoided, and quite nice, skilled and successful, politics and ideology, and instead of great political speeches film shows pure heroism, struggle, and an iron will, not only from the military fortress of the crew, but also the entire Soviet people to defend the country from the fascist hordes .
Ordinary people, cooks, musicians, soldiers, doctors, civilians become suddenly, on that fateful morning of the 22nd June 1941, heroes, they want it or not, they like it or not. The film shows the harsh reality. Absolute lack of preparation and complete negligence of the Soviet army before the dawn of war, a total neglect of the defense of the nation from German aggression. Shows the persistent struggle of the army commander, Major Gavrilov and warning of impending war.
And Germans come as a shock bolt from the blue. The collapse of the Soviet military is obvious. Mass deaths, the collapse front, panic and chaos. From such chaos and terror, the rise of the heroic figures of defense fortress. Major Gavrilov, political commissar of Fomin and many others that his example of heroism, defiance and leadership endured ten times stronger against the German enemy, to the last drop of blood, the last bullet, the last drop of water ...
Long after the movie, in your ears will ring a continuous repetition of words spoken бѕ radio operator from the fortress:
"- This fortress, fortress here, we keep the defense, - This fortress, fortress here, we keep the defense..."
Thanks, pretty good movie.
I am reading “Flyboys”. Brady makes the Japanese and their treatment of the Chinese make the Germans seem like a bunch of boy scouts.
If you remember the movie “Enemy at the Gates” a lot of the Soviet snipers were trained by the Germans in the 30s as well.
The Nazis stole blonde-haired Polish kids and Germanized them and gave them to German families. Hitler planned to eliminate the Polish race by 1975, through sterilization.
“If you remember the movie “Enemy at the Gates” a lot of the Soviet snipers were trained by the Germans in the 30s as well.”
Absolutely; one hand washed the other. They also designed many Soviet planes.
During the Invasion of Poland in 1939 the fortress was defended for 4 days by a small garrison of four infantry battalions and two tank companies under Gen. Konstanty Plisowski against the XIX Panzer Corps of Gen. Heinz Guderian. After four days of heavy fighting the Polish forces withdrew southwards on September 17.
On 17 September 1939 the Soviet Union invaded Poland in accordance with the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact and occupied the Eastern part of Poland including the Brest Fortress.
“Katyn” by Andrzej Wajda is another excellent movie.
I always remember from “The World at War” when they quoted a German General in the early days of the war when it appeared that the Nazis were unstoppable.
He said this war was like an elephant fighting ants, the elephants will kill millions of ants, but eventually the sheer number of ants will end up eating the elephant down to the bone.
Bump for later.
Innerestin’.
Thanks.
Not sure that was wise, but the Russians eventually pushed the Germans all the way back to Berlin WITH American industrial might behind them.
That's how it was done. Without us providing them the "stuff" they were all going to be dead.
BTW, I doubt anyone in the USA thought of Stalin as a warm and cuddly guy. The New York Times officially disbelieved his wet work in Ukraine. On the other hand the Ukrainians quickly discovered Nazis couldn't be trusted.
BTW, I'm not without personal information about how the Germans raised troops in the Baltic states ~ wasn't all that much friendship in that, but they offered "pro pay" for guys who would volunteer for the SS (as distinct from just being stuck in the regular German army).
Some took if. Some didn't.
Again, there's not a single thing the Germans did in WWII that was honorable.
Excellent film, Hollywood has nothing on this.
Thank you so much.
t.
What’s interesting is that it wasn’t the first time the Germans fought for the Fortress, in 1939 it was in Polish hands, and the Poles fought the Germans for four days at the fortress before finally retreating.
"I am amazed to see this piece of BOLSHEVIK RUSSIAN PROPAGANDA in FR."The movie is recent production and not Soviet. It is vastly different from Soviet-era cinema.
"Give a look at Enemy at the gates - And learn Americans, how the Politk Commissars and Nikita Krushev dealt with the brave bolshevik soldiers..."Enemy at the Gates takes considerable liberties with historical accuracy. The scene with the megaphones is an exaggeration of how zagradotryads really worked. And Chruschev never played a major role at Stalingrad. He was only put there by Hollywood because he is a "recognizable Russian leader" to the American audience.
"Go see DEFIANCE to see real heroes, Belorussia's Jews fighting for their lives"While a great movie, Defiance also does take some liberties with history. Do some research on the Jewish partisans in Belorus. BTW, I'm Jewish.
“Not sure that was wise, but the Russians eventually pushed the Germans all the way back to Berlin WITH American industrial might behind them.”
I’m sure the Chinese, Vietnamese, Burmese, Koreans, and Philippinos take great comfort in the Soviet accomplishments on the Eastern Front. Stalin’s inactivity in the Far East cost them millions of lives.
The Baltic states fought for the Axis out of fear of Stalin. Being barely twenty years old themselves, and carved from Tsarist Russian territory, the Winter War (in which no Western allies helped Finland) showed them what was in store for them. Imagine the message sent to Eastern Europe when the US allied itself with Stalin; European countries saw what Stalin’s henchmen had done in Spain in 1936 - 1939, killing a dozen bishops and thousands of priests. They had no illusions as to what they were facing; the Axis had no problem attracting whole nations to their cause (without invading them). Look at the ethnic makeup of the Axis army that surrendered in Stalingrad; a lot of Italian & Romanian troops in there.
The Germans didn’t conscript foreigners into their army; they were allowed to join the SS (not forced), where they could fight alongside Germans who were too young for the German army (the German army had dibs on military-age Germans). Even France had volunteers for SS units.
The ugly truth is that what you refer to as “Germany” was in fact “the Axis”. Many people in Europe preferred Nazism to Bolshevism, and the idea that Germany forced all of these people to do bad things is absurd; they were acting in their own perceived self-interests.
"Many minorities in the Soviet Union (especially Ukrainians) greeted the Axis as liberators; Russia admitted in the last five years that they deliberately sent troops behind the lines to stir up the Germans, causing retaliations against the Soviet civilians to drive them back into the Soviet fold (and it worked)Its more complicated. Initially the Germans were greeted as liberators. Later in the war, when it was apparent they would treat the local Slav population only slightly better, if not worse, than Stalin, and not give these people self-determination as German propaganda initially promised (as some naive anti-Communist nationalists initially hoped) then support for Germans had faded. The Ukrainian nationalist figure Stepan Bandera initially acted in concert with the Nazis against the Soviets but later in the war fought against both Nazis AND Soviets. The local Eastern European populations also often quite willingly participated in persecution and mass extermination of Jews. Both due to traditional grass-roots antisemitism and due to the perception that Jews were firmly allied with Bolshevik oppressors (many early Communists and Bolshevik Commisars were ethnically Jewish.) Historical reality is complicated, despite efforst to present it as black vs. white. History will always get written by the winners.
The Soviets admitted destroying any goodwill between their citizens and the Germans; they were very specific in how they did it, and they started immediately after losing territory.
I don’t see the extermination program as a military matter as much as an internal policy; it pre-dated the war, and was simply extended into occupied territory.
"The Soviets admitted destroying any goodwill between their citizens and the Germans; they were very specific in how they did it, and they started immediately after losing territory."Not that there was a lot of goodwill to destroy. The Germans were never interested in the local Slav population to be free, or even rule them in the manner the British empire ruled its colonies. They had no use for the native population except as laborers. The plan was to colonize these territories with German population and only sustain enough original inhabitants to provide a servant/laborer class. Some of the anti-Communists nationalists, who initially welcomed the Germans with open arms, began to realize it by 1943. Many of the Jews who remained in the occupied territories, thought that stories of German extermination were Soviet propaganda. "The Germans are civilized Europeans, they wouldn't do that". "Why, I remember the Germans from WWI (when they briefly occupied Ukraine, they weren't like that". So they stayed behind. Sadly, they were very much wrong.
I bet many a lad has cut his teeth on those!
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