Stalingrad

Language : Russian / German

 

Year of release : 2013

 

Run time : 2h11min

 

Genre : War

 

Cast : Pyotr Fyodorov, Thomas Kretschmann

 

 

The story of a Russian garrison,defending a building in Stalingrad in the 2nd World War is told by the son of a woman who was 18 when the Russians fought the Germans to take back the city.

 

The woman,18 at the time( but looking at least 30 !),was skinny and bland,but all the men of this garrison fall for her! She flirts with all of them,to the point I thought she liked one but then she was with another! She's telling the tenor how much her family loved him,she sleeps on another one's legs,because the bed was too small and comfortable for her,she kisses another guy,then sleeps in the company of another guy who tells her he loves her,she tells him she loves him too..I think she told them all what they wanted to hear because she saw they liked her (maybe to protect herself?!). Needless to say how much I disliked the character.

Ironically these Russians called a Russian woman who ended up with an awarded German captain (not by choice), a German wh0re, but this one who was with all of them was Ok,in their eyes.

 

I was more interested in the story of the German captain and the Russian woman.

The movie opens with the narrator,who's face we never see, but we understand it's him who is on a rescue mission after a big earthquake caused by a tsunami in Japan. As he tries to calm down a survivor, he remembers the story his mother told him about what she lived through in the 2nd World War, when she was found in her building by a Russian garrison who came to defend the city.

The movie goes into the past,to other ruins, damaged by canons and bullets,not the earth's movement.

 

We also see the story of a woman who is forced into a relationship with a German captain, because she looks like his dead wife. The Russian people in her building hate her (after they were threatened by the German that if they steal her food again, he'll sh00t them).They can't understand each other, but when push comes to shove, he helps her and keeps her with him to protect her.

 

I personally don't like war movies, because I don't like the destruction and suffering, but I enjoyed this movie, to a certain degree, as I was interested in the love story between the German captain and the Russian woman.

The movie looks like a Hollywood movie, starting with the set design,the costumes, and ending with the fighting scenes. Speaking of which,the movie has some pretty cool fighting scenes,like the one at minute 15, in which the soldiers come running and shooting while on fire!..

I also liked the fact the movie doesn't seem to take sides or vilify a side,praising the other. It's just people trapped in a war, with their flaws and problems.

Also, two of my favorite actors play in it,Pyotr and Thomas, who even appear a few times together on screen.

Speaking of which,the acting was great ,especially from Thomas Kretschmann.

The visual effects were great.

The soundtrack was good, at times it has these beautiful choirs or soprano vocals.

 

A bit of movie trivia - at the Berlinale Film Festival, Pyotr Fyodorov was paired with the actress who played every Russian soldier's love interest in this movie, although his character was not her flame,misleading the audience.

 

I would have given it a higher rating if it wasn't for the plain woman (who looks like a boy) that all the soldiers are fawning over,while she's playing all of them!

Rating : Worth a watch !