Battle of Moscow (film)

''The Battle of Moscow'' (Russian: ''Битва за Москву'', ''Bitva za Moskvu'') is a 1985 Soviet two-part war film, presenting a dramatized account of the 1941 Battle of Moscow and the events preceding it. The films were a Soviet-East German-Czechoslovak-Vietnamese co-production directed by Yuri Ozerov who also wrote the script. It was made in time for the 40th anniversary of the Allied victory over Nazi Germany and the 20th anniversary of the proclamation of the Victory Day holiday and Moscow's declaration as a Hero City.

Plot

Film I: ''Aggression''

Part 1

In the aftermath of the victory in France, Hitler decides to attack the Soviet Union and places his hopes on field marshal Fedor von Bock, commander of Army Group Center, for the capture of Moscow. Ilse Stöbe, Rudolf von Scheliha and Richard Sorge inform of the danger, but the Soviet intelligence dismisses their warnings. Zhukov is concerned that the army is ill-prepared; Pavlov decries him as a fear-monger. The Red Army officers are convinced that in the event of an invasion, they would immediately counter-attack. On 22 June 1941 Germany launches Operation Barbarossa, overwhelming the Soviets.

Part 2

The Red Army tries to counter the assault with a string of hasty operations, while the Brest Fortress is desperately defended. The Soviets manages to recapture Yelnya but having Lieutenant General L.G. Petrovsky killed in action. Stalin insists on defending Kiev, and his forces suffer immense losses.

Film II: ''Typhoon''

Part 1

The Wehrmacht enacts to attack Moscow in which Hitler decides to call it Operation Typhoon. Richard Sorge finds out that Japan won't attack the USSR in 1941. The Germans approach the Soviet capital, winning the Battle at Borodino Field and breaching the Mozhaisk line. Stalin decides to remain in Moscow.

Part 2

The enemy is at the outskirts of the city, yet the traditional 7 November parade takes place as always. Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya is captured and executed, and Panfilov's men fight to the last. Rokossovsky begs Zhukov to allow retreat but is refused. After all seems lost, the Germans grind to a halt because of the harsh winter. On 6 December, the Soviets launch a successful counter-offensive by using the air force, the cavalry, tanks, and ski troops. Forcing the Germans to retreat, causing Hitler to blame his generals.

Production

''Battle of Moscow'' was director Ozerov's third film dealing with the Second World War, after the five-part ''Liberation'' and the TV mini-series ''Soldiers of Freedom''. Ozerov was not allowed to deal with the early, dark chapters of the war in ''Liberation'' due to political pressure, and ''Soldiers of Freedom'' revolved around the battles outside the Soviet Union. For the 40th year to the victory over Germany, Ozerov intended to create a film about the first stages on the war, from the beginning of the invasion on 22 June 1941 until the Wehrmacht's defeat near Moscow.

Unlike ''Liberation'', Ozerov's most acclaimed work, ''Battle of Moscow'' was a purely historical film, with no fictional characters included in the plot. The actors selected to portray the main roles were mostly ones who already appeared as such in the director's earlier works, especially Mikhail Ulyanov who depicted Zhukov in all of Ozerov's films. Eventually, the production involved a crew of some six thousand people.

The German-speaking actors were contacted through DEFA, while the scenes involving Richard Sorge were shot in Vietnam with the assistance of the Fafim studio. Marshal Sergei Rudenko served as the chief military consultant of the movie; the battle scenes involved troops from the Red Army as extras. The filming of the open-door battle scenes took place in Czechoslovakia, but the urban combat was shot Moscow itself: buildings in the wrecked parts of the city were demolished with explosives to simulate bomber attacks.

The film premiered in the Moscow Film Festival.

Reception

Yuri Ozerov won the Grand Prize in the 1986 Alma Ata All-Union Film Festival for his work on the film, as well as the Alexander Dovzhenko Golden Medal.

Russian film critic Alexander Fedorov called the movie "a large-scale war production typical of Yuri Ozerov" which presents Stalin as a wise leader, and depicts Zhukov as a brilliant general. Fedorov also commented on the battle scenes, describing them as "impressive... involving tanks, airplanes and artillery."

Cast

*Yakov Tripolski ''as'' Joseph Stalin.
*Anatoly Nikitin ''as'' Mikhail Kalinin.
*Nikolai Zasukhin ''as'' Vyacheslav Molotov.
*Vyacheslav Ezepov ''as'' Alexander Shcherbakov.
*Vladimir Troshin ''as'' Kliment Voroshilov.
*Stepan Mikoyan ''as'' Anastas Mikoyan.
*Evgeni Novikov ''as'' Nikolay Shvernik.
*Achim Petri ''as'' Adolf Hitler.
*Olegar Fedoro ''as'' People's Commisar.
*Rostislav Yankovsky ''as'' General Vasily Smirnov.
*Mikhail Ulyanov ''as'' Marshal Georgy Zhukov.
*Aleksandr Filippenko ''as'' General Dmitry Pavlov.
*Bruno Freindlich ''as'' Marshal Boris Shaposhnikov.
*Yury Yakovlev ''as'' General Leonid Petrovsky.
*Juozas Budraitis ''as'' Richard Sorge.
*Aleksandr Goloborodko ''as'' General Konstantin Rokossovsky.
*Vitali Rozstalnoi ''as'' Marshal Semyon Timoshenko.
*Emanuil Vitorgan ''as'' Commissar Yefim Fomin.
*Leonid Kulagin ''as'' General Maksim Purkayev.
*Lev Pregunov ''as'' General Lev Dovator.
*Gennadi Saifulin ''as'' General Dmitry Lelyushenko.
*Irina Shemliova ''as'' Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya.
*Irina Gubanova ''as'' Zoya's mother.
*Konstantin Stepankov ''as'' General Ivan Panfilov.
*Gennadi Frolov ''as'' General Timofei Orlenko.
*Nikolai Ivanov ''as'' Colonel Victor Polosukhin.
*Victor Zozulin ''as'' General Mikhail Katukov.
*Vasily Korzun ''as'' General Dmitry Ryabyshev.
*Nikolai Kryuchkov ''as'' old man in Vyazma.
*Oleg Stefan ''as'' Lieutenant Manchich.
*Leonid Evtifiev ''as'' General Vasily Sokolovsky.
*Aleksandr Voevodin ''as'' Commissar Vasily "Diev" Kluchkov.
*Piotr Glebov ''as'' Marshal Semyon Budyonny.
*Nikolai Volkov ''as'' General Mikhail Kirponos.
*Aleksandr Martinov ''as'' General Ivan Kopetz.
*Boris Scherbakov ''as'' General Mikhail Romanov.
*Valeri Yurchenko ''as'' Commissar Nikolai Popel.
*Romualds Ancāns ''as'' Major Pyotr Gavrilov.
*Vladimir Kuznetsov ''as'' General Nikolai Vashugin.
*Boris Guasakov ''as'' General Dmitriy Ustinov.
*Yuri Gusev ''as'' General Vladimir Klimovskikh.
*Mikk Mikiver ''as'' General Ivan Konev.
*Valeri Karen ''as'' General Hovhannes Bagramyan.
*Joachim Tomaschewsky ''as'' Field Marshal Hans von Kluge.
*Erik Veldre ''as'' General Heinz Guderian.
*Gerd Michael Henneberg ''as'' Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel.
*Ernst Heise ''as'' Field Marshal Fedor von Bock.

Soundtrack

Aleksandra Pakhmutova made the music and the movie soundtrack. The movie's theme song "You're my hope, you're my joy" was composed by her and Nikolai Dobronranov, and was sung by Lev Leshchenko.

See also

* ''Moscow Strikes Back''

References

External links

The Battle of Moscow
on the IMDb.
The Battle of Moscow
on film.ru.

{{Yuri Ozerov

1985 films
Soviet historical drama films
Soviet biographical drama films
Moscow (film)
Mosfilm films
1980s Russian-language films
1980s German-language films
Moscow (film)
Films set in 1941
Films directed by Yuri Ozerov
Czech war films
Vietnamese historical films
Cultural depictions of Adolf Hitler
Cultural depictions of Joseph Stalin
Cultural depictions of Georgy Zhukov
Military history of Moscow
1980s historical drama films
1980s war drama films
1980s biographical drama films
Czech World War II films
Soviet World War II films
Czechoslovak World War II films
Russian World War II films
Vietnamese war films
German World War II films
DEFA films
Films shot at Barrandov Studios
Films shot at Babelsberg Studios
Films shot in Vietnam
Vietnamese historical drama films
1980s German films