''Five Days, Five Nights'' (russian: Пять дней, пять ночей, Pyat Dney, Pyat Nochei; german: Fünf Tage, Fünf Nächte) is a 1961 joint

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

–

East German East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

film, directed by

Lev Arnshtam Lev Oskarovich Arnshtam (russian: Лео Оскарович Арншта́м; 15 January 1905 – 26 December 1979) was a Soviet film director and screenwriter. He directed nine films between 1936 and 1967. Arnshtam was named People’s Artist o ...

and

Heinz Thiel Heinz Thiel (10 May 1920 – 9 March 2003) was a German film director and screenwriter. He directed more than 20 films between 1956 and 1977. His 1967 film ''Bread and Roses'' was entered into the 5th Moscow International Film Festival. Sel ...

Plot

On 8 May 1945, the day of Germany's surrender at the

end End, END, Ending, or variation, may refer to: End *In mathematics: ** End (category theory) ** End (topology) **End (graph theory) ** End (group theory) (a subcase of the previous) **End (endomorphism) *In sports and games **End (gridiron footbal ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, exiled communist Erich Braun returns along with the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...

to his native city of

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...

, only three months after it was devastated in aerial bombardment. He aids a group of Soviet soldiers to recover the art of the Old Masters Picture Gallery from the ruins of the

Zwinger "" () is a German word for outer ward or bailey (castle), outer bailey. It represents an open kill zone area between two defensive walls that is used for defensive purposes. s were built in the Post-classical history, post-classical and early ...

Palace. During the next five days, while searching for the collection, he encounters several of the city's residents who have also returned from the war. Although they distrust the Soviets at first, they eventually assist them to recover the pictures.

Cast

* Wilhelm Koch-Hooge as Erich Braun *

Annekathrin Bürger Annekathrin Bürger (born 1937) is a German stage, film and television actress. Bürger was a prominent actress in East Germany appearing in a number of films made by the state-run DEFA film studios as well as in television series such as ''Wolf ...

as Katrin * Erich Franz as Father Baum * Heinz-Dieter Knaup as Paul Naumann * Evgenia Kozireva as Nikitina * Marga Legal as Luise Ramk * Mikhail Mayorov as General * Vladimir Pitsek as Galkin * Nikolai Pogodin as Rudakov *

Vsevolod Safonov Vsevolod Dmitrievich Safonov (russian: Все́волод Дми́триевич Сафо́нов; 9 April 1926 – 6 July 1992) was a Soviet actor of theatre and cinema. He was awarded the title People's Artist of the USSR Prize (1974). Biography ...

as Captain Leonov * Vsevolod Sanaev as Sergeant Kozlov * Raimund Schelcher as farmer *

Gennadi Yukhtin Gennadi (birth name Geniy) Gavrilovich Yukhtin (russian: Геннадий (Гений) Гаврилович Юхтин; 30 March 1932 – 18 February 2022) was a Russian film and stage actor. Life and career At the age of fourteen, Yukhtin wa ...

as Strokov

Production

The picture's plot was inspired by the recovery of the art of the Old Masters Picture Gallery through the hands of Soviet troops in 1945. The art collection was then taken to the USSR, where it was kept until being returned to the Dresden Gallery during 1960. The film was the first Soviet–East German co-production in the field of cinema.

Reception

''Five Days, Five Nights'' sold more than two million tickets in the German Democratic Republic. The film critic of ''

Der Spiegel ''Der Spiegel'' (, lit. ''"The Mirror"'') is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. With a weekly circulation of 695,100 copies, it was the largest such publication in Europe in 2011. It was founded in 1947 by John Seymour Chaloner ...

'' described the picture as "making no claim to document history truthfully", while also quoting

Walter Ulbricht Walter Ernst Paul Ulbricht (; 30 June 18931 August 1973) was a German communist politician. Ulbricht played a leading role in the creation of the Weimar-era Communist Party of Germany (KPD) and later (after spending the years of Nazi rule in ...

, who called it "a great work of the Working Class" and a monument to Soviet–East German friendship. The ''

Die Zeit ''Die Zeit'' (, "The Time") is a German national weekly newspaper published in Hamburg in Germany. The newspaper is generally considered to be among the German newspapers of record and is known for its long and extensive articles. History The ...

'' reviewer wrote: "the film portrays the Germans quite objectively. But the Soviets? We could only wish for it. Although we well realize that could not have been as they are depicted: noble, faultless and helpful."Non-credited writer.
Zuviel des Edelmuts
'. ''

'', 31 March 1961.

Plot

Cast

Production

Reception

References

External links