''The Last Frontier'' also released as ''The Final Stand'' (russian: Подольские курсанты, Podolskie kursanty, lit=Podolsk cadets) is a 2020 Russian WWII film written and directed by

Vadim Shmelyov Vadim Viktorovich Shmelyov (russian: link=no, Вадим Викторович Шмелёв; born August 30, 1967) is a Russian film director, screenwriter and producer. Biography Vadim was born on August 30, 1967. He studied at Russian State Inst ...

. A story about the heroic performance of the Podolsk cadets’ ( ru) at the Battle of Moscow in October 1941.

Plot

The cadets of the Podolsk artillery and infantry schools are completing their training, and they will soon become commanders. Two friends compete for a girl. Suddenly, the command learns about the breakthrough of the front and the movement of a German tank column to Moscow. The only serious force is the cadets, they must stop the Germans at the Ilyinsky defence line and hold out until the reserves approach. In fierce battles, where many of them die, they fulfill this task.

Cast

Aleksey Bardukov Aleksey Igorevich Bardukov (russian: Алексей Игоревич Бардуков; born November 18, 1984) is a Russian theatre actor and dubbing. He appeared in over 40 films. Early life Aleksey was born on November 18, 1984 into a large fam ...

as Lieutenant Afanasiy Aleshkin * as the head of the Podolsk Artillery School, Colonel *

Sergey Bezrukov Sergey Vitalyevich Bezrukov (russian: link=no, Серге́й Вита́льевич Безру́ков, born 18 October 1973) is a Soviet and Russian film and stage actor, singer, People's Artist of Russia, the laureate of the State Prize of th ...

as Captain * Lubov Konstantinova as

Junior Sergeant A junior sergeant is a military rank used in the armed forces of many countries. It is usually placed below sergeant. Russia Junior sergeant (russian: Младший сержант, Mladshy serzhant) is the designation to the lowest rank in the ...

Mariya 'Masha' Grigorieva, nurse * Artyom Gubin as

Aleksandr 'Sashka' Lavrov, cadet * Igor Yudin as Sergeant Mitya Shemyakin, cadet * Guram Bablishvili as Lieutenant Museridze * Dmitriy Solomykin as Lieutenant Shapovalov *

Roman Madyanov Roman Sergeevich Madyanov (russian: Рома́н Серге́евич Мадя́нов; born July 22, 1962) is a Soviet and Russian actor. Madyanov's career in cinema began as a child actor when he starred as Huckleberry Finn in ''Hopelessly Lost' ...

Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of ...

Vasily Smirnov *

Yekaterina Rednikova Yekaterina Valerevna Rednikova (also Ekaterina Rednikova: russian: Екатерина Валерьевна Редникова, born May 17, 1973) is a Russian theatre and film actress, best known for her roles in films including '' The Thief'' an ...

Military doctor The term military medicine has a number of potential connotations. It may mean: *A medical specialty, specifically a branch of occupational medicine attending to the medical risks and needs (both preventive and interventional) of sold ...

Nikitina * Sergey Bondarchuk Jr. as Major Dementyev * Darya Ursulyak as Liza Aleshkina *

Daniil Spivakovsky Daniil Ivanovich Spivakovsky (russian: Даниил Иванович Спиваковский; August 28, 1969, Moscow) is a Russian film and theater actor, Honored Artist of Russia (2007). Head of the workshop of Theatre faculty of the Moscow In ...

as engineer Uglov * Vasiliy Mishchenko as

Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

Eliseev * Gleb Bochkov as Sergeant Yakhin * Oleg Ots as Bogatov, cadet * Aleksey Kopashov as Simonov * Gleb Danilov as Slavik Nikitin * Aleksey Takharov as Azamat Khalilov, cadet * Dmitry Topol as Ibragimov, cadet * Pavel Stont as Vasilkov, cadet * Aleksandr Lobanov as Battalion Commissar Andropov * Stas Shmelev as

Senior Lieutenant Senior lieutenant is a military grade between a lieutenant and a captain, often used by countries from the former Eastern Bloc. It is comparable to first lieutenant. Finland ( sv, premiärlöjtnant) is a Finnish military rank above ( sv, lö ...

Nosov * Nikolay Samsonov as Paramedic Petrov * Pavel Krainov as Captain Rossikov * Kirill Zaporozhskiy as Senior political instructor Lepekhin * Darya Konyzheva as

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, afte ...

women Lyusya Shishkina * Pavel Levkin as

Mamchich * Dmitry Brauer as Germany Major Werner

Production

The film was shot at a specially built film complex "VoenFilm" in

Medyn Medyn (russian: Меды́нь) is a town and the administrative center of Medynsky District in Kaluga Oblast, Russia, located on the Medynka River ( Oka basin), northwest of Kaluga, the administrative center of the oblast. Population: Histo ...

, where a village was built, pillboxes were dug, a river was built and filled with water, and part of the Varshavskoye Highway was dumped. Historical consultants tried to achieve maximum reliability of what was shown, up to the reconstruction of the numbers of tanks and aircraft; in particular, Bezrukov's character is armed with a

Thompson submachine gun The Thompson submachine gun (also known as the "Tommy Gun", "Chicago Typewriter", "Chicago Piano", “Trench Sweeper” or "Trench Broom") is a blowback-operated, air-cooled, magazine-fed selective-fire submachine gun, invented by United Sta ...

, since such a weapon was found during excavations at the Ilyinsky border.

Filming

The filming location of the feature film took place from August to November 2018, Scenes of Peaceful Days: Ivanovskoe Estate in the

Podolsk Urban Okrug Podolsk Urban Okrug (''"Big Podolsk"'') — municipal divisions, located southeast of Moscow Oblast Russia. Its administrative division and center is the city of Podolsk Podolsk ( rus, Подольск, p=pɐˈdolʲsk) is an industrial city, ...

, Moscow Oblast and

Kaluga Oblast Kaluga Oblast (russian: Калу́жская о́бласть, translit=Kaluzhskaya oblast) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the city of Kaluga. The 2021 Russian Census found a population of 1,069,904. G ...

. The project was supported by the

Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation The Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation () is a ministry of the Government of Russia responsible for state policy in cultural spheres such as art, cinematography, archives, copyright, cultural heritage, and censorship. Olga Lyubimo ...

, the

Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation The Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation (russian: Министерство обороны Российской Федерации, Минобороны России, informally abbreviated as МО, МО РФ or Minoboron) is the govern ...

, the Ministry of Emergency Situations, the

Governor of Moscow Oblast The Governor of Moscow Oblast (russian: Губернатор Московской области) is the governor of Moscow Oblast, a federal subject of Russia. The governor is the highest-ranking official and head of administration of the gover ...

and Governor of Kaluga Oblast, deputies of the State Duma, the Russian Youth Union, well-known public and political figures. The

Central Archives of the Russian Ministry of Defence The Central Archives of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation (russian: Центральный архив Министерства обороны Российской Федерации (ЦАМО РФ); TsAMO RF) are located in Podols ...

provides advisory support and proper supervision over the credibility of the film. The supervisory board of the film project is headed by

Viacheslav Fetisov Viacheslav Alexandrovich "Slava" Fetisov (Russian: Вячеслав Александрович Фетисов, ''Vjačeslav Aleksandrovič Fetisov''; born 20 April 1958) is a Russian former professional ice hockey defenceman. He played for HC CS ...

Reception

Budget

The film's budget was 450 million

ruble The ruble (American English) or rouble (Commonwealth English) (; rus, рубль, p=rublʲ) is the currency unit of Belarus and Russia. Historically, it was the currency of the Russian Empire and of the Soviet Union. , currencies named ''rub ...

s, of which 60 million were provided by the Ministry of Culture, the rest was allocated by investors, distributors and a film studio.

Release

The film was released in Russian by

Central Partnership Central Partnership (russian: Централ Партнершип) is a Russian film distribution and production company founded in 1995. The distributor was acquired by Russian gas company Gazprom in 2014. History Central Partnership started ...

on November 4, 2020.

Awards

The film received three awards at the 2021

Prague Independent Film Festival Prague Independent Film Festival (PIFF) is an international film festival held annually in August in Prague, the capital of Czech Republic. The festival focuses on independent cinema. Festival founder and director is Diana Ringo. History 2016 ...

— Grand Prix, Best Director, Best Actor (Sergey Bezrukov) and Best Score.

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Last Frontier (2020 film) 2020 films 2020s Russian-language films Eastern Front of World War II films Films set in 1941 Films set in Moscow Films set in the Soviet Union World War II films based on actual events Films about armoured warfare 2020s action war films Russian action war films 2020 war drama films Russian war drama films 2020s historical action films Russian historical action films Russian World War II films