I, A Russian Soldier
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''I, a Russian soldier'' () is a 1995 Russian war film about a famous episode of the Eastern Front, the
Defense of Brest Fortress The defense of Brest Fortress was the first battle of Operation Barbarossa, the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union launched on 22 June 1941. The German Army attacked without warning, expecting to take Brest on the first day, using only infantry ...
, it is based on the novel ''His Name Was Not Listed'' by Boris Vasilyev.Boris Vasiliev: I wish that all of us it was just a little easier to live...
/ref>Юность длиною в сто лет. Читаем про себя.
/ref>


Plot

The film begins on June 21, 1941, one day before the German invasion. Lieutenant Nikolay Pluzhnikov, a former cadet in the
border guards A border guard of a country is a national security agency that ensures border security. Some of the national border guard agencies also perform coast guard (as in Germany, Italy or Ukraine) and rescue service duties. Name and uniform In diffe ...
school, is posted at the border in Brest. Lieutenant Nikolay Pluzhnikov tours the city with another traveler, a Jewish woman named Mirra, who serves as a cook in the officer's canteen. She offers to lead him to his new service place, the
Brest Fortress Brest Fortress (; ; ; ), formerly known as Brest-Litovsk Fortress, is a 19th-century fortress in Brest, Belarus. In 1965, the title Hero Fortress was given to the fortress to commemorate the defence of the frontier stronghold during the fi ...
. The next morning, the garrison at Brest comes under fierce attack by an invading
Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...
force. He, Mirra, and a group of soldiers under his command begin defending the Brest Fortress, in spite of extremely unequal odds. The garrison makes several attempts to break out, but lack the numbers to do so. With the Soviet front collapsing, no reinforcements arrive as hoped. The defenders of the fortress are severely outgunned and outnumbered. Although the small, inexperienced force of Soviet soldiers in the opening hours of the battle were stunned by the surprise attack, running short of supplies, and cut off from the outside help, many of them held out much longer than the Germans expected. The Germans are forced to engage in vicious hand-to-hand fighting with the Soviet defenders. The defenders are slowly pushed back, with the Germans capturing key portions of the fort, including the headquarters. Pluzhnikov and his men receive an order to reoccupy and secure the headquarters. A freshly-graduated cadet armed with only a
TT pistol The TT-30, commonly known simply as the Tokarev, is a Soviet-made semi-automatic pistol. It was developed during the late 1920s by Fedor Tokarev as a service pistol for the Soviet Armed Forces and was based on the earlier pistol designs of John M ...
, Pluzhnikov, with several men assisting him, managed to successfully reoccupy the headquarters and eliminate one of the German machine-gun nests. In spite of the valiant defense, the outnumbered Soviet soldiers are killed or mortally wounded one by one. Border guards, soldiers, and civilians who joined the defense are killed. His friend, Private Salnikov, saves Pluzhnikov from certain death, but loses his own life. When the invaders bombard the fortress with artillery, Pluzhnikov takes cover in the basement where Mirra and three soldiers (
starshina ( rus, Старшина, p=stərʂɨˈna, a=Ru-старшина.ogg or ) is a senior military rank or designation in the military forces of some Slavs, Slavic states, and a historical military designation. Depending on a country, it had differen ...
Stephan Matveevich, junior sergeant Fedorchuk and
private Private or privates may refer to: Music * "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorded ...
Vasyliy Volkov) are waiting for the fighting to end. The group has hoarded a stockpile of food, ammunition and even water inside the basement. Pluzhnikov harshly condemns them for inaction and makes them come along for a recon mission. When the Germans spot them, they open fire, and Matveevich is severely wounded. Fedorchuk wants to give up and puts his hands up to surrender. Pluzhnikov catches him and shoots him as a traitor. Young private Volkov sees Pluzhnikov's cruelty and decides to flee during the night. Mirra and Stephan Matveevich do not wake Pluzhnikov to save the young private's life. The next morning, Stephan Matveevich realizes his wounds are gangreous and he will not survive. He heroically charges Germans holed in one of the fortress towers and thrust himself inside holding a grenade. Pluzhnikov and Mirra survive together alone for weeks after. Pluzhnikov and Mirra grow close in their time together, ultimately falling in love. They hold a short ceremony as an informal marriage in the dark basement. Pluzhnikov continues to make sneak attacks on Germans and learns how to move silently and stealthily along the fortress corridors. Eventually, Pluzhnikov captures a German soldier and interrogates him. Not wanting his position to be compromised, Pluzhnikov moves to shoot the German. The soldier fell to his knees and begs Pluzhnikov to save him. He tells that he is from Austria and has a wife and three children. Pluzhnikov spares the man. On a later raid, Pluzhnikov finds a pair of other survivors in the basements: sergeants Nebogatov and Klimkov. They want to leave the fortress for
Białowieża Forest Białowieża Forest is a large forest complex on the border between Poland and Belarus. It is one of the last and the largest remaining part of the immense primeval forest that once stretched across the European Plain. The forest is home to more ...
and join the partisans operating there. Pluzhnikov allows them to grab some ammunition and suggests they go to partisans together. He brings them to his and Mirra's basement. Nebogatov knew Mirra well before the war and says that she will not survive the partisan lifestyle. When Pluzhnikov says that he will not go without his wife, they begin to insult him and make mocking speculations about his and Mirra's sexual relations. Pluzhnikov furiously kicks them out from their basement but Mirra gives them ammo before they leave. In autumn of 1941, a month or so after the invasion, Mirra discovers she is pregnant. Pluzhnikov persuades Mirra to leave the basement for the child's sake. He wants to send her to a group of local women, mobilized by Germans for works inside the fortress. Mirra tries to join them, but while some of the women agree to hide her, others call for the
Hilfspolizei The ''Hilfspolizei'' (''HiPo'' or ''Hipo''; meaning "auxiliary police") was a short-lived auxiliary police force in Nazi Germany in 1933. The term was later semi-officially used for various auxiliary organizations subordinated to the ''Ordnungsp ...
. One of the collaborators realizes that Mirra hides herself in the basement when he smells the dew on her clothes. He then beats her and her unborn child to death with his rifle stock. In winter 1941, a high ranking German officer arrives at the fortress. Pluzhnikov tries to shoot him but only kills a couple of his guards, as his eyesight is deteriorating due to days spent in the dark basement. Germans continue to comb through ruins of the fortress but still don't dare to enter the basement. Instead, the Germans decide to send a Jewish captive, former violinist Ruvim Svitsky from the Brest ghetto, inside the basement. He offers Pluzhnikov a chance to surrender and says if he refuses, Svitsky's family will be shot by Germans and the basement will be burned out by flamethrowers. He begs Pluzhnikov to surrender. Half-blind, exhausted, starving and mentally defeated, Pluzhnikov chooses to surrender to save the Svitsky and his family. Svitsky then tells Pluzhnikov of rumors circulating inside the ghetto about the German defeat outside Moscow but also adds "this is just rumors." Pluzhnikov realizes that his struggle was not for nothing, and the Motherland has not been defeated. Lieutenant Pluzhnikov and Svitsky leave the basement, German soldiers immediately surrounding them. The German officer asks Pluzhnikov about his name and rank and orders Svitsky to act as a translator. Half-blind, exhausted and hoarse Pluzhnikov answers: "I'm a Russian soldier." Svitsky begs Pluzhnikov to say his real name and rank but he only repeats those words. The German officer then orders his soldiers to
salute A salute is usually a formal hand gesture or other action used to display respect in military situations. Salutes are primarily associated with the military and law enforcement, but many civilian organizations, such as Girl Guides, Boy Sc ...
the last Soviet defender of the Brest Fortress.


Cast

* Dmitry Medvedev as Lieutenant Pluzhnikov * Milena Tskhovreba-Agranovich as Mirra * Aleksey Buldakov as Sergeant * Albert Arntgolts as Ruvim Svitsky, violinist (voiced by
Igor Yasulovich Igor Nikolayevich Yasulovich (; 24 September 1941 – 19 August 2023) was a Soviet and Russian film and theater actor, film director and pedagogue. Biography Yasulovich was born in the village of Reinsfeld (now Zalesye) in Koshkinsky District ...
) * Natalia Vysotskaya as Christa * Pyotr Yurchenkov as Senior Sergeant Fedorchuk *
Alexander Pyatkov Alexander Alexandrovich Pyatkov (; born July 31, 1950, Moscow) is a Soviet and Russian film and theater actor. In 2006 he was awarded the title People's Artist of Russia. In 2003 Pyatkov became a member of the United Russia party. Selected film ...
as Sergeant Tolya Nebogatov * Dmitry Osherov as soldier Vasya Volkov


Awards

* 1996 — Grand Special Prize at the International Film Festival ''Golden Knight'' in
Minsk Minsk (, ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the administra ...
* 1996 — Prize of ''Golden Lotus'' on the
Pyongyang Pyongyang () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of North Korea, where it is sometimes labeled as the "Capital of the Revolution" (). Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River about upstream from its mouth on the Yellow Sea. Accordi ...
International Film Festival (
North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...
)


Other facts

* Boris Vasilyev, author of the novel, a negative attitude to this statement as "from the story could not do another series. In one series, you do not have time to show the main thing: how the boy grows from folk hero who is not afraid of anything, for it is death — deliverance from the torment of memories, grief, of all!" * A screen adaptation of the novel were planning to do Leonid Bykov and
Vadim Abdrashitov Vadim Yusupovich Abdrashitov (, ; 19 January 1945 – 12 February 2023) was a Russian film director. He was internationally renowned as one of Russian cinema's most notable independent director (film), directors, with awards from the Berlin Inte ...
. For various reasons (early tragic death of Bykov's) and nationality of the main character, it is up to the 90s failed. Знаете ли вы, что...
/ref>


References


External links

* Russian war drama films Russian romantic drama films Russian-language war drama films Russian-language romantic drama films Films based on Russian novels Films based on works by Boris Vasilyev Films scored by Eduard Artemyev Films directed by Andrei Malyukov Films set in Belarus Eastern Front of World War II films 1990s war drama films 1990s war romance films Films set in the 1940s 1995 drama films 1995 films Russian World War II films War romance films 1990s Russian films 1990s Russian-language films {{WWII-drama-film-stub