''Stalingrad'' ( Russian: ''Сталинград'') is a 1990 two-part
war film
War film is a film genre concerned with warfare, typically about navy, naval, air force, air, or army, land battles, with combat scenes central to the drama. It has been strongly associated with the 20th century. The fateful nature of battle s ...
written and directed by Yuri Ozerov, and produced by
Quincy Jones
Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (born March 14, 1933) is an American record producer, musician, songwriter, composer, arranger, and film and television producer. His career spans 70 years in the entertainment industry with a record of 80 Grammy Award n ...
and
Clarence Avant
Clarence Alexander Avant (born February 25, 1931) is an American music executive, entrepreneur, and film producer, who also went by the name of "The Black Godfather".
Avant's 75th birthday was celebrated by ''Billboard'' in its February 2006 i ...
. Revolving around the eponymous
Battle of Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad (23 August 19422 February 1943) was a major battle on the Eastern Front of World War II where Nazi Germany and its allies unsuccessfully fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad (later r ...
, the film was a co-production between the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
and
East Germany
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 German reunification, its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In t ...
Bruno Freindlich
Bruno Arturovich Freindlich (russian: Бруно Артурович Фрейндлих; 10 October 1909 – 9 July 2002) was a Soviet and Russian actor. People's Artist of the USSR (1974). His daughter Alisa Freindlich is also a notable actres ...
,
Fernando Allende
Luis Fernando Allende Arenas (born November 10, 1952) is a Mexican singer, actor, painter, film producer, and film director.
Early life
Allende was born in Mexico. His father is Mexican, and his mother is from Cuba. Allende's grandfather on his f ...
,
Sergei Garmash
Sergei Leonidovich Garmash (russian: Серге́й Леони́дович Гарма́ш; born 1 September 1958) is a Soviet and Russian film and stage actor. He is a People's Artist of Russia. In 2013 he was a member of the jury at the 35th Mosc ...
,
Nikolai Kryuchkov
Nikolai Afanasyevich Kryuchkov (russian: Никола́й Афана́сьевич Крючко́в; 6 January 1911 – 13 April 1994) was a Soviet and Russian film actor. He appeared in more than 90 films between 1932 and 1993.
Selected fi ...
, and
Ronald Lacey
Ronald William Lacey (28 September 1935 – 15 May 1991) was an English actor. He made numerous television and film appearances over a 30-year period. His roles included Harris in ''Porridge'' (1977), Frankie in the Bud Spencer comedy '' Ch ...
.
Plot
Film I
In January 1942,
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and the ...
appoints
Fedor von Bock
Moritz Albrecht Franz Friedrich Fedor von Bock (3 December 1880 – 4 May 1945) was a German who served in the German Army during the Second World War. Bock served as the commander of Army Group North during the Invasion of Poland ...
to command
Army Group South
Army Group South (german: Heeresgruppe Süd) was the name of three German Army Groups during World War II.
It was first used in the 1939 September Campaign, along with Army Group North to invade Poland. In the invasion of Poland Army Group So ...
and supervise Operation Blau. The German forces advance in the south of Russia, scattering the Soviets and approaching Stalingrad, that seems on the verge of falling to the enemy's hands. The movie ends with
Vasily Chuikov
Vasily Ivanovich Chuikov (russian: link=no, Васи́лий Ива́нович Чуйко́в; ; – 18 March 1982) was a Soviet military commander and Marshal of the Soviet Union. He is best known for commanding the 62nd Army which saw h ...
The Germans attack Stalingrad, and are engaged in close-quarters combat within the city. Chuikov's soldiers manage to hold on to their positions; On 19 November 1942, the Red Army launches a successful
counter-offensive
In the study of military tactics, a counter-offensive is a large-scale strategic offensive military operation, usually by forces that had successfully halted the enemy's offensive, while occupying defensive positions.
The counter-offensive ...
and encircles the
Wehrmacht
The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the '' Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previo ...
formations. In February 1943, the German 6th Army surrenders to the Soviets.
Production
The film was a sequel to Ozerov's 1985 ''
Battle of Moscow
The Battle of Moscow was a military campaign that consisted of two periods of strategically significant fighting on a sector of the Eastern Front during World War II. It took place between September 1941 and January 1942. The Soviet defensive ...
'', with its plot starting directly in the beginning of the former, after von Bock failed to capture Moscow. In general, ''Stalingrad'' was Ozerov's fourth work dealing with the
Soviet-German War
The Eastern Front of World War II was a theatre of conflict between the European Axis powers against the Soviet Union (USSR), Poland and other Allies, which encompassed Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Northeast Europe (Baltics), and Sou ...
, after the 1970–71 series ''
Liberation
Liberation or liberate may refer to:
Film and television
* ''Liberation'' (film series), a 1970–1971 series about the Great Patriotic War
* "Liberation" (''The Flash''), a TV episode
* "Liberation" (''K-9''), an episode
Gaming
* '' Liberati ...
'', the 1977 TV mini-series ''
Soldiers of Freedom
''Soldiers of Freedom'' (russian: Солдаты свободы) is a four-part 1977 film epic directed by Yuri Ozerov and starring Mikhail Ulyanov, Yevgeny Matveyev, Vasily Lanovoy. It is a World War II historical drama and the sequel to 1970- ...
'' and ''Battle of Moscow''.
Due to the harsh economic conditions in the late 1980s Soviet Union, Ozerov was unable to secure funding for his film inside the USSR. After deliberations, he approached the American
Warner Brothers
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...
for assistance. The company agreed to provide financial support, but demanded that American actors would be given representation. The reluctant director had to cast Powers Boothe for the title role of General
Vasily Chuikov
Vasily Ivanovich Chuikov (russian: link=no, Васи́лий Ива́нович Чуйко́в; ; – 18 March 1982) was a Soviet military commander and Marshal of the Soviet Union. He is best known for commanding the 62nd Army which saw h ...
. The film was the first Soviet-American co-production in the
Perestroika
''Perestroika'' (; russian: links=no, перестройка, p=pʲɪrʲɪˈstrojkə, a=ru-perestroika.ogg) was a political movement for reform within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) during the late 1980s widely associated wit ...
era.''Spy Magazine'', June 1991. p. 62.
Reception
The film was poorly received, and it was Ozerov's first work which failed to secure any nominations since 1958. In 1993, the director used footage from ''Stalingrad'' for the frame story of his last film, ''Angels of Death'', about a sniper duel taking place during the battle for the city. Montage from ''Stalingrad'' was also included in two TV anthologies of select material from Ozerov's films, ''The Tragedy of the Twentieth Century'' and ''The Great Captain Georgy Zhukov''.''Stalingrad'' on kino-teatr.ru /ref>
Vasily Chuikov
Vasily Ivanovich Chuikov (russian: link=no, Васи́лий Ива́нович Чуйко́в; ; – 18 March 1982) was a Soviet military commander and Marshal of the Soviet Union. He is best known for commanding the 62nd Army which saw h ...
Georgy Zhukov
Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov ( rus, Георгий Константинович Жуков, p=ɡʲɪˈorɡʲɪj kənstɐnʲˈtʲinəvʲɪtɕ ˈʐukəf, a=Ru-Георгий_Константинович_Жуков.ogg; 1 December 1896 – ...
*
Bruno Freindlich
Bruno Arturovich Freindlich (russian: Бруно Артурович Фрейндлих; 10 October 1909 – 9 July 2002) was a Soviet and Russian actor. People's Artist of the USSR (1974). His daughter Alisa Freindlich is also a notable actres ...
as Marshal
Boris Shaposhnikov
, birth_name = Boris Mikhailovitch Shaposhnikov
, birth_date =
, death_date =
, birth_place = Zlatoust, Ufa Governorate Russian Empire
, death_place = Moscow, Soviet Union
, placeofburial = Kremlin Wall Necropolis
, place ...
*
Fernando Allende
Luis Fernando Allende Arenas (born November 10, 1952) is a Mexican singer, actor, painter, film producer, and film director.
Early life
Allende was born in Mexico. His father is Mexican, and his mother is from Cuba. Allende's grandfather on his f ...
as Lieutenant
Rubén Ruiz Ibárruri
Rubén Ruiz Ibárruri ( rus, Рубе́н Руи́с Иба́ррури; January 9, 1920 – September 3, 1942) was a Spanish military officer and Soviet commander of the 100th Machine Gun Company of an independent training battalion of the 35th ...
*
Sergei Garmash
Sergei Leonidovich Garmash (russian: Серге́й Леони́дович Гарма́ш; born 1 September 1958) is a Soviet and Russian film and stage actor. He is a People's Artist of Russia. In 2013 he was a member of the jury at the 35th Mosc ...
Liubomiras Laucevičius
Liubomiras Laucevičius (born 15 June 1950) is a Lithuanian actor. He has appeared in more than fifty films since 1979.
Selected filmography
References
External links
*
1950 births
Living people
Lithuanian male film actors
...
as General Kuzma Gurov
*
Boris Nevzorov
Boris Georgievich Nevzorov (russian: Бори́с Гео́ргиевич Невзо́ров; 18 January 1950 – 18 February 2022) was a Russian actor and film director. He was an Honored Artist of the Russian Federation (1997)Nikolai Krylov
* Vadim Lobanov as
Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and chairman of the country's Council of Ministers from 1958 to 1964. During his rule, Khrushchev s ...
*
Andrey Smolyakov
Andrey Igorevich Smolyakov (russian: Андре́й И́горевич Смоляко́в; born 24 November 1958) is a Soviet and Russian actor and director. He is known for '' Vysotskiy. Spasibo, chto zhivoy'' (2011), ''Stalingrad'', and '' Forb ...
as Lieutenant
Leonid Khrushchev
Leonid Nikitovich Khrushchev (10 November 1917 – 11 March 1943) was the son of Nikita Khrushchev, former leader of the Soviet Union, and served as a fighter pilot in the Soviet Air Forces during the World War II. He was shot down and killed in ...
*
Archil Gomiashvili
Archil Mikhaylovich Gomiashvili (russian: Арчи́л Миха́йлович Гомиашви́ли, ka, არჩილ მიხეილის ძე გომიაშვილი, March 23, 1926 – May 31, 2005) was a Soviet Georgian th ...
as
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet Union, Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as Ge ...
*
Vladimir Troshin
Vladimir Konstantinovich Troshin (russian: Влади́мир Константи́нович Тр́ошин; 15 May 1926 – 25 February 2008) was a Soviet and Russian film and theater actor and singer. In 1951, at the age of 25, for his portrayal ...
Vyacheslav Molotov
Vyacheslav Mikhaylovich Molotov. ; (;. 9 March Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">O._S._25_February.html" ;"title="Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Old Style and New Style dates">O. S. 25 February">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dat ...
* Stepan Mikoyan as
Anastas Mikoyan
Anastas Ivanovich Mikoyan (; russian: Анаста́с Ива́нович Микоя́н; hy, Անաստաս Հովհաննեսի Միկոյան; 25 November 1895 – 21 October 1978) was an Armenian Communist revolutionary, Old Bolshevik an ...
* Viktor Uralsky as
Mikhail Kalinin
Mikhail Ivanovich Kalinin (russian: link=no, Михаи́л Ива́нович Кали́нин ; 3 June 1946), known familiarly by Soviet citizens as "Kalinych", was a Soviet politician and Old Bolshevik revolutionary. He served as head of st ...
*
Nikolai Kryuchkov
Nikolai Afanasyevich Kryuchkov (russian: Никола́й Афана́сьевич Крючко́в; 6 January 1911 – 13 April 1994) was a Soviet and Russian film actor. He appeared in more than 90 films between 1932 and 1993.
Selected fi ...
as old captain
*
Fyodor Bondarchuk
Fyodor Sergeyevich Bondarchuk (russian: link=no, Фёдор Сергеевич Бондарчук ; born 9 May 1967) is a Russian film director, actor, TV and film producer, clipmaker, TV host, founder of production company Art Pictures Studio.
...
as sniper Ivan
* Nikolai Simkin as
Alexander Poskrebyshev
Alexander Nikolaevich Poskrebyshev (russian: Александр Николаевич Поскрёбышев; 7 August 1891 – 3 January 1965) was a Soviet politician and a state and Communist Party functionary. A member of the Communist Party ...
Andrey Yeryomenko
, birth_date =
, death_date =
, image = Маршал Советского Союза Герой Советского Союза Андрей Иванович Ерёменко (cropped).jpg
, image_size =
, caption = Y ...
Aleksandr Vasilevsky
Aleksandr Mikhaylovich Vasilevsky ( ru , Алекса́ндр Миха́йлович Василе́вский) (30 September 1895 – 5 December 1977) was a Soviet career-officer in the Red Army who attained the rank of Marshal of the Soviet ...
* Aleksandr Goloborodko as General
Konstantin Rokossovsky
Konstantin Konstantinovich (Xaverevich) Rokossovsky ( Russian: Константин Константинович Рокоссовский; pl, Konstanty Rokossowski; 21 December 1896 – 3 August 1968) was a Soviet and Polish officer who bec ...
*
Sergei Nikonenko
Sergei Petrovich Nikonenko (russian: Серге́й Петрович Никоненко; born 16 April 1941 in Moscow) is a Russian actor. He performed in more than eighty films since 1961.
Selected filmography
* 1967
** '' The Red and the Whi ...
as General
Alexander Rodimtsev
Alexander Ilich Rodimtsev (; 8 March 1905 13 April 1977) was a colonel general in the Red Army during World War II and who was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union in 1937 and 1945.
Career
Rodimtsev joined the Red Army in the 1920s. He fo ...
*
Oksana Fandera
Oksana Olegovna Fandera (russian: Оксана Олеговна Фандера; 7 November 1967), Odessa, Odessa Oblast, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union) is a Russian actress.
Biography
Oksana Olegovna Fandera was born on November 7, 1967, in Odess ...
Wilhelm Keitel
Wilhelm Bodewin Johann Gustav Keitel (; 22 September 188216 October 1946) was a German field marshal and war criminal who held office as chief of the '' Oberkommando der Wehrmacht'' (OKW), the high command of Nazi Germany's Armed Forces, duri ...
*Günter Junghans as
Harro Schulze-Boysen
Heinz Harro Max Wilhelm Georg Schulze-Boysen (; Schulze, 2 September 1909 – 22 December 1942) was a left-wing German publicist and Luftwaffe officer during World War II. As a young man, Schulze-Boysen grew up in prosperous family with two sib ...
* Achim Petri as
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and the ...
* Erich Thiede as
Heinrich Himmler
Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (; 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945) was of the (Protection Squadron; SS), and a leading member of the Nazi Party of Germany. Himmler was one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany and a main architect of th ...
* Ernst Heise as Field Marshal
Fedor von Bock
Moritz Albrecht Franz Friedrich Fedor von Bock (3 December 1880 – 4 May 1945) was a German who served in the German Army during the Second World War. Bock served as the commander of Army Group North during the Invasion of Poland ...
*Boris Levkovich as Colonel Hermann
Ronald Lacey
Ronald William Lacey (28 September 1935 – 15 May 1991) was an English actor. He made numerous television and film appearances over a 30-year period. His roles included Harris in ''Porridge'' (1977), Frankie in the Bud Spencer comedy '' Ch ...
makes an appearance as
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...