''4 days in May'' (''Vier Tage im Mai'') is a war drama film directed by

Achim von Borries Achim von Borries (born 13 November 1968) is a German screenwriter and film director. Selected filmography References External links * {{DEFAULTSORT:Borries, Achim von 1968 births Living people Mass media people from Munich ...

and starring Paul Wenzel and

Aleksei Guskov Aleksei Gennadyevich Guskov (, born 20 May 1958) is a Soviet Union, Soviet and Russian actor and producer. He was awarded People's Artist of Russia in 2007. Early life Aleksei Guskov was born to Russian parents on 20 May 1958 in Brzeg, Pola ...

. It is a German-Russian-Ukrainian co-production. The film was released on August 9, 2011, at the

Locarno Film Festival The Locarno International Film Festival is a major international film festival, held annually in Locarno, Switzerland. Founded in 1946, the festival screens films in various competitive and non-competitive sections, including feature-length narr ...

. The official slogan is: "Sometimes the border goes not between “them” and “us”, but between good and evil".

Plot

It is one of the last days before the capitulation of

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

in May 1945. The setting is the Baltic coast in

Pomerania Pomerania ( ; ; ; ) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The central and eastern part belongs to the West Pomeranian Voivodeship, West Pomeranian, Pomeranian Voivod ...

. A unit of the

Soviet Army The Soviet Ground Forces () was the land warfare service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces from 1946 to 1992. It was preceded by the Red Army. After the Soviet Union ceased to exist in December 1991, the Ground Forces remained under th ...

, comprising seven men and led by a captain nicknamed "Gorynych" ("dragon") (Aleksei Guskov) by his companions, has left for reconnaissance and observation of the movements of the retreating Germans. The group is housed in a large building, a shelter for orphaned girls. A

German Army The German Army (, 'army') is the land component of the armed forces of Federal Republic of Germany, Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German together with the German Navy, ''Marine'' (G ...

detachment is situated close by, awaiting transport for evacuation by sea to

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

, where they plan to surrender to the British. Both parties understand that the war is almost over; they do not want to engage each other and choose to wait things out. But resistance is not over for a teenage orphan Peter (Paul Wenzel), who was indoctrinated in the "no surrender" tradition of

National Socialism Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was frequ ...

. Soviet intelligence officers disarm him and patiently try to neutralize his youthful aggression. On May 8, 1945,

Victory in Europe Day Victory in Europe Day is the day celebrating the formal acceptance by the Allies of World War II of Germany's unconditional surrender of its armed forces on Tuesday, 8 May 1945; it marked the official surrender of all German military operations ...

, a Soviet major who is commander of the division that includes the reconnaissance unit, arrives with Red Army troops. He was drunk on the occasion of Germany's capitulation. The major tries to rape one of the German girls, but the captain disarms him and stops the attempt. Wishing to eliminate witnesses of his indecent behavior, the major said that the enemy, in disguise, infiltrated the building, and began an assault by his unit. The German detachment did not surrender but came to rescue the children. Then they made provisions for the safe withdrawal of the orphans on a fishing launch to Denmark.

Cast

* Paul Wenzel as Peter *

as captain, commander of the reconnaissance * Ivan Shvedoff as Trubitsin, scout * Andrew Merzlikin as Gray, the scout * Sergei Legostaev as Ivanov, a scout * Grigoriy Dobrygin as Fedyunin *

Merab Ninidze Merab Ninidze ( ka, მერაბ ნინიძე; born 3 November 1965) is a Georgian actor. Internationally, he is best known for the roles of Walter Redlich in '' Nowhere in Africa,'' Oleg Penkovsky in '' The Courier'' and Cardinal Giulio ...

as Major *

Gerald Alexander Held Gerald Alexander Held (born 19 October 1958) is a German actor. He is internationally best known for his historical depictions, as Walther Hewel in the 2004 film ''Der Untergang'', Robert Mohr in the 2005 film ''Sophie Scholl - Die letzten Tage'' ...

as Colonel Wald * Martin Brambach as Lt. Wendt * Angelina Häntsch as Anna * Petra Kelling as patroness of the shelter

Reliability

, the producer and the lead actor, based the screenplay on a work by Dmitry Faust. The author, telling the story of Marshal of the Soviet Union, K. Moskalenko, described the reported case of German troops coming to the aid of the small Soviet reconnaissance unit. Scouts prevented the drunken major - a tank officer - from raping a German girl. The plausibility of the story was supported by its publication in the prestigious Russian historical illustrated magazine '' Rodina''. However, the same journal contained an article by Boris Sokolov, in which he called into question the authenticity of the political report quoted by Dmitry Faust. Later, other historians argued that the story was totally fictional, unsupported by archival documents. In particular, the Russian historian Alexei Isaev said Faust had actually written about the "brotherhood of the weapon" on the island of

Rügen Rügen (; Rani: ''Rȯjana'', ''Rāna''; , ) is Germany's largest island. It is located off the Pomeranian coast in the Baltic Sea and belongs to the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The "gateway" to Rügen island is the Hanseatic ci ...

Awards

* Special Jury Award: For courage and humanism, and the prize "Golden Boat" in the "Vyborg Account" film festival "Window to Europe"(Vyborg, 2011).

References

*''The information in this article is based on that in its Russian equivalent''.
The magazine "Around the World" № 5, 2006.

External links