| Battle of Moscow | |
|---|---|
 A poster of the film. | |
| Directed by | Yuri Ozerov |
| Screenplay by | Yuri Ozerov |
| Produced by | Anatoly Raskazov |
| Starring | Mikhail Ulyanov |
| Narrated by | Vyacheslav Tikhonov |
| Cinematography | Igor Chernykh, Vladimir Gusev |
| Edited by | Svetlana Metelitsa |
| Music by | Aleksandra Pakhmutova |
Production companies | |
Release date |
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Running time | 358 minutes (combined) Film I(1): 91 minutes Film I(2): 88 minutes Film II(1): 90 minutes Film II(2): 89 minutes |
| Countries | Soviet Union East Germany Czechoslovakia Vietnam |
| Languages | Russian, German. |
The Battle of Moscow (Russian:Битва за Москву,Bitva za Moskvu) is a 1985Soviet two-partwar film, presenting a dramatized account of theBattle of Moscow during theSecond World War, and the events preceding it. The two films were aSoviet–East German–Czechoslovak–Vietnamese co-production, directed and written byYuri Ozerov.[1] It was made in time for the 40th anniversary of theAllied victory overNazi Germany and the 20th anniversary of the proclamation of theVictory Day holiday and Moscow's declaration as aHero City.
In the aftermath of thevictory in France,Hitler decides toattack the Soviet Union and places his hopes onfield marshalFedor von Bock, commander ofArmy Group Center, for the capture of Moscow.Ilse Stöbe,Rudolf von Scheliha andRichard Sorge inform of the danger, but the Soviet intelligence dismisses their warnings.Zhukov is concerned that the army is ill-prepared;Pavlov decries him as a fear-monger. TheRed Army officers are convinced that in the event of an invasion, they would immediately counter-attack. On 22 June 1941 Germany launchesOperation Barbarossa, overwhelming the Soviets.
The Red Army tries to counter the assault with a string of hasty operations, while theBrest Fortress is desperately defended. The Soviets manages torecapture Yelnya but havingLieutenant GeneralL.G. Petrovsky killed in action. Stalin insists ondefending Kiev, and his forces suffer immense losses.
The Wehrmacht enacts toattack Moscow in which Hitler decides to call itOperation Typhoon. Richard Sorge finds out thatJapan won't attack theUSSR in 1941. The Germans approach the Soviet capital, winning theBattle at Borodino Field and breaching the Mozhaisk line. Stalin decides to remain in Moscow.
The enemy is at the outskirts of the city, yet the traditional 7 November parade takes place as always.Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya is captured and executed, andPanfilov'smen fight to the last.Rokossovsky begs Zhukov to allow retreat but is refused. After all seems lost, the Germans grind to a halt because of the harsh winter. On 6 December, the Soviets launch a successful counter-offensive by using the air force, the cavalry, tanks, and ski troops. The Germans are forced to retreat, causing Hitler to blame his generals.
Battle of Moscow was director Ozerov's third film dealing with the Second World War, after the five-partLiberation (1970) and the TV mini-seriesSoldiers of Freedom (1977). Ozerov was not allowed to deal with the early, dark chapters of the war inLiberation due to political pressure, andSoldiers of Freedom revolved around the battles outside the Soviet Union. For the 40th year to the victory over Germany, Ozerov intended to create a film about the first stages on the war, from the beginning of the invasion on 22 June 1941 until the Wehrmacht's defeat near Moscow.[2]
UnlikeLiberation, Ozerov's most acclaimed work,Battle of Moscow was a purely historical film, with no fictional characters included in the plot. The actors selected to portray the main roles were mostly ones who already appeared as such in the director's earlier works, especiallyMikhail Ulyanov who depicted Zhukov in all of Ozerov's films. Eventually, the production involved a crew of some six thousand people.[3]
The German-speaking actors were contacted throughDEFA, while the scenes involving Richard Sorge were shot in Vietnam with the assistance of the Fafim studio.[4] MarshalSergei Rudenko served as the chief military consultant of the movie; the battle scenes involved troops from the Red Army as extras. The filming of the open-door battle scenes took place in Czechoslovakia, but the urban combat was shot in Moscow itself: buildings in the wrecked parts of the city were demolished with explosives to simulate bomber attacks.[5]
The film premiered in theMoscow Film Festival.[6]
Yuri Ozerov won the Grand Prize in the 1986Alma AtaAll-Union Film Festival for his work on the film, as well as theAlexander Dovzhenko Golden Medal.[7]
Russian film critic Alexander Fedorov called the movie "a large-scale war production typical of Yuri Ozerov" which presents Stalin as a wise leader, and depicts Zhukov as a brilliant general. Fedorov also commented on the battle scenes, describing them as "impressive... involving tanks, airplanes and artillery."[8]
Aleksandra Pakhmutova made the music and the movie soundtrack. The movie's theme song "You're my hope, you're my joy" was composed by her and Nikolai Dobronranov, and was sung byLev Leshchenko.