Movies - Stalingrad

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	Movies - Stalingrad

Stalingrad is a 1993 film by Joseph Vilsmaier, similar to Apocalypse Now and Platoon in its approach to depicting the horrors of war in a realistic fashion. There is no romanticizing the war, there are no heroes in war and there is no love-story as in Enemy at the Gates. Sticky mud, cold rain, and the ever present fear of death dominate the film.

The film itself is unique. Most World War II films are from an American or British perspective. The movie contains no Nazi propaganda of any sort. Though the Russians are seen as the enemy, there is absolutely no trace of hatred throughout the story.

The movie follows a platoon of German soldiers in the Wehrmacht as they are dispatched to Russia and ultimately find themselves at the Battle of Stalingrad. The viewer experiences their hardships in the shattered remnants of the city.

It was shot in several different locations, including Finland, Italy, and the Czech Republic. It was released in the U.S. in 1995.

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Cast & crew

Dominique Horwitz as Obergefreiter Fritz Reiser
Thomas Kretschmann
as Lt. Hans von Witzland
Jochen Nickel as Unteroffizier Manfred Rohleder
Sebastian Rudolph as GeGe Müller
Dana Vávrová as Irina
Martin Benrath as Gen. Hentz
Sylvester Groth as Otto
Karel Hermánek as Capt. Hermann Musk
Heinz Emigholz as Edgar Emigholz

Actor Thomas Kretschmann has developed a successful Hollywood career, going on to have roles in Blade II
, Resident Evil: Apocalypse
and Peter Jackson's King Kong
.

Plot details

The film begins with the German soldiers enjoying a brief vacation in Italy after their victory in North Africa. They are enjoying themselves on the beaches, drinking beer, playing cards and partying with the local girls. Very soon, these soldiers find themselves on a train bound for Stalingrad. They are under the leadership of a young, idealistic and inexperienced lieutenant. At first, their morale is very high: they discuss their plans after the Soviet Union is beaten and the Third Reich victorious.

When the Germans arrive in Stalingrad, they find that the situation is very different to what they have experienced in the open fields of North Africa. Here, all the fighting is deadly close-quarter hand-to-hand combat. Before long, the young Lieutenant and his men find themselves fighting a defensive battle, trapped inside the surrounded city.

With every passing day, morale falls lower and lower to the point where some of the young lieutenant's men decide to desert. They find some medical papers on the dead that should allow them to leave. However, on arriving at an airfield, they find that only officers are allowed to fly out. Many desperate German soldiers attempt to board a plane as it takes off. It is the last German aircraft to leave Stalingrad.

As time passes, the men's situation grows ever more desperate. Many succumb to starvation, disease and frostbite long before the Russians get them. In the end, with their morale completely broken, the last two survivors make a pitiable attempt to walk out of Stalingrad. With no food and blinded by the blizzard-like conditions of the Russian steppe, they succumb to the sub-zero weather.

The film is unremittingly bleak as it depicts the soldiers as simple men caught up in the circumstances, while their officers are shown in the usual evil way one is accustomed to seeing Nazis portrayed. The film thus had to endure some criticism in the US for implying that rank and file German soldiers were entirely blameless for Nazi atrocities during the war. For the most part, however, critical and audience reaction was highly favorable. At the time, the film's extremely graphic depictions of battle carnage were considered quite shocking, and not matched until Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan
in 1998.

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Movies - Stalingrad

Cast & crew

Plot details

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