Liberation (film series)
Liberation | |
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![]() Original film poster | |
Directed by | Yuri Ozerov co-director: Julius Kun |
Screenplay by | Yuri Bondarev Oscar Kurganov |
Produced by | Lidia Kanareikina |
Starring | Nikolay Olyalin Larisa Golubkina Boris Seidenberg |
Narrated by | Artyom Karapetian |
Cinematography | Igor Slabnevich |
Edited by | Ekaterina Karpova |
Music by | Yuri Levitin Aram Khachaturian |
Production companies | Mosfilm DEFA-Babelsberg ZF-Start (films I, II) PRF-ZF (III-V) Avala Film (I) Dino de Laurentiis Cinematografica |
Release dates | I, II: 7 May 1970 III: 31 July 1971 IV, V : 5 November 1971 |
Running time | 477 minutes (original) 445 minutes (remastered 2002 version) Part I: 88 minutes Part II: 85 minutes Part III: 122 minutes Part IV: 79 minutes Part V: 71 minutes |
Countries | Soviet Union East Germany Poland Yugoslavia Italy |
Languages | Russian, German, English, Polish, Italian, French, Serbo-Croatian |
Budget | $40,000,000 (estimate).[1] |
Liberation ([Освобождение] Error: {{Lang-xx}}: text has italic markup (help), [Osvobozhdenie] Error: {{Transliteration}}: missing language / script code (help), German: Befreiung, Polish: Wyzwolenie) is a film series released in 1970 and 1971, directed by Yuri Ozerov. The script was written by Yuri Bondarev and Oscar Kurganov. The series was a Soviet-Polish-East German-Italian-Yugoslavian co-production.
The films are a dramatized account of the liberation of the Soviet Union's territory and the subsequent defeat of Nazi Germany in the Great Patriotic War, focusing on five major Eastern Front campaigns: the Battle of Kursk, the Lower Dnieper Offensive, Operation Bagration, the Vistula-Oder Offensive and the Battle of Berlin.
Plot
Film I: The Fire Bulge
After the Soviets are alerted to the imminent German offensive in Kursk, they launch a preemptive artillery strike, delaying the enemy. The battalion of Lieutenant Colonel Lukin – led by officers Tzvetaev, Orlov and Maximov – participates in the battle, as well as the tank of Lieutenant Vasiliev.
In KZ Sachsenhausen, Yakov Dzhugashvili refuses Andrei Vlasov's offer to exchange him for Friedrich Paulus. Meanwhile, the Germans advance in Kursk, overwhelming Soviet defenses. Many soldiers panic. Maximov flees, but finally turns back and chooses to be shot when captured.
In Moscow, when hearing about the German proposal regarding Yakov, Stalin rejects it, saying he will not trade a Field Marshal for a soldier. In Yugoslavia, Tito's partisans break out of an encirclement. The Soviet counter-offensive is launched in Kursk. Erich von Manstein commits all his forces to a final assault, bringing the Soviets close to defeat. Vatutin urges Aleksandr Vasilevsky to call Stalin and convince him to send in the strategic reserve, which repels the Germans. The Red Army is victorious.
Film II: Breakthrough
After the Allied landing in Sicily, Mussolini is arrested on the King's orders. In Warsaw, The Polish Resistance bombs a German cinema. Mussolini is rescued.
The Red Army reaches the Dnieper. Lukin's regiment crosses it, presumably as the division's vanguard; unbeknownst to them, they are merely a ploy to mislead the enemy. The regiment is cut off without reinforcements and wiped out. Lukin is killed. Tzvetaev leads the survivors back to their lines.
On Stalin's orders, the Soviet High Command plans its offensive on Kiev, stealthily redeploying their forces. The city is liberated. The Allied leaders meet in Tehran.
Film III: Direction of the Main Blow
Part 1
Stalin informs his allies that a Soviet offensive would take place soon after the Normandy landings. The Stavka decides to strike in Belarus. Orlov leads his soldiers in a charge to rescue nurse Zoia, who insisted on evacuating the wounded from a battlefield.
After concluding that the Belarus marshes are passable, Rokossovsky demands that the main effort will be directed towards Bobruisk and insists until Stalin approves. Panteleimon Ponomarenko orders the Belorussian partisans to attack all railways. Operation Bagration is launched.
Part 2
The Soviets march on Bobruisk. Afterwards they liberate Minsk. 50,000 German prisoners are paraded in Moscow. A group of German officers tries to assassinate Hitler and take power, but fails. Churchill is pleased to hear of this, fearing a peace would leave Europe to Stalin. Hitler appoints Guderian as the new chief of the OKH.
In Poland, Zawadzki and Berling watch the Bug River as the Polish 1st Army crosses it, saying they are happy to return home.
Film IV: The Battle of Berlin
Stalin orders to hasten the Vistula-Oder offensive in order to relieve the Allies, who are threatened by the Ardennes Offensive. Karl Wolff is sent to negotiate with the Americans at Geneva.
Zhukov rejects Stavka's order to take Berlin, assessing the Germans would strike his flank in Pomerania and redeploying his forces accordingly. In Yalta, Stalin notifies Churchill and Roosevelt that he knows of their secret dealings with the enemy. Saying that the mutual trust between them is of the highest value, he tears apart the picture showing Allen Dulles and Wolff. Vasiliev's radio operator Dorozhkin and the Polish sergeant Pelka liberate a group of concentration camps' prisoners. Zhukov's forces cross the Oder with searchlights directed at the opposite bank to dazzle the Germans, with great success, and approach Berlin. General Lelyushenko's soldiers capture a teenageHitlerjugend sniper; the General sends him to his mother.
Vasilev's tank crushes into a house. The crew has a pleasant meal with the owner's family. The Soviets and the Poles storm the Tiergarten.
Film V: The Last Assault
In Berlin, Lieutenant Yartsev's infantry and Tzvetaev's battery fight their way in the U-Bahn. When Hitler orders to flood the tunnels, Tzvetaev drowns while rescuing civilians.
Captain Neustroev's company is selected to hoist the Victory Banner atop the Reichstag. Dorozhkin is assigned to them as a radio operator. In the Führerbunker, after marrying Eva Braun, Hitler murders her and commits suicide. At the Reichstag, Dorozhkin is killed in the fighting. The Victory Banner is unfurled on the dome. The Berlin garrison surrenders unconditionally. Outside the Reichstag, Vasiliev, Orlov, Yartsev and an immense crowd of Red Army soldiers celebrate victory.
Cast
Soviet actors
- Nikolay Olyalin as Tzvetaev.
- Larisa Golubkina as Zoia.
- Vsevolod Sanaev as Lukin.
- Boris Seidenberg as Orlov.
- Viktor Avdyushko as Maximov.
- Yuri Nazarov as Russian Liberation Army soldier.
- Mikhail Gluzsky as Ryazhentzev.
- Ivan Mykolaychuk as Savchuk.
- Georgi Burkov as battery commander.
- Vladimir Kashpur as soldier with wooden footwear.
- Leonid Kuravlyov as Chuikov's signaler.
- Bukhuti Zaqariadze as Joseph Stalin.
- Mikhail Ulyanov as Georgy Zhukov.
- Ivan Pereverzev as Vasily Chuikov.
- Roman Tkachuk as Alexei Yepishev.
- Anatoly Borisovich Kuznetsov as Georgi Zakharov.
- Viktor Bortsov as Grigory Oriol.
- Yuri Leghkov as Ivan Konev (films I-II).
- Vasily Shukshin as Konev (films III-V).
- Mikhail Nozhkin as Yartsev
- Yuri Kamorny as Vasiliev.
- Valeri Nosik as Dorozhkin.
- Evgeny Burenkov as Aleksandr Vasilevsky.
- Sergei Kharchenko as Nikolai Vatutin.
- Vladlen Davydov as Konstantin Rokossovsky.
- Dimitry Franko as Pavel Rybalko.
- Vladislav Srtzhelchik as Aleksei Antonov.
- E. Kolchinski as Ivan Chernyakhovsky.
- Valeri Karen as Hovhannes Bagramyan.
- Nikolai Rushkovski as Kiril Moskalenko.
- Vladimir Kosenko as Kiril Meretskov.
- Konstantin Zabelin as Mikhail Katukov.
- Vladimir Zamansky as Pavel Batov.
- Klion Protasov as Sergei Shtemenko.
- Aleksander Afanasiev as Dmitry Lelyushenko.
- Grigory Mikhaylov as Mikhail Malinin.
- Vyacheslav Voronin as Alexei Burdeinei.
- Anatoly Romashin as Vasily Shatilov.
- Nikolai Rybnikov as Mikhail Panov.
- Alex Presnetsov as Sergei Rudenko.
- Nikolai Lebedev as Stepan Krasovsky.
- Leonid Dovlatov as Sergei Galadzhev.
- Peter Glebov as Pavel Rotmistrov.
- A. Petrov as Vasily Kazakov.
- Piotr Scherbakov as Konstantin Telegin.
- Sergei Lyachnitzki as Semen Bogdanov.
- Mikhail Postinkov as Vasily Sokolovsky.
- Lev Polyakov as Andrei Grechko.
- Viktor Baikov as Vyacheslav Molotov.
- Nikolay Bogolyubov as Kliment Voroshilov.
- Alexei Glazrin as Panteleimon Ponomarenko.
- Lev Lobov as Fedor Zinchenko.
- Vladimir Korenev as Stepan Neustroev.
- Eduard Izotov as Alexei Berest
- Genadi Khrashenikov as Mikhail Yegorov.
- Gogi Kharabdze as Meliton Kantaria.
- Yuri Pomernatzev as Andrei Vlasov.
- Ioseb Gugichaishvili as Yakov Dzhugashvili.
- Yuri Durov as Winston Churchill.
- Evgeni Vlasov as Anthony Eden.
- Aleksander Barushnoi as Alan Brooke.
- Elizaveta Alexeeva as Eleanor Roosevelt.
- Nikolay Yeryomenko as Josip Broz Tito.
- Yulia Dioshi as Magda Goebbels.
- Georgi Tusuzov as Victor Emmanuel III.
East German actors
- Fritz Diez as Adolf Hitler.
- Horst Giese as sapper Bruno Fermella] (I)/Joseph Goebbels (IV-V).
- Gerd Michael Henneberg as Wilhelm Keitel.
- Werner Dissel as Alfred Jodl.
- Siegfried Weiß as Erich von Manstein.
- Peter Sturm as Walter Model.
- Hannjo Hasse as Günther von Kluge.
- Alfred Struwe as Claus Schenk von Stauffenberg.
- Martha Beschort-Diez as old woman in Berlin.
- Horst Gill as Otto Günsche.
- Angelika Waller as Eva Braun.
- Erich Thiede as Heinrich Himmler.
- Kurt Wetzel as Hermann Göring.
- Joachim Pape as Martin Bormann.
- Fred Alexander as Elyesa Bazna.
- Peter Marx as Theodor Busse.
- Hans-Ulrich Lauffer as Gustav Schmidt.
- Erich Gerberding as Ernst Busch.
- Ralf Böhmke as Adolf Hamann.
- Wilfried Ortmann as Friedrich Olbricht.
- Hans-Edgar Stecher as Werner von Haeften.
- Werner Wieland as Ludwig Beck.
- Otto Dierichs as Erwin von Witzleben.
- Paul Berndt as Albrecht Mertz von Quirnheim (III)/Arthur Axmann (IV-V).
- Max Bernhardt as Carl Friedrich Goerdeler.
- Manfred Bendik as Ernst John von Freyend.
- Rolf Ripperger as Adolf Heusinger.
- Fritz-Ernst Fechner as Heinz Brandt.
- Willi Schrade as Wolfram Röhrig.
- H. Schelske as Friedrich Fromm.
- Hinrich Köhn as Otto Ernst Remer.
- Herbert Körbs as Heinz Guderian.
- Joseph (Sepp) Klose as Karl Wolff.
- Fred Mahr as Sepp Dietrich.
- Gert Hänsch as Helmut Weidling.
- Hans-Hartmut Krüger as Hans Krebs.
- Otto Busse as Heinz Linge.
- Georg-Michael Wagner as Walter Wagner.
Polish actors
- Jan Englert as Jan Wolny.
- Stanisław Jaśkiewicz as Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
- Daniel Olbrychski as Henryk.
- Barbara Brylska as Helena.
- Wieńczysław Gliński as 'Blacksmith'.
- Ignacy Machowski as stableman.
- Cezary Julski as drunken German.
- Tadeusz Schmidt as Zygmunt Berling.
- Maciej Nowakowski as Alexander Zawadzki.
- Franciszek Pieczka as Pelka.
Others
- Ivo Garrani as Benito Mussolini.
- Erno Bertoli as Pierre Pouyade.
- Florin Piersic as Otto Skorzeny.
- B. White as Hughe Knatchbull-Hugessen.
Production
Background
Yuri Ozerov studied at GITIS when he was conscripted into the Red Army in 1939. Ozerov later told his wife that during the Battle of Königsberg, he swore that one day "he would tell the story of the great army that fought in the war". After demobilization, he became a director in the Mosfilm studios.[2]
In the 1960's, both the Soviet government and military command were dismayed and disgruntled by several Western films about World War II which made no reference to the Red Army's participation in it, most prominently The Longest Day.[3][4] In late 1965, a year after Leonid Brezhnev's rise to power, a meeting of senior officials from the Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Culture and Ministry of Finance was convened. They decided to commission "a monumental epic" which would demonstrate the importance of the Soviet role in the war.[5][6] Ozerov, who shared the establishment's sentiments and for whom "it was unbearable, as a veteran, to watch those Western films", was chosen to direct it.[7]
In the Brezhnev era, the commemoration of the Second World War was awarded unprecedented importance. Historian Nina Tumarkin described it as "the cult of the Great Patriotic War": its memory, molded according to official historiography, was to serve as a unifying narrative; reverence towards the sacrifices made became the core of a new Soviet patriotism.[8] Denise J. Youngblood described Liberation as the "Brezhnev era's canonical war film", writing that it was "clearly designed to buttress the war cult."[9]
Development
The work on the series commenced in 1966. German film scholar Ralf Schenk noted that "virtually all means were made available... for Ozerov";[5] Lars Karl estimated the project's budget was equivalent to $40 million US dollars.[1] The director was also closely supervised - the series had to meet the approval of General Alexei Yepishev, the Chief of the Armed Forces' Political Directorate,[3] as well as that of Mikhail Suslov.[10][11]. Lazar Lazarev, a member of the Soviet Filmmakers' Association, wrote "Liberation ...was forced down from above, from the Ideological Departments".[3] From the very beginning, it was made clear that the films should not deal with the darker chapters of World War II, such as the defense of Moscow and Stalingrad, but only with the Red Army's unbroken string of victories from the Battle of Kursk and onwards.[2][12]
At first, two prominent authors, Konstantin Simonov and Viktor Nekrasov, were offered to write the script. Both saw Liberation as an effort to rehabilitate Stalin, and declined.[3] After Nekrasov's and Simonov's refusal, Yuri Bondarev and Oscar Kurganov were tasked with writing the script. Originally, the series was supposed to be a purely historical, documentary-like trilogy called The Liberation of Europe 1943-45. Fearing this style would discourage viewers, it was decided to combine fictional characters into the plot. Bondarev wrote the live action scenes; Kurganov was responsible for the historical parts, featuring the leaders and generals. The latter sections were intentionally filmed in black-and-white, to resemble old footage.[13] The script introduced many little-known details about the Soviet-German War's history, that were rarely discussed publicly: notably, General Andrey Vlasov was presented for the first time in Soviet cinema.[10][14][15] Vlasov's was an uncredited role, referred to only as "the General" on set.[2]
Foreign film studios were invited to take part in the production, beside Mosfilm: The East German company DEFA, The Yugoslav Avala Film and the Italian Dino de Laurentiis Cinematografica. Zespół Filmowy Start, the first Polish studio to participate in the co-production of Liberation, was closed at April 1968.[16] It was replaced by Przedsiębiorstwo Realizacji Filmów-Zespoły Filmowe (PRF-ZF).[17]
Ozerov asked Marshal Georgy Zhukov to be the films' chief military consultant. However, Zhukov had little political influence at the time, and the establishment did not approve of him. Eventually, General Sergei Shtemenko took the role. In spite of this, Ozerov consulted with Zhukov unofficially, and the Marshal provided him with the draft of his memoirs.[14] There were other consultants, as well: Generals Alexander Rodimtsev, Grigory Oriol and Sergei Siniakov, Vice-Admiral Vladimir Alexeyev, Polish Army Colonel Zbigniew Załuski and National People's Army Colonel Job von Witzleben.[18]
The script of the first two parts was completed by the end of 1966, and the producers began preparing to commence filming shortly after.[19]
Casting
A major obstacle facing the producers was that most of the Soviet leadership took part in the war; Many high-ranking officers and politicians were portrayed in the films with their wartime ranks, and the actors depicting them had to receive the models' blessing.[2]
Ozerov lengthily dwelt on the question who would be cast as Zhukov, until the Marshal himself aided him, telling he thought about the star of The Chairman. Thus, Mikhail Ulyanov received the role.[20] Ivan Konev was irritated by Yuri Leghkov, who depicted him in the first two parts. He demanded Ozerov would replace him with someone else, complaining the actor was constantly bothering him with questions. Vasily Shukshin was called to substitute Leghkov.[15]
For the character of Tzvetaev, Ozerov chose the young Nikolay Olyalin, an actor of the Krasnoyarsk Children Theater. Olyalin had received several offers to appear in other films, but the theater managers dispersed of them, fearing he would leave them. One of the theater employees told Olyalin of Ozerov's offer. He claimed he was sick and then boarded a plane to Moscow.[21]
The Kazakh SSR's People's Artist Yuri Pomerantsev was cast as Vlasov after an assistant-director saw him in theater.[2] He had difficulties finding any material on the character.[22] Bukhuti Zaqariadze was selected to appear in the sensitive role of Joseph Stalin. Vasily Shukshin recounted that upon seeing Zaqariadze in the Stalin costume – that was made by the dead premier's own personal tailor, who was contacted by the studio for this purpose[2] – General Shtemenko instinctively stood to attention and saluted.[13]
East German actor Fritz Diez was reluctant to portray Hitler. He had already appeared as such in three other films and feared becoming "a slave to one role".[2] Diez's wife, Martha, played the old woman who served coffee to Tzvetaev in Berlin. The Italian Ivo Garrani played Benito Mussolini.
Principal photography
150 tanks[2] 2,000 artillery pieces and 5,000 extras, mostly Soviet soldiers,[6] were involved in the making of all the five parts of the series. The producers searched in vain for real Tiger I and Panther tanks: eventually, replicas of 10 Tigers and 8 Panthers (converted from T-44 and IS-2 tanks respectively) were manufactured in a Soviet tank factory in Lvov. Beside those, many T-55's, T-62's and IS-3's - models that were developed after the war - can be clearly seen in the film, painted as German or Soviet tanks.[2][23]
It was considered to film the Fire Bulge in Kursk, but the old battlefield was littered with unexploded ammunition. Therefore, a special set was constructed in the vicinity of Pereiaslav-Khmelnytskyi where art director Alexander Myaghkov was free to use live explosives. The combat scenes in the first two parts were shot there,[13] in the summer of 1967.[24] 3,000 troops, 100 tanks, 18 military aircraft and hundreds of artillery pieces were used to recreate the Battle of Kursk;[5] 30 kilometers of trenches were dug to resemble the wartime fortifications. Ozerov supervised the set from a specially-built tower, using a handkerchief to signal the engineers when to detonate the charges. On one occasion, the director absentmindedly blew his nose, and "one and half tons of TNT went off".[14] The outdoor photography for Main Blow took place in Lithuania, near Pabradė, since the marshes in Belarus – the location of the 1944 battles depicted in the film – were being drained. The Italian parts were shot in Rome, while the Yalta Conference was filmed in the Livadia Palace.[13]
Filming also took place in Poland. The scenes in Warsaw were shot in the city's Castle Square and at the Służewiec neighbourhood.[25] The 20th July 1944 assassination attempt was filmed in the original Wolfsschanze.[26]
The scenes in Berlin were mostly shot in the city itself. East German Foreign Minister Otto Winzer had authorized the producers to use the ruins of the Gendarmenmarkt.[27] Ozerov, accompanied by a crew of some 2000 people,[14] cordoned off a part of the area and used an old, abandoned cathedral to substitute for the Reichstag. The hoisting of the Victory Banner was shot atop the Haus der Technik in the Wilhelmstraße. Indoor fighting was filmed in Mosfilm's studios, and the U-Bahn scene took place in Moscow's metro - where Myaghkov rebuilt the Kaiserhof station.[2][13]
Approval
The Fire Bulge was completed in late 1968. A special screening was made to Shtemenko, who had only two comments to make: first, a scene showing a soldier entertaining local girls in his tank had to be removed; Second, when seeing the actor portraying him with major general ranks, he claimed he was already a lieutenant general at the time. Ozerov answered that according to their material, he was not.[3] The aforementioned scene does not appear in the film.
A more important pre-release viewing had to be held for Defense Minister Andrei Grechko and Yepishev. After the screening ended, the generals headed for the exit without saying a word. Ozerov asked for their opinion; Grechko answered, "I will not say a word to you!" and left the room. The film had to be edited four times before it was authorized for public screening on 1969, together with the already finished second part, Breakthrough.[14] The two had their world premiere in July 1969, during the VI Moscow Film Festival.[6]
Reception
Distribution
The Fire Bulge and Breakthrough were released together in 2,202 copies on 7 May 1970, two days before the 25th anniversary of Victory Day.[28] Richard Stites reported that the Communist Party instructed all its members to purchase tickets.[29] 56.1 million people watched the first, of which 56 million returned after the intermission for the second.[28] Those figures were lower than expected, as popular pictures about the war which did not enjoy such promotion had much larger audiences.[9] Yet still, The Fire Bulge/Breakthrough reached the first place at the Soviet box office for 1970. Together, they are also the 31st and the 32nd highest-grossing Soviet films ever.[28]
Direction of the Main Blow, distributed in 1,476 copies, had 35.8 million viewers,[30] making it to the third place on the 1971 box office.[31] Finally, the two concluding films, The Battle of Berlin and The Last Assault were released together in 1,341 copies.[30] They had an audience of 28 million, reaching the 11th place for 1972.[31] Denise J. Youngblood wrote that, considering the "unprecedented" public relations campaign the film received and the forced attendance of viewers, the last part's success of drawing only 28 million moviegoers was "almost pitiable". She attributed this, partially, to the "grandiose scale" of the films, which made it hard to maintain the interest of the audience. Youngblood concluded that the series was a "relative failure".[12]
The series was distributed in 115 countries around the world. In the People's Republic of Bulgaria, it sold a total of 7 million tickets.[32] In the German Democratic Republic, 4 million people watched The Fire Bulge/Breakthrough between its release in November 1970 until the opening of Main Blow in June 1971.[33] The series was endorsed also by the East German government. The East Berlin premiere was attended by Socialist Unity Party of Germany's leadership, and the state film distributor Progress-Film Verleih declared in its policy guidelines that "each young citizen of our country should watch this picture already during his time at school";[6] it became part of the curriculum, and pupils have watched it in mandatory showings.[34] The Free German Youth had also held screenings often at culture evenings.[5]
According to official Soviet statistics, Liberation sold more than 400 million tickets worldwide.[13] In the English-speaking world, a shorter, 118-minutes long version was disseminated under the title The Great Battle.
Awards
The Fire Bulge/Breakthrough was screened outside the competition in the 1970 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, and Yuri Ozerov received a special prize of the Czechoslovak-Soviet Friendship Society.[35]
The readers of the journal Sovietsky Ekran, the State Committee for Cinematography's official publication, chose The Direction of the Main Blow as the best film of 1971.[12][36]
Ozerov, Bondarev, Cinematographer Igor Slabnevich and Art Director Alexander Myaghkov were all awarded the Lenin Prize in 1972 for their work on Liberation.[13] The films won the Best Film Award at the 1972 Tiflis All-Union Film Festival, and Ozerov received the Polish-Soviet Friendship Society's Silver Medal in 1977.[37] The series was submitted by the Soviet Union as a candidate for the Best Foreign Language Film in the 46th Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee.[38]
Critical response
In accordance with government endorsement, the Soviet press excessively promoted the film, and war veterans published columns that praised its authenticity.[12] The state-approved Soviet Encyclopedia of Cinema cited Liberation as correcting the "falsification of history" presented in The Longest Day.[3][39]
The films were noted for the scales of the production: Mira and Antonin Liehm cited it alongside Waterloo and War and Peace as foremost among Soviet "monumental films, which, with the expenditure of immense amounts of money, brought... history to the screen."[40] It is still acclaimed for this reason; Lars Karl wrote "it was a gigantic work... The cinematic monumentality was to prove the Soviet Union's might."[1] Denise J. Youngblood called Liberation the "most grandiose Soviet WWII picture".[41]
Soviet critic Rostislav Yurenev "praised the meticulously recreated battle scenes".[41] Der Spiegel lauded Ozerov for portraying the German side "with due consideration" for details.[42] Karl-Heinz Janßen from Die Zeit wrote that Liberation was a "colossal film series... A cenotaph of celluloid."[43]
However, the series was not seen as an artistic achievement. Ozerov wrote an article in the February 1971 issue of the Soviet magazine Art of Cinema, in which he declared that his film should be considered as one of the best dealing with the theme of the Great Patriotic War, along the likes of the 1964 The Living and the Dead. Two months later, the important author Semion Freilikh completely ignored Liberation when discussing the genre of war films in the same magazine. Denise Youngblood wrote that this was no coincidence.[12] Eventually, the series was never selected to appear on the official lists of the greatest World War II films, which were compiled on every fifth Victory anniversary.[9] Lazar Lazarev wrote in his memoirs that Liberation was a return to the style of the propagandistic films before the Thaw, "a modern version of the Fall of Berlin".[3]
A year after the Last Assault was released, David Robinson called Liberation a "hollow, spectacular, monumental display."[44] Mira and Antonin Liehm dubbed it as "entirely sterile" and "almost reminiscent of the 'Artistic Documentary' period" - the era of the Stalinist epics.[40] Author Ivan Butler simply described it as a "stranded whale of a film."[45]
Analysis
The Second World War was always a crucial topic for Soviet filmmakers. Immediately after the war, propaganda epics like The Fall of Berlin presented it as an heroic, collective effort of the people that was brilliantly led by Stalin. After his death, the Khruschev Thaw enabled filmmakers to depict the war as a personal, inglorious experience of the individual participants - with films as Ivan's Childhood or Ballad of a Soldier. The Brezhnev administration supported a return to a more conservative style, presenting the war as a noble, ideological struggle once more.[1][40][41] In an essay on the series, Dr. Lars Karl wrote: "In this context, Liberation held special importance": he regarded it as ushering the Brezhnev Stagnation into Soviet cinema, during which "a new conservatism and sharpened censure molded the cinematic image of the war into conventional patterns."[1] Mira and Antonin Liehm also noted that with its focus on the politicians and generals rather than ordinary people, it was "almost reminiscent of the 'Artistic Documentary' period" - the era of the Stalinist epics. Even the splitting of the plot to three lines - leaders' meetings, "huge battle scenes" and parts featuring common people - was a return to that style.[40] Lisa A. Kirshenbaum assessed that in comparison to more sincere Great Patriotic War films, like The Ascent or The Cranes Are Flying, the "heroic, if not kitschy" Liberation conformed to the "Cult of the Great Patriotic War".[46]
Stalin's return was another important trait: during the Thaw, in the aftermath of the XX Party Congress and De-Stalinization, Eastern Block films rarely depicted Stalin, if at all. Scenes featuring him were edited out from many older pictures.[47] Liberation presented Stalin as the Supreme Commander, his first major appearance on screen since the Secret Speech[48] - a token to the Brezhnev Era softer view of him,[3][12] Still, his character did not occupy a central role as it had done in the films produced during his reign.[40][12] Ozerov later claimed that he never included the controversial figure in the script, and had to shoot the Stalin scenes secretly, at night. He told interviewer Victor Matizen that the "State Secretary for Cinematography almost had a seizure when he found out."[14]
Denise J. Youngblood stated that the films - depicting the protagonists as human and imperfect - were still influenced by the Khruschev Thaw's artistic freedom, writing that: "It is, however, important to stress that Ozerov was far from a 'tool' of war cult propaganda... Liberation is a much better film than critics allowed".[9] German author Christoph Dieckmann wrote that "Despite of all the propaganda, Liberation is an anti-war film, a memento mori to the uncountable lives sacrificed for victory."[49]
Historical accuracy
The sociologist Lev Gudkov saw the series as a succinct representation of the Soviet official view on the war's history: "The dominant understanding of the war is shown in the film epic Liberation... All other versions only elaborated on this theme." He characterized this view as one that allowed "a number of unpleasant facts" to be "repressed from mass consciousness".[50]
Dr. Lars Karl claimed that "Ozerov wanted to show that Europe's liberation from Fascism was enabled by the Red Army... And therefore, the Soviet Union had a right to have a say in the matters of Europe." Karl noted that Roosevelt and Churchill are depicted as "paper tigers" who are keen to reach a settlement with Hitler; in the Battle of Berlin, Stalin informs the Western leaders that he knows of the covert Dulles-Wolff dealings when they assemble in the Yalta Conference, on 4 February 1945 - a month before the actual negotiations took place; Averell Harriman officially notified Vyacheslav Molotov on the matter beforehand. Karl also wrote that no mention is made of the Stalin-Hitler Pact.[1] Polish author Łukasz Jasina commented that the Bug River, the line along which Poland was partitioned between the Soviet Union and Germany in 1939, is spoken of as the Polish border already during 1944 - although the USSR annexed the eastern territories of Poland only after the war.[51] Russian historian Boris Sokolov wrote that the film's depiction of Battle of Kursk was "completely false" and the German casualties were exaggerated.[52] Liberation presents the civilian population in Berlin welcoming the Red Army; German author Jörg von Mettke wrote that the scene in which the German women flirt with the Soviet soldiers "might have happened, but it was mostly otherwise."[53] General Gustav Schmidt, who committed suicide rather than to be captured by the Soviets, is shown to have done so after disappointing von Manstein and failing to defeat the enemy.
Grigory Filaev called the films an "encyclopedia of myths", and claimed that they spread the falsehood according to which Stalin ordered to capture Kiev before the eve of the 26th Anniversary of the October Revolution.[10] Yakov Dzhugashvili's daughter, Galina, claimed that the phrase "I will not trade a Field Marshal for a soldier", that is strongly associated with Yakov's story,[10] was never uttered by her grandfather and is "just a quote from Liberation".[54] Yakov Dzhugashvili's appearance in The Fire Bulge was anachronistic: he is depicted meeting General Vlasov on 5 July 1943. Yakov died on 14 April 1943.
References
- ^ a b c d e f Karl, Lars (May 2005). "Die Schlacht um Berlin im sowjetischen Monumentalepos Befreiung" (PDF) (in German). Zeitgeschichte Online. Retrieved 25 December 2010.
{{cite web}}
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ignored (|trans-title=
suggested) (help) - ^ a b c d e f g h i j Bukin, Alexei (June 2005). "КИНОЛЕТОПИСЬ ВЕЛИКОЙ ВОЙНЫ" (in Russian). Petrovskyi Vedomosti. Retrieved 19 December 2010.
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suggested) (help) - ^ Louis Menashe (2010). Moscow Believes in Tears: Russians and Their Movies. Washington D.C.: New Academia Publishing. ISBN 0984406204. page 94.
- ^ a b c d Ralf Schenk (6 May 2005). "Das Imperium schlägt zurück" (in German). Berliner Zeitung. Retrieved 6 August 2011.
{{cite web}}
: Unknown parameter|trans_title=
ignored (|trans-title=
suggested) (help) - ^ a b c d Ralf Schenk (2005). "Befreiung - Bilder eines großen Sieges". filmspiegel.de (in German). Filmdienst. Retrieved 6 August 2011.
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suggested) (help) - ^ Antonina Kriukova (17 February 2001). "Последний бой, он трудный самый" (in Russian). Tribuna. Retrieved 14 April 2011.
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suggested) (help) - ^ Tumarkin, Nina (1995). The Living and the Dead: The Rise and Fall of the Cult of World War II in Russia,. Basic Books. ISBN 9780465041442.
- ^ a b c d Frank Biess, Robert G. Moeller (editors) (2010). Histories of the Aftermath: The Legacies of the Second World War in Europe. Berghan Books. ISBN 978-1-84545-732-7.
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has generic name (help) pages 131-3. - ^ a b c d Aleksander Diukov; et al. (2008). Великая оболганная война-2 (The Great War Slander-2). Exmo Press. ISBN 978–5–699–25622–8.
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(help) pages 19-22. - ^ Viktor Suvorov (2007). The Shadow of Victory. Stahlker Press. ASIN B00270ZSNU. Chapter 17.
- ^ a b c d e f g Denise J. Youngblood (2007). Russian War Films: On the Cinema Front, 1914-2005. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas. ISBN 0700614893. pages 158-162.
- ^ a b c d e f g Igor Muskyi (2007). 100 великих отечественных кинофильмов (100 Great Homeland Films). Moscow: Veche Press. ISBN 9785953323437.Chapter 75: Liberation (available on the book's official website).
- ^ a b c d e f Matizen, Victor (16 October 2001). "Человек, который дважды брал Европу". Film.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 19 December 2010.
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ignored (|trans-title=
suggested) (help) - ^ a b ""Освобождение":Рейхстаг штурмовали частями". tvcenter.ru (in Russian). 5 May 2007. Retrieved 1 January 2010.
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ignored (|trans-title=
suggested) (help) - ^ "Zespół Filmowy Start" (in Polish). Filmpolsky.pl. 1998. Retrieved 19 December 2010.
{{cite web}}
: Unknown parameter|trans_title=
ignored (|trans-title=
suggested) (help) - ^ "Przedsiębiorstwo Realizacji Filmów Zespoły Filmowe" (in Polish). Filmpolsky.pl. 1998. Retrieved 19 December 2010.
{{cite web}}
: Unknown parameter|trans_title=
ignored (|trans-title=
suggested) (help) - ^ All the specified details appear in the films' credits.
- ^ Ozerov, Yuri; Bondarev, Yuri. Освобождение (киноэпопея). Iskustvo Press, Moscow. p. 208. OCLC 28033833.
{{cite book}}
:|access-date=
requires|url=
(help) - ^ Kichin, Valery (28 March 2007). "Ульянов. Занавес". Rossiskaya Gazeta (in Russian). Vakhtangov.ru. Retrieved 19 December 2010.
{{cite web}}
: Unknown parameter|trans_title=
ignored (|trans-title=
suggested) (help) - ^ Gordon, Dmitry (9 August 2005). "Сильные духом" (in Russian). Bulwar Gordona. Retrieved 19 December 2010.
{{cite web}}
: Unknown parameter|trans_title=
ignored (|trans-title=
suggested) (help) - ^ Yakushev, Yuri (February 2008). "Есть такая профессия". Afisha magazine (in Russian). Retrieved 19 December 2010.
{{cite web}}
: Unknown parameter|trans_title=
ignored (|trans-title=
suggested) (help) - ^ "Osvobozhdenie". Internet Movie Cars Database. Retrieved 19 December 2010.
- ^ Ozerov, Yuri; Bondarev, Yuri. Освобождение (киноэпопея). Iskustvo Press, Moscow. p. 218. OCLC 28033833.
{{cite book}}
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(help) - ^ "Oswobozdienije" (in Polish). Filmpolsky.pl. 1998. Retrieved 19 December 2010.
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: Unknown parameter|trans_title=
ignored (|trans-title=
suggested) (help) - ^ Neumärker, Uwe. "Wolfsschanze": Hitlers Machtzentrale im Zweiten Weltkrieg. Christoph Links Verlag. p. 179. ISBN 978-3861534334.
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requires|url=
(help) - ^ Stefan Zahlmann (2010). Wie im Westen, nur anders: Medien in der DDR. Panama Verlag. ISBN 978-3938714119. page 231.
- ^ a b c Kudryavtsev, Sergei (1998). Svoe Kino. Dubl-D. OCLC 42657018. p. 375.
- ^ Richard Stites (1992). Russian Popular Culture: Entertainment and Society Since 1900. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521362148. page 169.
- ^ a b Kudryavtsev, Sergei. Soviet Box Office. kinanet.ru.
- ^ a b Razzakov, Fedor (2008). Gibelʹ sovetskogo kino. Exmo. ISBN 9785699268467. p. 183.
- ^ Bulgaria Today. Sofia Press Agency (November 1975). Volume XXIV, no. 11. ISSN 0204-8868. p. 21.
- ^ Ilse Heller, Hans-Thomas Krause. Kulturelle Zusammenarbeit, DDR-UdSSR in den 70er Jahren. Staatsverlag der DDR (1979). OCLC 123205791. p. 58.
- ^ Marion Hartig (3 April 2006). "Paul und Paula für jedermann" (in German). Der Tagesspiegel. Retrieved 15 April 2011.
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(help) - ^ "Победители конкурса журнала "Советский экран"" (in Russian). akter.kulichki.com. October 1983. Retrieved 1 March 2011.
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{{cite web}}
:|author=
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- ^ Afanaseev, Yuri; Yutkevich, Sergei (1986). Кино: энциклопедический словарь. Great Soviet Encyclopedia. p. 157.
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(help) - ^ a b c d e Miera Liehm, Antonin J. Liehm (1977). The Most Important Art: Soviet and Eastern European Film After 1945. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-04128-3. pages 312-314.
- ^ a b c J. Youngblood, Denise (June 2001). "A War Remembered". American Historical Review. Retrieved 19 December 2010.
- ^ uncredited author (18 January 1971). "Großes Gefecht" (in German). Der Spiegel. Retrieved 15 April 2011.
{{cite web}}
:|author=
has generic name (help); Unknown parameter|trans_title=
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: Unknown parameter|trans_title=
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suggested) (help) - ^ David Robinson (1973). World Cinema: A Short History. Eyre Methuen. ISBN 978-0-413-29190-5. pp. 388.
- ^ Butler, Ivan (1974). The war film. A. S. Barnes & Co. Inc and Tantivy Press. p. 146. ISBN 978-0-498-01395-9. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
- ^ Kirshenbaum, Lisa (2006). The Legacy of the Siege of Leningrad 1941-45. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521863260. page 180.
- ^ Liehm, page 204.
- ^ Birgit Beumers (2009). A History of Russian Cinema. Berg Publishers. ISBN 978-1845202156. page 150.
- ^ Christoph Dieckamann (2005). Rückwarts immer: deutsches Erinnern, Erzählungen und Reportagen. Christoph Links Verlag. ISBN 3-86153-350-2. page 53.
- ^ Gudkov, Lev (3 May 2005). "The Fetters of Victory: How the War Provides Russia With Its Identity". Eurozine. Retrieved 19 December 2010.
- ^ Łukasz Jasina (2007). Wyzwolenie (1968-1975) Jurija Ozierowa jako prezentacja oficjalnej wersji historii II wojny światowej w kinematografii radzieckiej. Lublin: Instytut Europy Środkowo-Wschodniej. ISBN 978-83-60695-09-8. pp. 7.
- ^ Sokolov, Boris (1998). Pravda o Velikoi Otechestvennoi voine: Sbornik statei. Izd-vo "Aleteiia". p. 2. ISBN 978-5-89329-102-5. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
- ^ Jörg R. von Mettke (6 May 1985). "1945: Absturz ins Bodenlose" (in German). Der Spiegel. Retrieved 15 April 2011.
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ignored (|trans-title=
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Annotations
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fa/Wikiquote-logo.svg/34px-Wikiquote-logo.svg.png)
- The Fire Bulge, Breakthrough, Direction of the Main Blow part I and part II, The Battle of Berlin and The Last Assault on Mosfilm's official YouTube channel.
- The Fire Bulge, Breakthrough and Direction of the Main Blow, Battle of Berlin, The Last Storm for free viewing on the official site of the Mosfilm Studio.
- A 2005 television interview with Dilara Ozerova.
- A 2011 television interview with Dilara Ozerova.
- Stills related to Liberation on RIA Novosti's photographs archive.
- Liberation at IMDb
- Liberation on Kino-Teatr.ru.
- Liberation on Melofanas.lt.
- Liberation on Filmportal.de.
- Liberation on Ostfilm.de.
- Use dmy dates from October 2010
- 1970 films
- 1971 films
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- Soviet war films
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- Eastern Front of World War II films
- War epic films
- Films directed by Yuri Ozerov
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- Films set in 1943
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