Stalingrad

We follow a group of soldiers through the hell of the battle that was Stalingrad through this very nicely shot film, which really smacks you in the face with the horror of war. One scene which really reached out and grabbed me was Pitomnik Airfield, where we see the mad and desperate frenzy of wounded and dying soldiers trying to get aboard one of the planes, their only hope of salvation from the Kessel. It was exactly how I imagined it while reading Stalingrad by Antony Beevor.

This movie also closes with one of the most desolate and dark scenes ever I think, the remnants of the group having failed at their miserable attempt to escape the Kessel, sitting and freezing in the open Steppe, just waiting to die.

Simply harrowing stuff and I highly recommend this to all.


Astounding in every way   October 10, 2003
 6 out of 7 found this review helpful

There were several scenes in this movie that made me feel awe-inspired by it.

For one, it has some of the most gruesome albeit realistic urban warfare scenes that I've ever watched.

For another, it has one of the most harrowing battle scenes I've watched on film. The scene I speak about is when the main characters fight off a Russian armor unit - the minute those tanks roll out into the open field and then turn to face our heroes...you can feel your heart sink deep into your stomach.

It also has one of the most touching endings I've ever seen. Yes, I will proudly admit, I cried during this movie. The factors of character and the different personalities are well achieved, and even if maybe the German attack on Russia wasn't a good thing, you can't help but feel for the men who had to fight it (in fact, study German military history and you'll find out the majority of military officers in the German army DIDN'T want the war).

It is not a play by play historical drama of the Battle of Stalingrad, however, it manages to capture many aspects of the battle just by following the characters through their campaign: you see the urban fighting, the sewer systems, the Russian attacks, and even the aweful affair of evacuation (and how men with influence got away while men with out it were left behind to die).

In portraying the worse defeat in German military history, this film accomplishes its task on all fronts.


Dramatic, yet influenced by political correctness   October 8, 2003
 61 out of 80 found this review helpful

I find Stalingrad highly recommendable to anyone interested in a battle that has - with some justification - been regarded as the psychological turning point in a war of attrition between two dictatorships.

Having an army background (military infantry officer) myself, I found great pleasure in watching an infantry platoon "at work" (if you pardon the expression), instead of following a larger unit abstractly. The platoon level provides an excellent opportunity to comprehend life and interaction in a small unit literally under fire. Which the platoon in question certainly is.

In "Stalingrad", I very much appreciated the dramatic way in which the platoon's different phases were described: The relaxation inbetween battles in Italy; the gathering of the battalion and its subsequent departure for Russia; the journey through Russia; the arrival in Stalingrad; the first encounter; the mounting casualties; the conflict between the men on the ground and certain superiors; the uncertainty; the battle fatigue; the chaos; and the ubiquitous and inevitable death.

The actors are splendid, their conversations frank and spontaneous.

However, the reason for only suggesting 4 out of 5 stars is the political correctness inherent in "Stalingrad". On several occasions (for example, during the battle break in the city when both parties send out people to get their wounded, and in the conversations between the platoon leader and the Russo-German woman-prisoner) we are reminded of how unjust the war was, how badly the Germans behaved in Russia and how innocent the attacked Russian were. These incidents are, to be honest, rather pathetic, but luckily not to an extent that completely ruins the general impression of "Stalingrad".

No doubt - the Wehrmacht did indisputedly commit atrocities in the Soviet Union during WW II. But I would have liked the movie to mention the Soviet atrocities as well, both against German troops as well as ITS OWN civilian population. The movie seems to portray the Soviet Union as the innocent victim of German aggression, which it was clearly not: WW II started mainly because Britain declared war on Germany after the attack of the latter on Poland 01 September 1939. But for some "strange" reason, Britain forgot all about declaring war on the Soviets, although the Soviets attacked Poland from the east following the Molotov-Ribbentrop treaty.

Germany lost the war, and its conquerors quickly imposed on it a feeling of guilt that may have seemed partly justified in 1945, but which still - as can be seen in "Stalingrad" - haunts movie-making in Germany.

Let me emphasise that the aforementioned political correctness in no way makes the movie bad - but its omission would undoubtedly have motivated the undersigned to suggest all five stars instead of four.

If you liked Das Boot, you will surely like Stalingrad too. I blame neither author nor director of Stalingrad for the political correctness; that ghost is still too firmly rooted in German psyche to be forgotten and omitted in movies about the controversial phase of European history from 1939 to 1945.


Comment on first review   October 6, 2003
 3 out of 7 found this review helpful

While the review is good, I might just point out one minor but significant error, which actually makes the film bear worse on the Heer (Army).
The soldier beating the Russian POW was NOT Waffen-SS. He did not wear W-SS markings (black insignia etc). He was in fact a member of the FeldPolizei or military police, who managed the rear areas.
Therefore he was a member of the Army, and not the SS. There were no SS units anywhere near Stalingrad, except for SS-Wiking division 500 miles to the south. The W-SS at this stage were not numerous enough to be ubiquitous (and never were).
The act in the film shows the Heer to be deeply implicated in the mistreatment of the populace and prisoners. For those wishing to be shocked, read Omer Bartov's book on the barbarisation of the German Army in the East.
The film demonstrates how deeply isolated an oficer from a backround like Von Witzland's could be. Many officers closed their eyes or privately lamented the excesses of the troops, their fellow officers and their superiors. The Russian's fought as hard as they did, not just out of fear of the regime, but because the whole bent of the German war-effort in the east was genocidal.