Rent They Fought for Their Motherland (1975)
3.8 of 5 from 68 ratings
2h 17min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
In July 1942 the exhausted Soviet army were retreating toward Stalingrad whilst desperately trying to hold their ground in front of the rampaging German war machine, which had the advantage because of Stalin's failure to heed the warnings that Hitler was going to invade. The loss of Soviet life in the campaign was legion but the film concentrates on the remnants of one shattered regiment and its individual soldiers' thoughts and fears in the face of impending annihilation, not only of themselves but Mother Russia too. The depictions of war and destruction are powerfully shot, bringing home to the viewer not only the inhumanity and waste wrought by evil endeavours but also the personal predicaments of the individual characters forced to participate in a frantic fight for survival. - Actors:
- Vasili Shukshin, Vyacheslav Tikhonov, Sergey Bondarchuk, Georgiy Burkov, Yuri Nikulin, Ivan Lapikov, Nikolai Gubenko, Andrei Rostotsky, Nikolai Volkov, Nikolai Shutko, Yevgeni Samojlov, Nonna Mordyukova, Lidiya Fedoseyeva-Shukshina, Innokenti Smoktunovsky, Tatyana Bozhok
- Directors:
- Sergey Bondarchuk
- Writers:
- Sergey Bondarchuk, Mikhail Sholokhov
- Aka:
- Oni srazhalis za rodinu
- Studio:
- Nouveaux Pictures
- Genres:
- Drama
- Collections:
- A History of Soviet Silent Cinema
- Countries:
- Russia
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Reviews (1) of They Fought for Their Motherland
A Soviet writer's work turned to the silver screen - They Fought for Their Motherland review by Rod
Mikhail Sholokhov wrote 'They fought for their Mother Country' and was later awarded the Nobel Prize for literature for his various books about the Don region of Russia. Having read them all, I was expecting a storey of intense characterisation, sweat, toil, privations and gritty camaraderie - and the film delivered a real flavour of Sholokhov. The central character played by Vasili Shukshin was the authentic "muzhik" or 'one of the lads'. A few sections of the film's translation were a little stilted and wide of the mark, but the story and character interactions were compelling.
For anyone interested in Russian cinema and Sholokhov - a valid and entertaining watch.
( As a Russian speaker I was interested to note that a few four-letter words did not come through the translation - which would have made it even more authentic! )
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