Stalingrad is a 1993 film by Joseph Vilsmaier, which depicts the horrors of combat on the Eastern Front of World War II in a realistic and unromanticized fashion.
The movie follows a platoon of German Army soldiers as they are transferred from Italy and recent experiences in North Africa, to Russia where they ultimately find themselves unwilling participants in the Battle of Stalingrad.
The film was shot in several different locations, including Finland, Italy, and the Czech Republic.
The film is the second German attempt to portray the battle of Stalingrad in a movie. It is predated by the 1959 movie Hunde, wollt ihr ewig leben (English: Stalingrad: Dogs, Do You Want to Live Forever?)[1].
Cast
Plot
The film begins with a group of German assault engineers enjoying leave in Italy after returning from combat deployment in North Africa. An awards ceremony is announced by a band playing the Hohenfriedberger Marsch, supposed to call soldiers to attention. Some soldiers are late from having to carry "Lupo", the Lieutenant wounded in North Africa, to the ceremony. The three main characters are introduced at the awards ceremony: Leutnant von Witzland, the inexperienced and idealistic platoon leader; Unteroffizier "Rollo" Rohleder, who is refused his decoration when he arrives on parade with an unbuttoned tunic collar, and Obergefreiter Fritz "Fritzi" Reiser, whose tendency to direct talk is made evident. Although this film contradicts what most people think of Nazi soldiers, Rollo fits this stereotype perfectly well- A fanatical, die-hard believer who is willing to fight to the death and is hungry for medals. As the parade ends, the main officer in charge gives a speech, telling them that they are the best, and never to forget that. The group is dismissed and advised their unit has been ordered to the Eastern Front. The train passes through the small Italian coastal town, where the soldiers wave to the people, and Fritz waves to "Viola", his Italian girlfriend. As it passes into the tunnel, the scene changes to the train being far in Russia, where the men are playing cards, talking, relaxing, and one is even eating while shaving. Leutnant Von Witzland writes to "Clara", his wife. As the train passes Russian laborers working in the fields, the men cheer and talk about what they will do after the war. Rollo asks Von Witzland if this is his first time to the front, and Von Witzland replies "everyone must start somewhere". Rollo bets Von Witzland two cans of water that he will survive and the Lieutenant will not. Soldiers continue to talk. The train arrives on the outskirts of Stalingrad.
As they march into Stalingrad, the unit passes some soldiers seriously wounded in the fighting, They also pass a column of Russian POWs who are being berated and beaten by German field police. When one of the POWs almost collapses and tries to hold onto a guard's shoulder for support, the guard knees him in the belly, throws him to the ground, and continues beating him. Leutnant von Witzland, observing the gruesome spectacle, slips out of line and tries to stop the beating but is knocked down. As he looks on, the prostrate POW is beaten to death. Witzland gets up and protests to captain Haller, the Feldgendarmarie captain. The captain responds: "You wish to protest? Tell the Fuhrer." He then walks off, laughing cruelly.
Then follows a scene unique to films about the German military: a German Army chaplain holds a field service, at which two more characters are introduced; Feldwebel Pfluger, a veteran who has served at Voronezh, and Hauptmann Musk, another veteran who has lost an arm and who claims to have "absolutely no luck with my right side".
The scene then switches to combat in Stalingrad. In heavy fighting, the Germans manage to fight their way to an important factory and take it. The Russians being cleared out, the soldiers relax and listen to Adolf Hitler on the radio explaining why he chose to march on Stalingrad. As the men relax in a building and talk, Fritz tries to comfort GeGe Muller, a teenage soldier upset over accidentally killing his friend Dieter in close combat. The battalion, originally 450-strong, now has only 62 men. The building is surrounded by Russians, and neither side dares make the first move to attack. The stalemate goes on with bodies and the wounded lying in the streets. In an attempt to rescue the wounded and count the dead, the Germans propose a ceasefire between the two sides and to send out some unarmed men. Tension is high. After collecting dog tags from the dead, a Russian soldier pilfers some meat from a dead man. At the same time, Reiser produces some bread and they decide to share their prized possessions. But this moment of peace does not last long, as a shot rings out, and battle is rejoined. A Russian boy named Kolya is captured during the fight. The soldiers relax at daytime, hearing Russian soldiers sing from their positions. Rollo sees a Russian woman carrying her baby through the city with the sounds of battle echoing in the distance. A Russian sniper kills the man on watch, and the food and mail arrive. As the soldiers talk, Rollo finds out his wife has left him to marry a French POW, and as Lieutenant Von Witzland tries to comfort Rollo, the Russians launch a surprise attack. As the Germans try to hold off the Russians, Kolya escapes. A team of men escape into the sewers with flamethrowers, firing the flamethrowers to illuminate. The sewer system is filled with dead soldiers from both sides, and Von Witzland captures Irina, a female Russian soldier who knows German when he strays from his men. She proposes a cease fire to get them both back to their comrades, but when they come to a canal filled with bodies, Irina suddenly pushes him in, but he is rescued by his men. They find Edgar Emigholz, who is badly wounded in his leg from a booby trap, and they try to take him to the hospital. On the way, they come across a Russian mother and her frightened children. Moments after they left, three Russian soldiers hunting Germans arrive, hand out bread, and receive directions on where the Germans went. Schütze Emigholz is taken to the hospital but dies while waiting for medical treatment. When the three main characters try to use force to get preferential treatment, they are arrested by Captain Haller and his men. Von Witzland requests to speak to Hauptmann Musk, hoping he will help bail them out of trouble. Musk is speaking with General Hentz and other senior officers when Von Witzland arrives, but Musk refuses to help. An enraged Von Witzland sees this as a betrayal of him and his men. The soldiers are sent to "Strafbattalion", a Punishment Battalion. Here they meet "Otto", a former officer who served with Hauptmann Musk at Brest-Litovsk. It is now snowy, and will be so for the rest of the film. The soldiers are digging for land mines in the snow and freezing weather, when a group of armed men arrive, play a cruel trick on them, and force them into a truck, where they are given a chance for reinstatement: the Russian have shattered the Romanian units on the flanks of the German Sixth Army, and the battered soldiers must now fight off overwhelming numbers. They are mustered for a defensive action-to hold Marinovka, the best chance to break through the Soviet ring of steel and link up with a German relief force on its way. After the briefing, Otto and Musk have a conversation, Otto knows that they don't have a chance, and wants to surrender, but he knows it won't happen. On the way to the front in a truck, Otto advises his new friends to tell their families they've died; he's been home and found his wife and kids were complete strangers to him. The truck passes a piles of bodies being cremated.
A detailed sequence showing a Soviet tank-infantry attack on prepared positions is shown, and despite heavy casualties on both sides, the Soviets are repelled. Afterward, Fritz snatches a boot from a dead Russian soldier and finds that it fits. They soon go back to Hauptmann Musk, with whom they share one last cigar, taking turns smoking, and afterward, lug their anti-tank cannon back to base through the snow. The major German base is a Russian village. Despite the snowy weather, it is teeming with activity. They are taken out of the shed they are taking refuge in, and earn the right to return to their unit. They are reinstated and given an unsavory mission - forming an execution squad against alleged civilian "saboteurs", to prove their loyalty. General Hentz passes rank insignia to them, saying "In the name of the Fuhrer" to each one, then leaves in his staff car, having given responsibility of carrying out the killings to Captain Haller. However, they discover that among the civilians is Kolya, the same Russian boy they had met before. Despite their efforts to convince Haller to spare the boy, they are ordered back in line and threatened with execution if they fail to carry out the killings.
After the executions, the men stumble back to the tent, where Fritz Reiser proposes a plan to get out of Stalingrad by faking injuries and boarding a medical flight. Rollo objects, and calls it desertion, but Von Witzland - son of a distinguished German officer - announces he no longer feels bound by his soldier's oath. Von Witzland, Reiser, and Muller attempt to escape by faking injuries and boarding a medical flight. Otto, realizing that he as lost everything, stays. So does Rollo, who is willing to fight to the end. They pass a Russian settlement and receive directions to the airport from civilians in exchange for bread. They also pass German dead, and collect dog tags and bandages. However, the attempt is ultimately unsuccessful, and they are left stranded as the last German transport plane takes off under heavy Russian artillery fire. They make their way back to the other men as part of a long column of German soldiers. They encounter a seriously wounded soldier who begs to be shot, but he is not obliged by anyone. They make it back to the tent, and converse with Otto, and are sickened to find Musk's foot frozen to a black crisp. They soon hear the sound of an airplane from outside, and rush outside. Brief respite comes from the airdrop, but Captain Haller shows up and threatens to shoot them as looters. When he accidentally kills Muller as he is tackled, the enraged soldiers shoot Haller dead as revenge for Muller's death. The three main characters find salvation in an abandoned warehouse, where they find Irina, the girl Von Witzland encountered in the sewers. She has been captured and forced into sexual slavery. At first, she begs to be shot, but after she calms down, she explains to Von Witzland how she knows German. The men try to entertain themselves in the house. However, Hauptmann Musk resumes his role as an officer, and calls them deserters. Otto goes insane and commits suicide, possibly from the stress of past events. Rollo leaves, carrying Hauptmann Musk, where they have an encounter with General Hentz, leading a long column of troops. He is surrendering his men to the Russians. As the men walk away, Rollo and Hauptmann Musk remain alone. It is the last time that either of them will ever appear in the film, and their fates are unknown, but they either died or were captured. Meanwhile, in the house, Fritz is talking with Von Witzland. Neither man wants to die, but they know that the only alternative is freezing labor camp in Siberia, and to be disgraced as soldiers. Irina agrees to lead Reiser and Von Witzland, the last two surviving characters to safety, but is shot by her own side when she is mistaken for a German soldier. Von Witzland and Reiser then try to find safety. As they desperately seek shelter in a relentless blizzard, Reiser mentions how awful fighting in the desert was.
Analysis
The film is unremittingly bleak as it depicts the soldiers as simple men caught up in circumstances beyond their control, while their superiors are shown in the usual evil way one is accustomed to seeing Heer soldiers portrayed - as strict authoritarians hungry for glory and medals.[2]
Historical Errors
Soviet T-34/85 tanks, which were not in mass production until February 1944, were shown attacking "Strafbattalion" during the Soviet breakthrough attempt. Although not specified in the film, the attack should be carried out in mid to late November 1942, closely after the beginning of Operation Uranus.
Most of the German helmets shown in this film are post-war models; The M.35, M.40 and M.42 models used by the German Wehrmacht during the WWII period had three rivets, clearly visible from the outside, which served as union system between the shell and the inner liner however the post-war models shown in the film did not have these three rivets.
Making of the film
The film was shot in several countries and took much effort to make. Director Joseph Vilsamaier had a German military consultant with him on set. A series entitled "The making of Stalingrad" was released, giving viewers a behind-the-scenes look at the film.
Awards
In 1993, the film won Bavarian Film Awards for Best Cinematography, Best Editing and Best Production.[3]
Other films
See also
References
External links
