At War as at War (1969)

 

                    “At War as at War” is a Soviet WWII movie directed by Victor Tregubovich.  It is dedicated very specifically to the members of the 3^rd Armored Army of Marshal Rybalko.  That general and his army deserved a movie.  He started out the war as a lecturer and finally after a year he was assigned as deputy commander of the 3^rd Tank Army, eventually rising to command.  The army led the followup to the victory at Stalingrad.  It captured Kharkov, but then lost it to a counterattack due partly to exhaustion.  It was involved in the counteroffensive after Kursk, captured Kiev, and then liberated the Ukraine.  Various assignments led to Berlin and then Prague.  It was a major contributor to the Soviet victory.  The movie is set in the Ukraine offensive of 1944.

                    It is a small unit movie.  The unit is a SU-85 tank destroyer crew.  It has a new young lieutenant named Malishkin (Mikhail Kononov) who is getting his feet wet.  He dreams of taking out a Tiger tank.  But first he needs to earn the respect of his men.  His crew is Byankin (Fyodor Odinokov) as the older mechanic/older, Mishka (Oleg Borisov) as the middle-aged gunner, and Grishka (Victor Pavlov) as the young driver. Malishkin shows his mettle when he goes into the tank to retrieve a life grenade.  Okay, we’ll keep him.  He starts off as a martinet, but this being a Soviet war movie, he’s an officer so he will get a favorable arc from the screenwriter.  The movie builds to their participation in a big battle.  They are in support of the T-34s.  Malishkin will get his shot at a Tiger.  If it doesn’t get its shot first.

            “At War As At War” is a good tank movie.  The exteriors and interiors give you a good feel for the operations of a tank destroyer.  There’s a really nice long take where the camera rides the vehicle.  But the SU-85 is not the only focus.  The movie is basically the study of the evolution of a young officer.  He earns the respect of the crew, but he becomes more of a companion than a leader.  It seems to work for them.  The crew are all appealing characters.  There is no dysfunction.  This is not the Russian “Fury”.  Where the interaction and actions of the crew are interesting, the climactic battle is just average.  It does last a good twenty minutes and nicely concludes the movie with a funeral and a sad song.  This is the second song in the movie.  Imagine that in “Fury”.  That song was popularized by the movie.  “Across the Field Tanks Thundered” is about the crew of a tank destroyer.  Here’s a sample: 

The tanks were rattling like a thunder
The soldiers went to their last fight
And here they carried young commander
With head all broken outright

An armor-piercer hit his vehicle,
So say good-bye to his Guards crew.
Just four more corpses in the hillside
Will add to fair morning view.

            I love Soviet war movies and there are a lot of very good ones.  This one is above average,  but not in a league with “Come and See” and “The Dawns Here Are Quiet”.  Still, it’s worth watch. Go for a ride with the boys.

GRADE  =  B