THE 100 BEST WAR MOVIES: 16. Brest Fortress (2010)

 

                “The Brest Fortress” (“Fortress of War”) is a Russian film about the famous defense of Brest Fortress in the opening days of Operation Barbarossa in WWII.  It was directed by Alexander Kott and had strong input from the Brest Fortress Museum.  The film chronicles the defense of four separate strongholds within the fortress.  The movie was made “in memory of the fortress heroes”.

                The movie is told in flashback form based on the memories of a then teenage boy named Sasha (Alexey Kaposhov).  Sasha and his older brother are orphans who are in the Soviet Army and stationed at the fortress.  Besides the fortresses defenders, their families live within the walls.  Life is normal until the German invasion of the Soviet Union takes the fortress completely by surprise.  The first inkling that they are at war is when a savage air bombardment pummels the fortress.  Several buildings are blown up as people run around like chickens with their heads cut off.  Soon after, the German army arrives.   When the civilians attempt to flee, they are machine gunned.  The siege has begun and it will not be the cake walk the Germans anticipated.

                The movie concentrates on the defense of the four strongpoints and the commanders of each.  Political commissar Fomin (Pavel Derevyanko) is in charge of the Kholm Gate.  Regimental commander Gavrilov (Alexander Korshuvov) commands at the Eastern Fort and defense of the 9^th Frontier Outpost falls to Lt. Kizhavatov (Andrey Merzlikin).  Another force holds out in a barracks.   The Germans assault all four positions, leading to some intense combat.  The Germans use tanks, artillery, and flamethrowers to try to whittle down the defenders.  Through all this Sasha moves through the maelstrom seeking his girlfriend Anya and taking part in the fighting.  He serves as the framing device as he connects the isolated forces. 

 

ACTING:   A                

ACTION:   A+ (9/10) the only combat is the village assault

ACCURACY:     

PLOT:  A                

REALISM:   A

CINEMATOGRAPHY:   A+

SCORE:   A

SCENE:  the German infantry and tank attack across the field

                I was not familiar with the Defense of Brest Fortress so the movie was not only entertaining, but educational.  I suppose every country its famous ill-fated siege.  Brest Fortress is the Russian equivalent of the Alamo.  Sieges are grist for war movies because of the potential for cinematic drama.  “Brest Fortress” maximizes this by tapping in to the personal elements of the story.  Not only is there the romance between Sasha and Anya, but there is another couple that is tragically impacted by the German assault.  The fact that families were caught in the siege adds a dimension that you don’t get in movies like “The Alamo”.  There is a strong human dimension to the film. Two themes are the brotherhood of the soldiers and their dying for what their country.

 The decision to concentrates on the leaders of the strongpoints was wise.  Each of these characters is distinctive and compelling.  The key to the movie is the Sasha character.  His arc is the glue tying together the various battle sites.  His quest to find his girl friend in the midst of the turmoil brings the audience into the story.  It helps that the acting is solid.  There is no scene chewing.  The dialogue is natural.  This is not a propaganda film.  The Germans are evil, but it is their actions, not the soldiers themselves.  There are no significant German characters in the film to speak of.

                Although the movie does a great job personalizing the siege, the movie is most memorable for its quantity and quality of combat.  The opening air bombardment is the best I have seen.  The first firefight sets the stage with slo-mo, graphic wounds, hand-to-hand, and extreme action.    It reminded me of the Korean style of movies like “Tae Guk Gi”, but it is also similar to the Russian film ”9^th  Company”.  There are several frenetic action scenes.  Unlike many war movies, the deaths are not ridiculously unrealistic.  And if you like explosions, this movie blows things up real good.  There is even a two ton kilogram bomb that results in a humongous explosion.  The German use of flamethrowers is not for the squeamish. 

                SPOILER ALERT:  The movie does a great job of retelling the Defense of the Brest Fortress.  This was the first encounter between the Soviets and the German invaders in Operation Barbarossa.  The movie clearly depicts the shameful lack of warning the Soviet defenders got when Stalin had knowledge that the invasion was coming.  The fortress had a garrison of 9,000 men and 300 families.  The air bombardment was devastating and was followed immediately by assault from 20,000 Germans.  The defenders were isolated into the four positions shown in the film.

FINAL: The Unknown Soldier (1917) vs. Brest Fortress

 

                Well, we’ve reached the final match-up of the Non-English Combat Film Tournament.  It has been a lot of fun for me (and hopefully entertaining for you).  I watched 16 foreign war movies (some more than once) for the tournament.  I had not seen only two of them before (Battle of Neretva and 1944), but I still enjoyed watching all of them while concentrating on the categories.  I already knew there are a lot of very good subtitle movies, but I was pleasantly surprised to discover that I was able to find 16 non-English movies that fit the criteria of being combat films.  I would have had a hard time finding a 17^th film, but the ones I watched are all good films.  There were a few upsets due to the IMDb ratings being off on some of the films, but for the most part the right films advanced throughout the tournament.  And I do think the two best films made the finals.  As with all my tournaments, the final match is simply an accumulation of the two films’ category scores.  (This is mainly because it is hard enough to come up with 12 categories, 16 is impossible.)  As you will see, the final was as close as you can get.  I do believe the best movie won, but I actually prefer the other movie.  I don’t think many will be upset with the final result.  The winner is a very highly regarded movie.

 

PLOT                                                                      Unknown   A (9)                               Brest  A (9)

ACTING                                                                Unknown  A  (9)                               Brest  A  (9)

CLICHES                                                               Unknown  B  (8)                               Brest  A  (9)

COMBAT                                                              Unknown  B  (8)                               Brest  A+  (10)

REALISM                                                              Unknown  A  (9)                               Brest  A  (9)

CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT                       Unknown  A  (9)                               Brest  C  (7)

SOLDIER BEHAVIOR                                        Unknown  A  (9)                               Brest  B  (8)

ENTERTAINMENT VALUE                              Unknown  A  (9)                               Brest  A  (9)

EFFECTS                                                               Unknown  B  (8)                               Brest  A  (9)

DIALOGUE                                                          Unknown  B  (8)                               Brest  C  (7)

STRATEGY AND TACTICS                               Unknown  A  (9)                               Brest  A  (9)

AMOUNT OF COMBAT                                   Unknown  A  (9)                               Brest  B  (8)

TOTAL                                        104                            103

NON-ENGLISH COMBAT FILM SEMI-FINALS

Well, we’re down to the final 4 and they are all great war movies.  Two are modern and the other two are black and white classics.  Two are German and the others are from Finland and Russia.  I don’t think I would have predicted all four would make it this far, but I don’t consider any of them to be a surprise.  One matchup is between the #2 and #3 seeds, but the other has two not so highly rated movies.  Any would be a worthy winner, so let’s see who will come out on top.

Fortress of War (8) vs.  Stalingrad:  Dogs Do You Want to Live Forever  (12)

The Bridge  (2)  vs.  Unknown Soldier  (3)

Any thoughts on which one should win the tournament?    

Here are the categories:

EFFECTS

STRATEGY AND TACTICS

DIALOGUE

AMOUNT OF COMBAT

Brest Fortress (8) vs.  Stalingrad:  Dogs Do You Want to Live Forever?  (12)

EFFECTS: 

                “Brest Fortress” has outstanding effects.  The artillery bombardment is one of the best of any war movie.  These are not the cheap gas explosions you see in a lot of war movies.  The results of the bomb explosions and the bullets hitting is top notch.  Buildings really catch hell in this movie.  The combat is graphic with realistic wounds.  Whoever was in charge of dead bodies did a bang-up job.    The sound effects sync up with the battles to provide an assault on the senses that almost puts you on the receiving end.  The film does have some CGI aircraft that are just average, but at least not laughable.  The Stuka bombing scene is cool.  There is also a titanic explosion from a two-ton bomb.  GRADE  =  A  (9)

                “Stalingrad:  Dogs…” was made before CGI and modern special effects.  It uses real footage seamlessly.  Western audiences got to see “Stalin’s Organs” in their dreadful glory.  The bomb effects are above average.  Stalingrad is authentically rubbleized.  It is not a movie that relies on effects.  GRADE  =  C  (7)

DIALOGUE:

                There is nothing special about the dialogue in “Fortress of War”, but it is not hammily propagandistic like most Soviet films before the Thaw.  No one gives a speech, although the situations lend themselves to soap boxes.  No one gives a death monologue.  There are few memorable lines.  One soldier describes war as “ordinary and terrible.”  The movie has narration by Sashka as an old man.  It’s effective in setting the tone.  GRADE  =  C  (7)

                “Stalingrad:  Dogs…” is terse in its dialogue.  There’s no speechifying.  The men are appropriately laconic for well-disciplined soldiers who are facing death.  The grumbling seems right for men trapped in Stalingrad.  “This is the asshole of the world”.  There are a few good lines.  When Wisse talks about how he was taught to not rely on God, Kasselbach responds:  “Until you blow a tire.”  The chaplain chides a disbeliever with:  “Sometimes God only reveals himself in Hell.”  The narration is documentary style and gives a great overview of the military situation.  GRADE  =  B  (8)

STRATEGY AND TACTICS:

                “Brest Fortress” is based on a true story, so the strategy and tactics are supposedly accurate.  The Germans send an infiltration unit dressed as Soviets to cut water and electricity.  They open the battle with an artillery bombardment and try frontal assaults at first, until heavy losses cause them to settle into a siege.  Air attacks by Stukas are used to weaken the defenses.  The Germans wait for the desperate defenders to attempt to break out and then ambush them.  The Soviets are on the defensive for the most part.  They maintain heavy fire on the bridge leading into the fortress.  At one point, one Soviet group meets a German infantry/tank assault by charging to close the distance so the tanks can’t be as effective.  This was a bit shaky.  Overall, nothing happens that is head-scratching.  GRADE  =  A  (9)

                “Stalingrad:  Dogs…” is not based on a true story, but the big picture information about the battle is accurate.  The movie does an outstanding job informing the audience about the pincer movement that got the Germans surrounded.  Although a movie that concentrates on just a few German soldiers, there is coverage of the decision making by von Paulus.  The audience learns that the German commander disregarded sound advice from his subordinates because he was too loyal to Hitler.  It does a great job on the Hoth offensive which failed to break through.  On the micro level, the movie does give a taste for the house-to-house aspect of the battle, but you do not get a good feel for how desperate the fighting was.  There is the rare appearance of artillery spotting, but the Germans are low ammunition so we don’t actually see the tactic in operation.  GRADE  =  B  (8)

AMOUNT OF COMBAT: 

                “Brest Fortress” has a total of about 18 minutes of combat.  That is about 13% of the total.  GRADE  =  B  (8)

                “Stalingrad:  Dogs…” has 10 minutes of combat which is about 11% of the movie.  GRADE  =  C  (7)

FINAL SCORE:  Brest Fortress    33

                           Stalingrad:  Dogs  30

ANALYSIS:

                Although the quantity of combat is similar, “Brest Fortress” is much more of a combat movie than “Stalingrad:  Dogs Do You Want to Live Forever?”, so given the goal of the tournament, it is the more worthy entrant.  I love both movies and have seen both multiple times.  I do tend to think modern movies have advantages in portraying realistic combat, so “Brest Fortress” has an advantage that it does not waste by going overboard like some combat porn movies do.  In fact, neither of these movies fits in the combat porn subgenre.  Ironically, the two movies tread similar ground.  Both cover sieges from the losing side.   The Battle of Stalingrad lasted for months and the movie covers the second half of it.  It was such a huge battle that although the movie is excellent in giving the big picture, it is limited to showing the effects on a few men.  “Fortress of War” covers a siege that lasts for days instead of months and takes place in a small area.  It is much more a battle movie than “Stalingrad: Dogs…”  and is able to cover not just individuals, but also groups of soldiers.  Once again, the better movie had moved on.