La fortaleza Brest

"- This fortress, fortress here, we keep the defense, - This fortress, fortress here, we keep the defense..."

This film is perhaps the best, but certainly one of the best war films made in the past 20 years in Europe. Talking about the legend of the Second World War, the epic Brest fortress that was first attacked by the Nazi hordes, the first day of the war with the USSR 22nd June 1941.

The story tells of a young boy who is a trumpeter in the orchestra in Brest fortress and all the time movie battle through hell trying to find a girlfriend who is lost in the war. During his quest he survives the horrors of the battle in which he actively participate.

The film is full of scenes of war, desperate efforts of the Russian soldiers who defended the fort, during the most certainly futile struggle. While it is a fortress under siege, the German army has penetrated far beyond the fortress that is doomed to fail, but even when they find out, Russian soldiers decided to fight to the end. Excellent film directed complemented by the strong acting and perfect music. Scenes of war are almost epic, presented with the harsh reality.

Brest Fortress is something similar like the American fort Alamo, just became much larger and more powerful symbol of the perseverance of Russian troops, tragedies, and ultimate victory.

The film certainly has to be seen, and the quality of acting, directing and scenes of war, beyond almost all the western movies so far recorded.

The film shows the people and the destiny woven through this historical epic about the Brest fortress. Avoided, and quite nice, skilled and successful, politics and ideology, and instead of great political speeches film shows pure heroism, struggle, and an iron will, not only from the military fortress of the crew, but also the entire Soviet people to defend the country from the fascist hordes .

Ordinary people, cooks, musicians, soldiers, doctors, civilians become suddenly, on that fateful morning of the 22nd June 1941, heroes, they want it or not, they like it or not. The film shows the harsh reality. Absolute lack of preparation and complete negligence of the Soviet army before the dawn of war, a total neglect of the defense of the nation from German aggression. Shows the persistent struggle of the army commander, Major Gavrilov and warning of impending war.

And Germans come as a shock bolt from the blue. The collapse of the Soviet military is obvious. Mass deaths, the collapse front, panic and chaos. From such chaos and terror, the rise of the heroic figures of defense fortress. Major Gavrilov, political commissar of Fomin and many others that his example of heroism, defiance and leadership endured ten times stronger against the German enemy, to the last drop of blood, the last bullet, the last drop of water ...

Long after the movie, in your ears will ring a continuous repetition of words spoken бѕ radio operator from the fortress:

"- This fortress, fortress here, we keep the defense, - This fortress, fortress here, we keep the defense..."

In case you've come upon this movie by accident, I'd suggest you go ahead and watch it, and then return return back to read the reviews.

The Brest Fortress pushes war movies to a completely different level of realism, poetry and emotional force. It is so visceral, so real and so emotionally powerful that by the end you're part of the battle and no longer a detached viewer. Not a single shot is wasted, not a single line of dialog is a filler, not a single acting even from extras feels like acting, not a single moment do you feel that this is a movie and not real life. The makeup, the wounds, the dirt, the blood, everything is real and it all hits you with one of the best cinematography in a war movie since Ivan's Childhood. And The Brest Fortress pays homage to that great movie in many ways.

Russians suffered unimaginable horrors during WWII and that trauma in their psyche along with their great heritage of story telling and great cinema combines to create another great Russian war movie.

I feel privileged to have watched this movie, knowing that its still unknown in the west, there is not even a wikki page about it yet.

Produced in honour of the Red Army soldiers defending the USSR Western borders, Fortress of War recounts historical events combined with fictitious chronicles surrounding the June 1941 siege of the Brest Fortress in Sothern Belorussia against the invading Wehrmacht Army Group Centre forces in the opening stages of Operation Barbarossa.

This historical event is creatively accompanied by reminiscing narration from an orphaned 15-year old boy named Sasha Akimov. His narration ties together three main defensive stages led by real life Soviet war heroes centered on the resistance zones holding out against the protracted German siege. One location is headed by regiment commander Pyotr Gavrilov (Aleksandr Koshunov) another by the political commissar Yefim Fomin (Pavel Derevyanko) and lastly the head of the 9th frontier outpost, Andrey Mitrofanovich Kizhevatov (Andrey Merzlikin). All three have a different story to tell.

The film begins in an archetypal peaceful, though nervous per-war Belorussia in the summer of 1941. The heavy military presence contained in Brest, notably its historic 19th century fortress, explains the current political situation in the country following the Nazi conquest of Western Europe and the Politburo's rightful suspicions of Hitler next intended target. The focal characters are simultaneously introduced intermediately around Sasha's observational narration. The ensuing bombardment by Wehrmacht artillery and brutal assault comes with-out warning and is unleashed with fuming panic. The film thus continues along a direction of separate combat charges and defensive manoeuvres. These numerous skirmishes and scuffles between the two opposing armies are effective, edgy and well-staged. All the combat scenes are extremely effective and mastered by the production team using special effects and pyrotechnics to their full advantage. Because the film was produced by the Belarusfilm Company and in truth many of the cast and crew either lived or parents lived through the nightmare of the Wehrmacht invasion and resultant onslaught of the population, the accuracy to detail is visually authentic and at no point attempts to introvert away from the brutality faced by their ancestral soldiers or civilians during these troubled times. Yet, it does not go unnoticeable that this film contains blotches of patriotism and benevolence. The narration shifts between characters and their dilemmas in the three separate defensive locations at the beginning may appear to be unclear and confusing. Nevertheless, through skillful editing and directing as the film moves along at a steady peace the separate stories begin to coalesce into one and by no means are a distraction.

In summary, Fortress of War is a first-rate factual dramatised war movie which subjects its audience to the brave climatic struggle for survival and once again is another example of the evolving historical films from the Counties brutalised by ideology fuelled hatred and genocide that was the Second World War.

I like this movie considering all the crap films made in my country for last 20 years. From my view it has almost no propaganda (ok, I'm brainwashed already). Narrator probably is telling less that he could, so some plot points are not that clear, but the film keeps you at the screen for all the time.

And final note to some historians here: if you mention history background and occupation of Brest by Soviet Union in 1939, please go further and mention that it was taken by Poland from Russia in 1919, it was behind the Curzon line (the Poland people were not the majority of population) and should have stayed the Russian city.

This is definitely the best war movie shot in the ex-USSR in post-Soviet time. This is what that war was for our country and our people. The level of fiction and fantasy is minimal; the movie is shot as close to historical truth as possible. The Brest Fortress Museum supervised the plot thoroughly. The Brest Fortress became the place where the German invaders lost 5% of their East Front deadcount within the first week of war. Come have a look on how our granddads fought against the Nazis. There are no starship troopers in the movie; just real Red Army soldiers and a deadly mouse gray mass of German invaders that killed 20+ millions of our compatriots and brought to our country countless loss.