V avguste 44-go

Being a Russian, which means that I was raised on epic WWII movies a lot of which I came to simply love for many reasons besides great acting and plot, I have to admit that this one became my favorite.

As you must have read from other comments, this movie has nothing to do with what most people expect from war movie: no propaganda, no superheros, no battle scenes. In fact the war makes just an environmental case here.

The movie is all about characters and the plot that keeps you tense to the end.

IMO these factors make it a fairly international movie.

This film is not just another banal heroic epic, which is typical for Russia in terms of WWII movies. No, this work of Mr. Ptashuk is a great, impeccable and fresh one. It has some soft humor, excellent suspense, marvelous plot and very strong play of all the actors. The story takes place in 1944, when the Soviet Army has liberated all of the Russian territory and reached the Polish border. The regular army is busy with its movements and relocations, and nearby, the woods of Belarus / Lithuania / Poland, the Soviet intelligence service called Smersh - Death To Spies, is tracking down the well-organized fascist group consisting of Russians - the traitors who had chosen to serve the Nazi Germany. This secret group is extremely sly, cautious, and does some great spying work. So, the Smersh group has to catch them as soon as possible, being under threat of death penalty if their work is not a success. The main hero, played by Evgeni Mironov, is a cool, calm and collected professional, he know his work well and he follows the spy gang all the time, till he and his aids meet the enemies on a wood meadow. The main spy, played excellently by Aleksandr Baluyev, a merciless, cruel criminal, who is a real master too. Their tense dialog is a central part of the whole film and the unexpected final is a real success. This is a rare case of a really great, smart and very thrilling war movie. Recommended!

This is one of the best war movies I have ever seen. Forget Private Ryan, forget G.I. Jane, forget Platoon or Born of 4th of July. These Belarusians have made a brilliant thriller, with perfect cinematography, fine acting and almost perfect editing. And, which is very important, there is no any propaganda here. This is not "Germans-are-so-bad, the-others-so good" kind of movie.

It is simply good entertainment - one of the same kind as "U-571", for example.

"In August of 1944" - the military action movie of Mikhail Ptashuk. The deadly confrontation of the power of mind, courage and spirit of irreconcilable enemies - Russian and German military scouts at the end of World War II in the forests of Belarus. Some of the best roles are Evgeniy Mironov and Vladislav Galkin.

Superb acting. Fantastic camera work. Authentic in every way.

No more than 10 minutes I was into this movie, I was glued !

Effectively, this is a Spy v Spy movie with the backdrop of WW2.

Highly recommended. I give it a solid 8 stars.