The Battle of Russia

Seven stars. With a little round-up. Because the stuff-blowing-up montages went on too long. Because the stock footage that purported to be of happy workers in Leningrad should have been showing us skeletal stick figures. Because Capra just couldn't help being Capra in those scenes of the people either viewing their destroyed homes and families, or reveling in a faux return to normalcy during Christmas 1943. And because the film so carefully ignored things like the Soviet attacks on Poland and Finland in 1939-40. But worth the round-up because the tactical footage was fantastic. And because the film really did do a good job of showing the "average American" why we were spending so much to arm the Russians. I also liked the dissection of the strategies of the two armies on the Eastern front. These WW2 Hollywood propaganda films are fascinating artifacts. Capra made a bunch of them, without ever getting his hands dirty. I'm happy that a bunch of them have become available for streaming. I hardly ever find anything I want to watch on N3tfl!x's streaming site. So I have to give them props for this film.

2 November 2020.

For some reason, I always felt that this front of WWII was always the most horrendous, and this two-parter goes some way to poignantly illustrating that. Using a combination of animated maps and plenty of wartime newsreel, it takes us into the heart of the Soviet Union as the encroaching Nazis crushed all before them. It's striking that though much of Western Europe was industrialised, the population facing this onslaught was a largely agrarian one still using scythes, horse-drawn ploughs and with little access to electricity. Initially, this looks like it's going to be a cake-walk for the invaders, but when they arrive at Stalingrad they find that the population have regrouped and doubled their efforts, in spite of the sub-zero conditions and lack of supplies and ordnance, and together with supplies from the British and the Americans are now starting to make their own presence felt. The second part of this documentary focuses a little more on the fight back and leaves us with some degree of optimism that there might be light at the end of this very, very, long winter. The actuality here is really potent and augmented by a narration that avoids jingoism and sentiment and let's the imagery speak for itself. Sure, it does have a propagandist function to an extent, but when you see the starved bodies of young children, or the raped ones of young women alive and dead, then you don't really need anyone in a sound booth to describe what you can see or what to think about it. It's clearly intended for an American audience and effectively extols that principle that the enemy of my enemy is my friend - regardless of doctrine.

In June 1941 Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union . Less than four years later the outcome was 35 million dead human beings , Nazi German defeat and a " cold war " that lasted 45 years with the threat of humanity destroying itself in nuclear conflict . One of the characteristics of the cold war was both the Soviets and Americans trying to paint themselves whiter than whiter and the other side blacker than black . America being a democracy and with a free press found the task slightly more difficult but let us not forget the McCarthy witch hunts of the 1950s and of popular fiction of the period when every science fiction film with an alien invasion was spearheaded from Mars the red planet because ... well reds are commies are they not ? Bearing this in mind perhaps the most successful propaganda to come out of America was when the Soviets were our friends in the battle against Nazism and this propaganda piece is propaganda at its most enthralling

One massive irritating thing about this documentary is in the use of the word that appears in the title - Russia . It's used euphemistically . Being a Scot someone uses the word " England " or " English " when the word " Britain " or " British " is meant even very mild mannered Celts with no real nationalist instinct get very angry at this lazy mistake and one feels great pity for the 193 million citizens featured in this tribute constantly being referred to as Russians when in fact they're Soviets

Facts are ignored to a large degree because this is a propaganda film though be it a superlative one . The Nazi strategy of Blitzkrieg is referred to as defeating Poland in 18 days . Not inaccurate though it does miss out the important point that after 18 days the Soviet Union then invaded the Polish eastern border and imposed a reign of terror on the Poles living there . When the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union is underway it over states the capacity of the Germans who were reliant upon the horse and cart rather being an entirely motorised and mechanical force as is insinuated here . The Soviet defence in depth is not nearly as effective as painted and the German slowed down due to logistical problems and the onset of the Russian Winter , the Soviet " not one step back " mindset was often down to commissars and NKVD special squads enforcing Stalin's orders in the first six months of the war rather than the average Red Army soldier's fighting spirit and religion was only legalised because of the War . Part one of the film ends with the Russians being described as " Free and united people " which is not the case since communism isn't a democratic ideal centered around freedom and more than a few Soviet citizens most notably in the Baltic states and the Ukraine sided with the Nazis

But where propaganda works best is in emotion combined with an element of truth and the truth is the Nazis butchered millions of Soviets simply because being of Slavonic ethnicity they were considered " untermenschen " by the Nazi regime and this film pulls no punches on the atrocities forced upon the Soviets . We see the bodies of dead children who were burned alive by the Nazis and of young women who have suffered rape at the hands of the Nazis who not only ignored the Geneva convention but ironically their own Nuremberg laws involving race mixing . This film will have you weeping tears for Soviet suffering and have you cheering as they take the fight to the fascist hordes in what is one of the best propaganda pieces you will ever see . So much so that that if it wasn't some of the airbrushing of history as I mentioned earlier such as the Soviets attitude of Poland I would have no hesitation in saying it's one of the greatest documentaries ever made on the Second World War and shows the Soviet blood sacrifice as being the main reason for the defeat of Hitler's regime

First of all, this is not a history lesson. This is a film made during the wartime to garner public support for war effort and so whatever propaganda people might complain about is acceptable. Enemy of your enemy is your friend and during WW2, Russia became an ally of allied powers.

The movie talks in details about Russia's rich resources and what would happen to the world of Nazi power got control of it. After that they have taken few big events and given real footage of the battle. The scale of the allied support is captured correctly. The movie takes 50 mins to go over entire 2 and a half year of great struggle so instead of going over every important detail, the director decided to go with the human element of the war. It's more appealing because of it. I hope to see many such movies of how allies worked with each other to dethrone largest military force in human history.

This is certainly not only one of the most singular documentaries ever made but also one of the best. Frank Capra and Anatole Litvak made it together, striking at the opportunity of documenting the fate of Russia in the war and catching an extensive and comprehensive picture of the Russian situation while it was fresh and still going on, concentrating on the siege of Leningrad and the battle of Stalingrad, ending with the definite turning point of the war. The entire documentary is dominated by Russian music, 75-80% Tchaikovsky with some moments of Shostakovich, Prokofiev and folk music. The account is effective and intelligent all the way, the film rolls on like the war without mercy in tremendous overwhelming realism, while at the same time there is much vital information here that never came across to the west. The only objection against the film anyone could have is the aggressive tone of the speaker, which is as hard as the war, - but even that fits into the picture. It's a great classic documentary for all time without any Hollywood embellishments or tricks, everything is documentary and true, and although it IS a propaganda picture, made to gain support for the Russian cause in the war from the public in the west, it's brilliantly done, and the glory of the victories and ordeals of Stalingrad and Leningrad WAS THERE and must never be forgotten.