Doroga na Berlin

Remembering old fashion westerns, using the fascination of the Soviet/Russian cinema for WWII, it is only a decent film. Nothing spectacular, nothing memorable. Only a long way of survive, a friendship and the war. And sure, the picture from a newspaper. It is far to be source of the enthusiasmus of public who knows the real Russian war films and the message is too weak to impress. But its virtue is to remind better films about same theme. A good film, a reasonable option.

This film has been made with a modest budget . But there is no modesty in the themes it so tellingly portrays . All the clumsiness of huge organisations , all the nobility of the individuals that have to deal with that clumsiness .

A small masterpiece .

'On the Road to Berlin' is quite mellow for a war movie. Nothing spectacular or memorable. The plot is implausible but interesting. and there are quite ridiculous moments there, but the acting is good, and there is some chemistry between the two main characters. It was entertaining and thoughtful enough and thanks to the short running time the movie didn't feel to drag. It seems that the movie was made with quite a modest budget. Battle scenes are quite bland. They don't seem t arise above from the rest of the film and they fail to elevate the rest of the movie above from the rest of the likes. Of course there was obligatory love story thrown in (or the promise of it). You can't make a war movie without a girl falling for a tired soldier.

I can't recommend this movie, but it wasn't that bad. I wouldn't call it a total waste of time. It probably would have needed more development. My review was as lazy as this movie.

The movie touches the soul. No unnecessary loud drama and over acting. Just a straightforward story line and truthful execution. How war make a boy to a man and the journey with ups and down. Bond of the soldiers and high moral code. From rock bottom to stand up again. Compassion for each other. The ugly part of any war, where most of the times people are just dragging them up, loosing any hope to survive yet they do. Sound mind and emotion for country mostly the key factors of any winning side. People love to see great wars but forget the actual hardship and mental condition of the soldiers.

One immediate thing of note... this is one of very few WW2 movies that shows an Asian looking Russian soldier (the character of Dzhurbaev). In reality, they were significant in number.

I loved the plot. The cinema-photography very well done. The actors were convincing in their roles. Authenticity applies to the sets/locations and the uniforms, weapons, Russian military command and battle scenes.

This is definitely one of the best Russian made war movies.

I give it a solid 8 stars