Germany against all!

Rating: 9/10 (6 August 2015)

This is the first time I have, eager to 'know the enemy', not given a damn about the feud with the 'Axis' warriors of the World War II and have watched a film — regarding the position of the opposing force. What affected my choice, was, perhaps, the current situation, when, with the outbreak of the most recent war, I have been getting more and more uneasy about the thought, that the previous war was, in fact, far less unambiguous than the banal cliché 'Great Partiotic War', what we call it in Russia meaning homespun truth: 'we had been under attack — so we stroke back'. In actual fact, the USSR just certainly participated in the most awful war of all time. And that was participation to full capacity, our land was lucky to have so much human and economic resources, that, paying little attention to casualties and even speaking about colossal casualties need with a plump 'YES'... In the both world wars' history there were neither the right nor the wrong, neither the defenders nor the aggressors, neither the conscientious nor the deceitful. What there were, was just overcrowded battlefields and tremendous massacres due to the super-powerful military blocs' confrontation. And Germany was against all. It is not just German propaganda! Because saying that Japan and Italy sufficiently helped the Reich to achieve, by 1942, impressing spreading over the larger part of Europe, from Norway, France, and Greece, eastwards to the Lower Volga, — would be, quite sure, a hypocrisy. The Germans (there is no denying their fantastic fighting spirit and self-denial), under their Führer, Hitler, an Austrian himself actually, would indeed approach the Superpower status — only to be eventually pulled up and occupied by the wartime allies whose coalition, however, dissolved shortly after. The former have gone down in history as the monstrous evil fanatics, tormentors of peoples, and what of it? image of the enemy (especially of the shattered one) is likely to be demonised, and since the war was the most monstrous one, the demonisation was likely to reach the unparalleled extent. Jews, alas, have always been destroyed; antisemitism has still not ceased to exist. Shootings of civilian population and property destruction by advancing or retreating troops used to take place on any war and still does. When the war was over, the German and the Japanese rulers were dismissed and they were in the dock, accused of 'war crimes', but that was because the winner is always right and judges the beaten. Just a decorum of diplomacy. I even wonder why so many people still believe that was really a holy violence and a fair trial. And the current war, Donbass war, must wipe out the rose-coloured view of victory in the anti-Nazi war, as Nazism then was not a simple and unambiguous enemy, and there was no deathnail for it then. Today, some heavy-metal songs from the turn of the 1980s and 1990s are extremely topical again. As they describe bombing; warn that just as decades ago the Nazi Germany recarved the map of Europe, sparks of crematory fire of death camps are still visible; narrate the stories of hirelings of dirty tricks and monkey business. In fact, I, just a teenager that time, foresaw that revanchism, that came up in our pluralism age together with any other 'dissenting opinions', would lead to no good... But the Germans are just the ones who least of all stick to their demands in this regard! And the world is lucky to have SUCH Germans today, as otherwise, it might be a World War III with once more 'Germany against all' - and doomsday! However, Germany at the moment needs revanchism like one needs a hole in the head. Who eulogise it, are rulers of Eastern European states as it is a safe bet of giving up everything that connects with Russia, the parent state, and that is none of Germany's business. But how are we Russians going to solve the current pending problem, — that is the challenge. We would be lucky to have the majority once again, as in 1941, been convinced of being victorious: 'victors need never explain'... But what if not?..
Having grounded the significance and topicality of this film, I am going to describe its advantages. This old film measures itself against many modern war films as well as it is still thrilling-to-watch. Almost no 'tall tale' but striking accent when meeting almost any Russian characters (bit parts). Why not involve Russians in auding. There have always been millions of those abroad ('Iron Curtain' is also just a cliché shown to the best advantage by certain circle, isn't it?). The female unit episode is certainly a shocksploitation, but there is a black sheep in every flock. And why, the Western filmmakers showed the Soviet female warrior not just as an abusive woman who immediately laid her arms down and gave in to the Germans. Instead, this composite character is shown as a female hero who combats the enemy many times superior, ready to sell her life and honour dearly...
But the Germans are main characters here. They are neither protagonists here, nor those who are praised and white-washed. We see them such as they must have been on that war. Soviet posters showed them next to trench rats with arms round each other, and quite similar to each other, and that was not just propaganda. No military bearing in the war: it is at the parade where a fighter is clean-shaven, and wears full-dress uniform, and is in blanched boots! While in trenches, even the question of insignia is often of no importance. (Because an officer who keeps subordination too zealously takes chances to have his own soldiers got rid of him). So some exclusively brave Wehrmacht soldiers would wear trophy Red Army garments, give higher commanders a piece of mind, pardon Soviet captives and even exchange defeatist views, wishing Hitler himself 'kaputt'!