Bad Hollywood Film with some Great Performances

Rating: 3/10 (24 June 2008)

Anyone who has read Anthony Beevor's magnificent history of the battle of Stalingrad will find their toes curling at the way that Hollywood distorts this historic victory. The real story of the battle that stays in my mind the most is that when the German 6th Army's Panzer divisions advanced on the city, Soviet troops fought them off with anti aircraft guns lowered to the ground. When the troops had all been killed, the guns were taken over by a group 0f 14 year old girls from a local school, who fended the Nazis off for hours before every one of them in turn were killed by the world's best army.
The story in this film highlights the story of just one hero, Seitsev, a sniper, who was actually Asiatic. In this film he is changed to a pretty boy white European. Frankly, that's racist! During the battle, the Stalinlist press focused on his remarkable achievements as a sniper, but the truth was that it was a collective effort. This film continues that fiction whilst making crude American points about Communism (it's too idealisitic, doesn't work in practice yak yak - yeah, just like the American dream or Iraq, Vietnam, etc. etc.).
Stalin's regime was horrible, but I would have preferred more insight.
However, Bob Hoskins makes a superb Khrushov, and I wish he had a better vehicle to explore the character of this remarkable (but venial) man who turned against Stalin after his death, and tried to save the dictatorship by humanising it somewhat.
It's good to compare this film to 'Downfall', which was made with grown-ups in mind. Without embellishment or distortion, it presents a picture of the Nazis that makes your blood run cold, and gives those of us who didn't face the last war (unlike my poor father on Arctic convoys) an idea of its horror, heroism and desperation. And sheer madness.
Stalingrad deserved a better treatment than this piece of nonsense with its manufactured romance and conflict between two rivals. Oh, please! it's just the same old plot with Red Army uniforms......