Positive surprise

Rating: 6/10 (21 July 2015)

Let me start this review by saying that I am generally not too big on war films. I am pretty interested in politics though, but the depiction of actual battle scenes has never done too much for really. Luckily, this film is more than that. During its over 2 hours it does not only show bloody fights, but also delivers pretty good character evaluations and a smart approach to the idea of how to depict the very well-known fact that war is evil. This is about the battle of Stalingrad, maybe the most known battle in World War II, because it basically destroyed Germany's hopes of winning the War. "It" is the Russian winter in this case and the fact that German soldiers just weren't ready to deal with the heavy climate conditions. A bit of an irony that it happened right at the city that is named after the Russian leader at that time. But lets get back to the film. The director is Joseph Vilsmaier and at least people with an interest in German films should know him. He has worked in film since the very early 1970s and was also a co-writer with a couple other guys for this film here. The cast includes some known names, but nobody really where you would say "oh it's him". The most known of these today, almost 25 years later is probably Sylvester Groth. The only significant female character is played by Vilsmaier's wife Dana Vavrova, who sadly died far too young from cancer. This is certainly one of Germany's best (anti-)war films and if you appreciate the genre more than I do, you may actually have a pretty great time watching this one. The acting is fine, the character are relatable and memorable and it's really well done by Vilsmaier so that we can watch a credible tale of how they were not only struggling with their enemies, but also with other people in the German army and as a whole with their lives (as soldiers) in general. Thumbs up.