Product: Stalingrad (2003)
Rating: 5.0
Very, Very Important Film - Forget About the VO! Jeez!
I am quite knowledgeable about the Battle of Stalingrad and the Great Patriotic War in general, so when I came across this documentary, which was a fairly recent, modern production with both German and Russian participation, I was naturally very excited. I have even travelled to Volgograd and toured many of the important landmarks from the battle, so I have spent a bit of time reading the books and watching many of the films made about the battle. I have also read many of the negative reviews written here about this documentary and I have to say that these people must have a real problem keeping things in relative perspective. The lack of subtitles is annoying. The single male voice over artist reading for all of the male witnesses - both Soviet and German - as well as the documentary's story narration is not ideal, but come on... There is no better collection of witnesses, soldiers from both countries, who were there present during this epic battle, anywhere else gathered together in one work. And as far as historical significance goes there is nothing more important than eyewitness and participant testimony. This is an amazing treasure to have here preserved these testimonies. Hugely important. Nothing is as rich as these human tales told by the people themselves. No book, no slick Hollywood feature, nothing outweighs the value of these stories told by those who were there. And by the way, the translation of these testimonies and the read and inflection given by the narrator is very accurate. Would I have liked a few more male VO artists? Sure, I would. Additional female VO artists too? Ditto. Would I like the option of subtitles. Absolutely. But as an amateur historian who takes it seriously, all of these complaints pale in comparison to monumental importance and absolute gold that the producers of this documentary have given us - the real people. The story is well crafted and woven with the testimonies. There is good use of archival footage, some of which I have not seen before. And the overall production quality, i.e., the photography, the graphics, etc., are also well done. A very important piece that anyone who is serious about the subject should own. I just want to say "Thank You" to the producers, and everyone else - crew and witnesses - who participated to bring these stories to the world.