Product: Stalingrad (2003)
Rating: 4.0
Admirable account of the Battle of Stalingrad... Terrible English dubbing
This is a fine 3-part documentary (3-hours long) on the Battle of Stalingrad. It is a German/Russian co-production made in 2003 to commemorate the 60th Anniversary of the battle that turned the tide of the war. It is a remarkable collaborative effort between the two former belligerents, with unprecedented access to their joint historical archives, both in terms of film footage and documentary records. The progress of the battle is told through the recollections of surviving veterans from both sides, as well as poignant letters home from those who perished. Alongside the better known footage from the German archives, there are rarer clips from the Russian vaults, of life in the city before, during and after the battle, and propaganda films of German POWs in Soviet concentration camps. From the NKVD (KGB/FSB) archives, we learn how, contrary to long accepted historical accounts, Field Marshall Paulus' surrender did not bring the battle to a close - over 10,000 German troops chose to fight on amidst the rubble, holding out against superior Soviet forces for another 2 months before finally being defeated. In all, over a quarter-million German soldiers (the mighty 6th Army) died at Stalingrad. The Russians suffered over half a million casualties.The documentary is far from exhaustive. Only cursory mention is made of the Romanian, Hungarian, and Italian Armies (over half a million men) that took part in the assault and perished alongside the Germans. But on the whole, it is a balanced, moving and admirable account of a battle that has for too long, remained untold in the west. Its value lies not so much in the battle-footage unearthed but more in preserving the first-hand testimony of the last remaining survivors of this decisive moment in history.My only criticism is of the irritating English dubbing of every spoken word in the documentary. This was originally shown in German and Russian with all the interviews conducted in those languages. It's fine to dub the main narration but dubbing over the veterans' and survivors' accounts was overkill and highly annoying. As the previous reviewer said, it was to appease the "subtitle-averse" crowd. Personally I thought the producer should have given his audience more credit. Many of the veterans interviewed were emotionally distraught as they recounted the trauma. Having American voice-actors trying to capture their distress with faked emotion made the whole exercise laughable. For me, the height of absurdity was when Hitler and Goebbels had their speeches dubbed over by some American voice-actor. Optional English subtitles should have been the way to go.The documentary was shot in 1.78:1 widescreen and is presented as such on this DVD (Anamorphic). The recent footage, including the interviews, shots of the present-day city and the graphics used, all look excellent, with sharp images and strong, natural colours. The archive footage is understandably poorer in quality, unrestored and from the Russian side, significantly grainy. Sound is in Dolby 2.0. There are no subtitles. Extras include a 10-minute long interview with Prof. Guido Knopp who wrote and co-produced the documentary, 20 minutes worth of additional interviews with veterans (both in German with optional English subtitles) and a 5-minute modern-day tour of a pristine, snow-clad Volgograd (City on the Volga - the new name for Stalingrad).