Brestskaya krepost

Plot synopsis:
The film opens on Saturday, June 21, 1941. Sasha Akimov, a 15-year-old musician, and his older brother, Andrey, whose parents were killed in the Spanish Civil War, are serving in the 333rd Rifle Regiment of the Red Army at the Brest Fortress. Elsewhere, a commissar, Yefim Fomin, discovers he is unable to bring his family to Brest due to a shortage of train tickets. Another officer, Gavrilov, continues to express concern about the readiness of the fort's defenses should an attack come, despite warnings from his friend, officer of the NKVD Special Department Lieutenant Vainshtein, about an imminent war with Germany. That evening, the fortress loses power due to German commandoes.
The next morning, at 3:58, German forces invade the Soviet Union. The fortress is subjected to heavy bombardment by German artillery and Stuka aircraft, killing many Soviet soldiers and civilians. At 6:30, German infantry attack the fortress capturing hospital staff and patients many of whom they kill. Fomin takes command of the defenders around the Kholm Gate, while Gavrilov rallies the defenders around the Eastern Fort. Elsewhere, NKVD border guards under command of a Soviet Lieutenant, Kizhevatov, repel a German sortie into the fortress, and Vainshtein thwarts a German commando's attempt to undermine the defense of the 132nd Independent NKVD Convoy Battalion's barracks. As the siege commences, Sasha finds himself stranded in one of the barracks. During the fighting for the East Fort, Junior Lieutenant Andrey Akimov (brother of Sasha) is killed while destroying two Panzer IIIs with an anti-tank gun, helping Gavrilov repel a German attack.
By the end of June 22, the Soviet defenders are divided into groups: one force under Fomin defending the Kholm Gate, a second force under Gavrilov defending the Eastern Redoubt, while Kizhevatov defends the 9th Frontier outpost, along with a group of civilians, and Vainshtein holds on to the barracks of the 132nd NKVD Battalion. The next day, fighting continues for the fortress, and Sasha makes it to the Kholm Gate. An I-16 Soviet fighter aircraft of the 123rd Fighter Aviation Regiment is shot down over the fortress, and the pilot is rescued by Fomin's men. He reveals that the Red Army is retreating toward Minsk—and Fomin realizes that the men must leave the fortress or die.
On June 24, Sasha leaves the Kholm Gate to alert the other pockets about Fomin's plan for a breakout. While Sasha finds the 132nd's position overrun, and Vainshtein himself dead, he manages to deliver the message to Kizhevatov and Gavrilov. That night, a breakout is attempted by all three remaining groups, but is driven back by the Germans, suffering heavy losses. The next morning, realizing he can't properly defend them, Kizhevatov reluctantly orders the surviving civilians (including his own wife and daughter, and also Sasha) to vacate the fortress during a cease-fire.
On June 26, the Germans drop a two-ton bomb on the fortress, causing massive damage. The Germans quickly move to eradicate the surviving pockets. The defenders at Kholm Gate are forced to surrender, and Fomin is immediately executed by a German firing squad, as a Jew, a communist and a commissar. Gavrilov orders his remaining men to attempt to break out individually. Kizhevatov and his surviving men manage to regroup in the barracks; Sasha returns to meet them there. After ordering Sasha to take the regimental colors and remember the truth about the defenders, Kizhevatov takes a machine gun to cover his men while they attempt a breakout. The breakout fails and the remaining defenders, including Kizhevatov, are killed. Sasha, however, manages to escape.
It is later revealed that Gavrilov was captured on July 23, 1941, but survived captivity. Kizhevatov and Gavrilov were later declared Heroes of the Soviet Union, while Fomin is also decorated with the Order of Lenin.

Tags: violence, romantic

Review:
In case you've come upon this movie by accident, I'd suggest you go ahead and watch it, and then return return back to read the reviews.The Brest Fortress pushes war movies to a completely different level of realism, poetry and emotional force.
And The Brest Fortress pays homage to that great movie in many ways.Russians suffered unimaginable horrors during WWII and that trauma in their psyche along with their great heritage of story telling and great cinema combines to create another great Russian war movie.I feel privileged to have watched this movie, knowing that its still unknown in the west, there is not even a wikki page about it yet..
Talking about the legend of the Second World War, the epic Brest fortress that was first attacked by the Nazi hordes, the first day of the war with the USSR 22nd June 1941.The story tells of a young boy who is a trumpeter in the orchestra in Brest fortress and all the time movie battle through hell trying to find a girlfriend who is lost in the war.
During his quest he survives the horrors of the battle in which he actively participate.The film is full of scenes of war, desperate efforts of the Russian soldiers who defended the fort, during the most certainly futile struggle.
Scenes of war are almost epic, presented with the harsh reality.Brest Fortress is something similar like the American fort Alamo, just became much larger and more powerful symbol of the perseverance of Russian troops, tragedies, and ultimate victory.The film certainly has to be seen, and the quality of acting, directing and scenes of war, beyond almost all the western movies so far recorded.The film shows the people and the destiny woven through this historical epic about the Brest fortress.
Avoided, and quite nice, skilled and successful, politics and ideology, and instead of great political speeches film shows pure heroism, struggle, and an iron will, not only from the military fortress of the crew, but also the entire Soviet people to defend the country from the fascist hordes .Ordinary people, cooks, musicians, soldiers, doctors, civilians become suddenly, on that fateful morning of the 22nd June 1941, heroes, they want it or not, they like it or not.
Major Gavrilov, political commissar of Fomin and many others that his example of heroism, defiance and leadership endured ten times stronger against the German enemy, to the last drop of blood, the last bullet, the last drop of water ...Long after the movie, in your ears will ring a continuous repetition of words spoken бѕ radio operator from the fortress:"- This fortress, fortress here, we keep the defense, - This fortress, fortress here, we keep the defense...".
Narrator probably is telling less that he could, so some plot points are not that clear, but the film keeps you at the screen for all the time.And final note to some historians here: if you mention history background and occupation of Brest by Soviet Union in 1939, please go further and mention that it was taken by Poland from Russia in 1919, it was behind the Curzon line (the Poland people were not the majority of population) and should have stayed the Russian city..
A convincing and brutal drama about the war's ugly and scary face, which is as much poignant as it is riveting and engrossing from start to finish.The doomed fortress of the border town of Brest was built a hundred years before the first onset of German deceitful invasion into the Soviet land at early dawn of June 22, 1941.
By the commencement of war, the Brest fortress was a home to a number of Soviet military units - infantry battalions, reconnaissance and artillery regiments, miscellaneous attached units and troops, all-in-all up to 8000 servicemen and several hundreds of their families, wives and children were stationed therein.The film starts unfolding peacefully on the eve of the war - a regular day in the lives of ordinary people in a military compound - orchestra rehearsals, dancing, shopping, kisses, Saturday evening film screening - the late peaceful everyday routine...Persistent rumors that the Germans were cranking up preparations for a breakthrough on the border were considered as sabotage and eventually suppressed.
Followed by meticulously coordinated combat assault immediately afterward, it took the inhabitants by surprise and split the garrison into several relatively small and isolated pockets of nevertheless pretty fierce resistance.Under massive German attacks the city was defeated fairly early, whereas the small number of the besieged Brest fortress survivors with scarce resources, deprived of food, water and medicine, and with narrowing hope for reinforcement or backing from the retreating regular forces, kept on defending the small plot of Soviet land against the invaders for many days.Though the essence of the story is certainly a portrayal of the valor of Soviet soldiers that lost their lives defending the first citadel and symbol of Russian resistance, the film manages to avoid as much as possible worn-out heroic clichés and propagandistic pathos that were often compulsory elements even in the best examples of Soviet war movies of the past.
Yet, unlike many politically engaged modern movies, it resists the temptation to deride the peculiarities of Soviet lifestyle of that time and to speculate on the popular issues of "Stalinist regime's atrocities".Instead, the film focuses on accurate capturing of a full range of authentic human emotions from joy, love and devotion at the early beginning of the film through angst, fear and pain as it progresses to hopelessness and despair.
It tells the frightening story of regular people, which lives were turned upside down overnight when they end up face to face with unstoppable deadly force menacing their families, their loved ones, their own lives and their country.It pulls no punches when it comes to depiction of enormous destructions and horrors of war with first rate set designs and visually arresting special effects, but the main asset of the film is, of course, excellent nuanced performances from the entire cast especially the leads - Korshunov, Merzlikin and Derevyanko.The story is told as if from the perspective of a teenage boy witnessing the outbreak of war and providing narration already as a war veteran that has survived the worst war in modern history.
If you read my title, you might consider the comparison perhaps the most famous American world war epic odd, but I'll explain that shortly.To get the necessities out of the way--the film describes the fall of the Brest Fotress in far western Belarus (or Byelorussian SSR, in this case).
And finally, it does not mention that Brest, like the rest of Western Belarus, was subject to a Polish colonization effort after Poland annexed it (during the first Polish-Soviet War, which they won) and under military rule due to conflicts between Poles and Belarusians.
All of this is, as it happens, not relevant to the movie makers, and given how few people have heard of the first Polish-Soviet War, the Polonization of West Belarus, or the deportation of Brest's Polish residents, it's not surprising.
Brest is a rough, rural, but otherwise idyllic countryside town--unbelievable from a western perspective, perhaps, but not in conflict with survivor narratives we have today, and intended to set up the disaster that follows.The movie DOES offer some historic context, however--it begins with Major Gavrilov's warning of an impending disaster for Brest, and the Brest Fortress, in the event of a German invasion, though he is dismissed by skeptical comrades more trusting of their country's "ally".
Seeing the Soviet defenders--mostly Red Army men, joined by die-hard Frontier troops and a few NKVD Rifle Battalion NCOs, from what I see--counter-attack German positions with shovels and chairs as well as rifles and machineguns seems unbelievable at first, but it doesn't clash with the western narrative of a primitive Red Army, or accounts of hand-to-hand fighting from both world wars.
Aside from this, Germans usually seem distant and, on occasion, just as desperate as their Soviet enemies."Fortress" stands well with its American counterparts, and even decently with epics like "Come and See", ending with a sobering tribute to the film's historical personalities--the vindicated Pyotr Gavrilov is explained as having survived German captivity only to be imprisoned for the act of surrender (though the movie inaccurately suggests such a fate befell "most" POWs, when it was primarily inflicted on officers and others who carried more "blame"), only to be rehabilitated and made Hero of the USSR in 1957, in a damning critique of the country, and Stalin's, complacency towards Germany.
I digress.I like true history, this film of the heroic defence of the Brest Fortress in June 1941 was something even at my age, 70 I had never heard of.Half way through, it's 138 mins long,I halt it for a cup of tea and said out loud, Hey a real film, no bloody CIC,no American crap heroics,and boy I am looking forward to seeing the rest.In my tea break I find that this fantastic heartbreaking true war film did not even get a UK cinema release.
It's not the usual WW2 movie that can be seen at Hollywood, with big 'good' allied soldiers killing like a machine gun a lot of 'bad' enemies.
Fortress of War is a powerful war film that illustrates in microcosm the sacrifice made by the Soviet people in defeating the Nazis.
While many believe the United States is responsible for defeating Hitler and the Nazis, in reality it was the Soviets who played the biggest role, and Fortress of War provides an excellent history lesson in that regard, as well as being an exquisitely made film.
There are some movies that are dearer to me than any foreign high-budget "action games." "Brest Fortress", as well as several other military and patriotic films made in different parts of our fatherland, will remind us of the Great Victory, which is extracted in the glow of the battles our ancestors, people who are not sparing himself, rushed to defend the country from the very first hours of war, World War II.
Not for nothing, when you create a movie, documentary evidence used to reconstruct as accurately as possible the situation that arose in the fortress at that difficult time.As the fighting scenes were filmed - it is generally impossible to comment on.
High level production of hostilities simply indescribable - before he delivered quality.It is significant that at the beginning and end of the film sounded wonderful song "On the Hills of Manchuria", which was originally devoted to another heroic feat of our soldiers, but that it is the best fit in this movie.I am infinitely grateful to the creators for the idea to remove this film and the actors who performed their roles very well, gave it to the max.
Produced in honour of the Red Army soldiers defending the USSR Western borders, Fortress of War recounts historical events combined with fictitious chronicles surrounding the June 1941 siege of the Brest Fortress in Sothern Belorussia against the invading Wehrmacht Army Group Centre forces in the opening stages of Operation Barbarossa.This historical event is creatively accompanied by reminiscing narration from an orphaned 15-year old boy named Sasha Akimov.
His narration ties together three main defensive stages led by real life Soviet war heroes centered on the resistance zones holding out against the protracted German siege.
Nevertheless, through skillful editing and directing as the film moves along at a steady peace the separate stories begin to coalesce into one and by no means are a distraction.In summary, Fortress of War is a first-rate factual dramatised war movie which subjects its audience to the brave climatic struggle for survival and once again is another example of the evolving historical films from the Counties brutalised by ideology fuelled hatred and genocide that was the Second World War..
This is horror and I hope we never see a war like WW2 again.as others have noted do not think this movie is all a true story because it is not.there are a bunch of historic inaccuracies as well as some soviet style propaganda but if you forget that fact and just watch it this becomes one gruesome war flick with tons of blood and gore.also as noted in other reviews the soviets did in fact kill tens of thousands of polish troops in the katyn forest including poles who had fought the Germans in brest before the soviet-German pact.
One almost felt the need to duck the firepower, so realistic was the sight and sound of battle.A similar feeling was created by viewing this movie about the destruction of the Brest fortress, except here, the bombardment by the invading Germans was staggeringly relentless.
Fortress of War eloquently and with painful honesty, captures the true face of war.This film like other Russian productions, understands and conveys wars reality, without judgment or pretension.
good when you know what to expect from Russian war movies.
3. I'm immune to some propaganda and one-sided view of history that can typically be expected from Russian war films.All in all, "Brestskaya krepost" does a good job showing us the dramatic and heroic struggle of Red Army soldiers.
I won't repeat what a number have already said - as historical document, it is clearly pro-Soviet, overlooking anything inconvenient, such as how come the fort was occupied by the Soviets in the first place.I would say that these remarks are a little odd considering US propaganda in films such as Saving Private Ryan, Pearl Harbor and U571, which is not discussed with the same vigour but in which facts are equally ignored or distorted: in terms of these films, Brest Fortress more than holds its own or betters.I would say that the comment that this is the best WWII film to come out of Europe in the last 20 years ignores Downfall and The Pianist, amongst others: Brest Fortress is not quite of that calibre.The film nevertheless does contain strong acting by an able cast and the battle scenes are well done.
In this movie we get another untold story about the Soviet troops defending the Brest fortress against the German Nazi invasion.
So in some ways FORTRESS OF WAR is détente in one movie where East meets West and the worst faults of Stalinism merges with the worst faults of American film making.
The Brest Fortress was defended by the Red Army against the Wehrmacht, held out longer than expected, and became a symbol of Soviet resistance during the Great Patriotic War. In 1965 the fortress received the title of Hero Fortress for the 1941 defence.Some facts have to be set right...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defense_of_Brest_Fortress.
The events that took place on the Eastern front were wide and complex but when one steps back from the neatness of usual Soviet or Russian documentaries about the great patriotic war and zooms in on a smaller yet infamous event such as the defence of Brest fortress one is up for a real ride in blood.The film portrays only a small area that suffered as a result of Hitlers aggressive push eastward that shook the world with his sheer comitment of military might.I own about 15 Soviet movies all dealing with ww2 and this has got to be my first choice when voting for the "best".The fighting and battles look realistic almost as if modern movie cameras were transported back in time to capture the situation!!!!
The war gear used and computerised all look identical to their historic counterparts(mention should be made of the mocked Panzer 111 and screaming Stukas that appear here and there).Though the excellent hardware will lock ww2 buffs enough to create a trafic jam,the gory atmosphere will test the faint of heart.Using the Russian kid(Alexander Akimov)for telling the story does however bring another dimension for those who need a soft character to identify with.The musical score also contributes greatly to the overall feelings that the film represent,the bit of it in the last minutes of the movie clearly voicing the hopelessness of the resistance made by the brave defenders.
In its way, this is as good as Enemy at the Gates, and I know there is criticism of that film in Russia, but it still helps people in the West understand the heroism and contribution of the peoples of the former Soviet Union in our Allied Victory over Nazism.It is far better than the film Stalingrad which seems all too sympathetic to the Germans.I design military history boardgames - wargames - and most of them are about the Russian Front in World War 2 ...
the Great Patriotic War, as it is known to the Russians (and Belorussians and ....) (Most of my games are free to print off and play, on my webpages.) There are wargamers in Volgograd/Stalingrad, and one of them has told me that the 6 year old little brother of his grandmother was taken away by the Germans to be drained of his blood for transfusions - murdered - something I had once thought was exaggeration and/or propaganda.
(Were these actual reconstructions?) I was surprised and impressed that the Jewish commissar Fomin was portrayed so positively, as antagonistic as Israel and its supporters have been toward the Russians and Belorussians.Everyone in the West should see this film to better understand what the Russians, Poles, and other Eastern peoples went through, during World War 2.
Boy, was I wrong...Say what you want about the Eastern front in WWII, but if there has ever been a battle for survival, that was it: in spite of their government, and in spite of having contributed themselves to starting the war (there is another excellent film, "Katyń," about that issue), Soviet citizens really did fight heroically for their land against an enemy who wanted them wiped off the face of the earth.
Good war movie, with a bit of "same old song" of soviet propaganda.
The Russian cinematography is well known for well made war movies, but it suffers from blowing in the same old propaganda trumpet which makes this kind of productions hard to watch for people with better knowledge of WWII history.