| Stalingrad | |
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Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Joseph Vilsmaier |
| Produced by | Hanno Huth Günter Rohrbach |
| Written by | Jürgen Büscher Johannes Heide |
| Starring | Thomas Kretschmann Dominique Horwitz Jochen Nickel Sebastian Rudolph Dana Vávrová Martin Benrath Sylvester Groth |
| Music by | Norbert Jürgen Schneider Martin Grassl |
| Cinematography | Rolf Greim Klaus Moderegger Peter von Haller |
| Editing by | Hannes Nikel |
| Distributed by | Senator Film Germany Strand Releasing U.S. |
| Release date(s) | January 21, 1993 Germany May 24, 1995 U.S. |
| Running time | 150 minutes |
| Country | Germany |
| Language | German Russian |
| Box office | $152,972 |
Stalingrad is a 1993 war drama film directed by Joseph Vilsmaier. It depicts combat on the Eastern Front of World War II, specifically the Battle of Stalingrad and showing the German Wehrmacht (specifically the primary characters) in a sympathetic light.
The movie follows a platoon of German Army soldiers as they are transferred from Italy after recent fighting in the North Africa, to Russia where they ultimately find themselves unwilling participants in the Battle of Stalingrad.
The film was shot in several different locations, including Finland, Italy, and the Czech Republic.
The film is the second German movie to portray the Battle of Stalingrad. It is predated by 1959 German film Hunde, wollt ihr ewig leben (Stalingrad: Dogs, Do You Want to Live Forever?).[1]
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A group of German soldiers enjoy vacation leave in Italy after returning from combat deployment in North Africa. Moments later, an awards ceremony is held to promote military ranks within a troop battalion. Following the assembly, a group of soldiers, among them Lt. Hans von Witzland (Thomas Kretschmann), Unteroffizier Manfred Rohleder ([Jochen Nickel) and Obergefreiter Fritz Reiser (Dominique Horwitz) are dismissed and advised their unit has been ordered to battle in the Eastern Front of Russia.
During heavy fighting in the city of Stalingrad, the German unit fights its way to an industrial factory and manage to occupy it, but with heavy casualties. The building is surrounded by the Russians, as a stalemate goes on with the dead and wounded lying in the streets. In an attempt to rescue the wounded and retrieve the dead, von Witzland proposes a ceasefire. But the state of calm ends as one of the Germans fire upon the Russians. The next day, the Russians attack again. Without communications, a team of German troops escape underground into the sewers to summon for help. Venturing out on his own, von Witzland later captures and interrogates a Russian woman named Irina (Dana Vávrová) who later escapes however, following a clash with him. The group arrive at a field hospital, where Reiser threatens an orderly in order to get medical attention for his friend Emigoltz. Despite this, Emigoltz dies, and the group is arrested and delivered to a penal unit. They serve in it for several weeks, during which the Soviets surround and trap the 6th Army in Stalingrad.
After a battle involving Soviet tank-infantry, suffering heavy losses, the men are returned to their unit. Troop morale begins to decline as the German soldiers become disenchanted with the war effort, especially after being forced to shoot unarmed civilians. Reiser proposes a plan to abandon Stalingrad by faking injuries and boarding a medical flight with his fellow soldiers. The soldiers make it to Pitomnik airport, but are left stranded as the last German transport plane takes off under heavy Russian artillery fire. The soldiers attempt to leave on foot and arrive at an abandoned warehouse. There they find Irina, the Russian woman von Witzland encountered in the sewers. She had been captured and raped by the Germans. Depressed, Otto commits suicide. Irina agrees to lead von Witzland and Reiser to safety in the wilderness, but is shot and accidentally killed by Soviet forces. Reiser and von Witzland then try to seek refuge on their own, but von Witzland freezes to death, followed shortly thereafter by Reiser.
The film's epilogue displays a graphic stating that in the Battle for Stalingrad, more than a million people were killed in action, starved or froze to death. Among them, Russians, Romanians, Italians, Hungarians, Germans and Austrians. Of the Sixth Army's 260,000 men, 91,000 were taken prisoner. Of those, only 6,000 returned home years later.
The film was shot in several countries and took much effort to make. Director Joseph Vilsmaier had a German military consultant with him on set. A series entitled "The making of Stalingrad" was released, giving viewers a behind-the-scenes look at the film.
In 1993, the film won Bavarian Film Awards for Best Cinematography, Best Editing and Best Production.[2]
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