Fortress of War (2010)
"Brestskaya krepost" (original title)

A war drama set during the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, in which Russian troops held on to a border stronghold for nine days.

Director:

Aleksandr Kott

Writers:

Aleksey Dudarev, Vladimir Eryomin,

Stars:

Aleksey Kopashov, Andrey Merzlikin, Pavel Derevyanko

3 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Aleksey Kopashov	...	Sashka Akimov (as Alyosha Kopashov)
Andrey Merzlikin	...	Kizhevatov
Pavel Derevyanko	...	Fomin
Aleksandr Korshunov	...	Gavrilov
Maksim Kostromykin	...	Kolka
Anna Tsukanova	...	Sonya
Sergey Tsepov	...	Zubachev
Benik Arakelyan	...	Matevosyan
Mikhail Pavlik	...	Vaynshteyn
Sergey Vlasov	...	Kavalyonak
Aleksandr Sirin	...	Maslov
Evgeniy Tsyganov	...	Pochernikov
Tatyana Kamina	...	Shura Pochernikova
Veronika Nikonova	...	Anya Kizhevatova
Yana Esipovich	...	Zhena Kizhevatova

Storyline

The film shows the heroic defense of the Brest Fortress, which had taken upon the first strike of German fascist invaders on June 22 1941. Story describes the events of the first days of the defense. The film tells about three main resistance zones, headed by the regiment commander, Pyotr Mikhailovich Gavrilov, the commissar Efim Moiseevich Fomin and the head of the 9th frontier outpost, Andrey Mitrofanovich Kizhevatov. Many years later veteran Alexander Akimov again and again recalls the memories of the time, when he, then a 15 year old Sasha Akimov was deeply in love with the beautiful Anya and suddenly found himself in the middle of the bloody events of war.

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Plot Keywords:

invasion | commissar | world war two | man on fire | falling from height | 

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Genres:

Drama | Action | War | History

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site [ru]

Country:

Belarus Russia

Language:

Russian Ukrainian Belarusian

Release Date:

4 November 2010 (Belarus)

Also Known As:

Fortress of War

Filming Locations:

Brest, Belarus

Company Credits

Production Co:

Belarusfilm, Belarusfilm, Central Partnership

Technical Specs

Runtime:

138 min 180 min (TV)

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Goofs

At the battle with the tanks, when the Russians storm the German infantry, you can see a closeup of the same German soldier dying twice within a few seconds. His helmet is pushed into his eyes, his throat is squirting blood and he is falling towards the right edge of the screen.

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Connections

Referenced in Prozhektorperiskhilton: Mikhail Shats/Igor Ugolnikov/Tatyana Navka/Uma2rman (2010)

User Reviews

A contemporary masterpiece

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. It is so visceral, so real and so emotionally powerful that by the end you're part of the battle and no longer a detached viewer. Not a single shot is wasted, not a single line of dialog is a filler, not a single acting even from extras feels like acting, not a single moment do you feel that this is a movie and not real life. The makeup, the wounds, the dirt, the blood, everything is real and it all hits you with one of the best cinematography in a war movie since Ivan's Childhood. 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.