Battle for Sevastopol (2015)

A story of Lyudmila Pavlichenko, the most successful female sniper in history.

Director:

Sergey Mokritskiy

Writers:

Maksim Budarin, Max Dankevich (as Maksim Dankevich)

Stars:

Yuliya Peresild, Evgeniy Tsyganov, Oleg Vasilkov

7 wins & 22 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Yuliya Peresild	...	Lyudmila Pavlichenko
Evgeniy Tsyganov	...	Leonid Kitsenko
Oleg Vasilkov	...	Makarov
Nikita Tarasov	...	Boris
Joan Blackham	...	Eleanora Ruzvelt (as Dzhoan Blekkhem)
Polina Pakhomova	...	Masha
Vladimir Lilitskiy	...	Grisha
Anatoliy Kot	...	Nikolay
Natella Abeleva-Taganova	...	Sonya
Valeriy Grishko	...	General Petrov
Sergey Barkovskiy	...	Admiral Oktyabrskiy
Vitaliy Linetskiy	...	Mayor KMB
Sergey Puskepalis	...	Komandir
Gennadiy Chentsov	...	Komissar
Svetlana Osadchenko	...	Devochka-chtets

Storyline

The breakout of the war shatters the world of a young student, Lyudmila Pavlichenko, forcing her to enlist in the army in 1941. The maiden turns out to be a natural-born sniper, her impressive skill and prowess make her stand out among men and women alike. Seeing Pavlichenko as a tangible threat, the German High Command gives orders to eliminate the girl whatever the cost. In the meanwhile, Lyudmila meets a man and falls in love. War fades into the background... Soon, however, another misfortune befalls Lyudmila leaving the man she loves on the brink of death and herself seriously wounded. The girl is pulled out of combat and later goes to the United States with a publicity visit. Eleanor Roosevelt welcomes Lyudmila in the White House and the two women soon become close. It won't be long before Pavlichenko stands before an audience in Chicago pressing for a second front. Will her words have the capacity to change the course of war?

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Plot Keywords:

sniper | world war two | rifle | sniper rifle | shot to death | 

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | Romance | War

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Did You Know?

Trivia

Contrary to the movie script, Lyudmila was already married and had a son before war.

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Goofs

On at least two occasions during scenes in Washington, a man in Royal Air Force Uniform is seen in the background with the rank of Senior Aircraftman (a three bladed propellor). This rank was introduced in 1951, 9 years after the scenes took place.

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Quotes

Lyudmila Pavlichenko: Gentlemen, I am 25 years old and I have killed 309 fascist invaders by now. Don't you think, gentlemen, that you have been hiding behind my back for too long?

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Connections

Referenced in Evening Urgant: Vladimir Pozner/Evgeny Tsyganov/Ëlka (2015)

User Reviews

Admirable effort

It's a weird time to see a joint Ukrainian and Russian film project to come out, considering the breakdown in relations between the two countries. The production apparently begun before the conflict, and it's an achievement in itself that it's been seen through, since a project like this probably wouldn't be possible today.

Coming in the wake of Russian WWII-themed schlock like Stalingrad (2013), I didn't expect too much, and there was a somewhat similar, almost gaudy quality present, but overall the movie was much more decent, particularly considering that its budget was about 5 times smaller than Stalingrad's. The actors were well cast, with Yuliya Peresild's performance creating a main character that can grow on you, and some interesting supporting characters. This brings me to the point that, despite the title, the movie's focus isn't as much on the port city of Sevastopol as it's on the Soviet sniper Lyudmila Pavlichenko, and the movie being called "Battle for Sevastopol" betrays an apparent lack of confidence in selling a biopic of a female sniper. There's a fair amount of action in the movie, however, so I don't think that the kind of people who wouldn't go for a biopic would come away disappointed or feeling mislead.

Details

Official Sites:

Nezlamna Official site

Country:

Ukraine Russia

Language:

Russian English Ukrainian

Release Date:

2 April 2015 (Ukraine)

Also Known As:

Battle for Sevastopol

Filming Locations:

Ukraine

Box Office

Budget:

$5,000,000 (estimated)

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$9,104,504

Company Credits

Production Co:

Kinorob, Ukrainian State Film Agency

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min 118 min (DVD)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital (5.1)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1