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The Battle of Russia (Frank Capra & Anatole Litvak, 1943)
Part Five of the Why We Fight series is the two-part The Battle of Russia which not only explains the history of invasions into Russia during the 700 years leading up to WWII but goes into detail about the major battles of Moscow, Leningrad and Stalingrad where the Soviet army and strategy successfully repelled the Nazi invaders. Some early scenes even use Russian movies (Alexander Nevsky) to show how the Russians have repulsed the Teutonic Knights, the Swedes, Napoleon and various others before the onslaught of Hitler's blitzkrieg. The strategy of falling back and strengthening each line of resistance is clearly explained as well as the Nazis need to invade several countries before entering Russia in order to get natural resources and land and sea bases from which to launch their attacks. The striking imagery of actual combat footage, combined with archival footage, special effects, cartoon graphics, quick editing and Dimitri Tiomkin's stirring Russian score all add up to an educational, yet fast-paced and entertaining dissection of current events almost at the time of their occurrence. This film is about par for the series although it does contain some of the more potent images, including a haunting one showing Russian villagers hanging along the Eastern Front as the Nazis retreat.
Part Five of the Why We Fight series is the two-part The Battle of Russia which not only explains the history of invasions into Russia during the 700 years leading up to WWII but goes into detail about the major battles of Moscow, Leningrad and Stalingrad where the Soviet army and strategy successfully repelled the Nazi invaders. Some early scenes even use Russian movies (Alexander Nevsky) to show how the Russians have repulsed the Teutonic Knights, the Swedes, Napoleon and various others before the onslaught of Hitler's blitzkrieg. The strategy of falling back and strengthening each line of resistance is clearly explained as well as the Nazis need to invade several countries before entering Russia in order to get natural resources and land and sea bases from which to launch their attacks. The striking imagery of actual combat footage, combined with archival footage, special effects, cartoon graphics, quick editing and Dimitri Tiomkin's stirring Russian score all add up to an educational, yet fast-paced and entertaining dissection of current events almost at the time of their occurrence. This film is about par for the series although it does contain some of the more potent images, including a haunting one showing Russian villagers hanging along the Eastern Front as the Nazis retreat.