Attack On Leningrad [DVD]

On the whole this is a good film. Yes, it suffers from a host of post-production problems: bad sub-titling, technically inaccurate c.g.i. effects, a huge amount of editing, and even the expanding of the film title doesn't do it justice, and I imagine might put some people off. This is not a story about war, it is about people confronted with a situation caused by war and to what extents they will go to preserve some semblance of humanity.The siege of Leningrad during the Second World War was probably the longest in modern history, thousands of people starved to death or were killed by the incessant bombing and shelling by the German forces, but many survived through their own ingenuity or the sacrifices of others. All these aspects are covered in the film, so I feel it is informative as well as entertaining. For me the best of it is in the acting, especially the Russian actors with who I assume most people reading this will not be familiar ; they are quite a revelation. Mira Sorvino is excellent even though, as another reviewer suggested, she might have been dubbed. Unfortunately, due to the heavy editing, we don't see or hear enough of Gabriel Byrne or Armin Mueller-Stahl for them to make enough of an impression, especially Mueller-Stahl as a member of the old-school officer class, who probably loathes the Nazis, but urges his fighter pilot son to do his duty, thus adding subtlety to the film's view of the Germans.I'd like to give a shout-out to reviewer "iron man" for mentioning the editing down of the film,I suspect this was done purely for the English language release of the DVD, along with the unnecessary re-titling, the inadequate and illegible sub-titles, and Ms. Sorvino's dubbing.If you like the sound of this film, it may be worth trying to find a copy of the original theatre release, but it probably won't have any sub-titles good or bad. Instead may I suggest a book: Helen Dunmore's The Siege. It is a fictional story set in Leningrad during the siege, about an extended family living together in one house and the tribulations of everyday survival.

I bought this DVD purely 'on spec' as a result of a long interest in the Russian Front. Basically I buy anything connected with that subject which looks even vaguely interesting and is not over-priced.In this case I was pleasantly surprised. The cover of the DVD does not do the film any justice at all with what seem to be American planes strafing the hapless city. What type of aircraft they are, or to which side they belong cannot be determined, but surely a better jacket could have been designed.That being said this is a very worthwhile human interest story of a young woman caught up in possibly the worst siege in modern history after returning to Russia, the land of her forbears, as a journalist just before the beginning of the war only to find that she is far from welcome in the first place.

This is not for those who like their viewing sugar coated. However, if you are looking for a view of history not in the usual catalogue of 'war films' then this is for you. It is a graphic depiction of one of the most brutal sieges in history. The devastation caused by continual bombardment, the starvation of the citizens and the desperation some went to to stay alive is all too vividly portrayed. Put this in a background of snow, ice and freezing conditions without the means of providing heating and you will have a fairly clear idea of what you get. I recommend it for an adult audience.

There is a split around this film with reviewers and I can see why, I initially felt this film was plodding a bit too slow, but it does try to deal with what was one of the worst sieges in modern history, in terms of the human casualties. Then it gets things historically wrong, such as using Mescherscmitt ME 109's to carry out the bombing (without bombs in the under carriage) which is just rubbish and was done using CGI so they could have done a real bomber. The characcters do lack real development, but there are some good performances, ostensibly by the children and everyone does look too well fed, but it might be asking a bit much of 'extras' to go without food for 6 months just for arts sake.They did finally deal with the alleged canibalism and also the activities of the NKVD, but it did feel a little too revisionist with feigns at the emotional heart tug scenario, which just failed to come off - Schindlers List this most certainly is not. That said one of the reviewers here has said that 'Enemy at the gates' is a betteer film, I beg to differ as it has that talentless clothes horse Jude Law ruining an above adequate plot and is so historically inaccurate that it could have been written by the Polit Bureaus propaganda department. If you want a good real Russian WWII film try 'Star'.

There are plenty of action scenes in this film about the siege of Leningrad (rather than 'the attack on'), but it frequently slows down into strange dialogues delivered by a bewildering number of people. The role of some of these characters in the whole, is not always obvious. The almost unreadable sub-titles certainly don't help to define what they are going on about, and I also seem to detect some dodgy dubbing, notably on the main character 'Kate Davis' who appears to be speaking in a rather lifeless voice.The film delivers a chilling portrayal of a city under siege and there are strong scenes of life - and death - in the cold, windy streets. Many of these scenes seem to have been re-created from period documentaries. However, for some strange reason all German bombing raids appear to be carried out by Messerschmitt 109 fighters, visibly carrying no bombs! Since these scenes are computer animated anyway, one should think it would not have been to difficult to show Luftwaffe bomber aircraft instead. At least it would have been more authentic. The characters also look remarkably healthy throughout, even if starvation is a big issue and actually took several hundred thousand lives in Leningrad during the siege.It is not a bad war film as such, but I found it strangely uninvolving.