Original subtitles

ETERNAL GLORY TO THE FALLEN IN THE BATTLES OF THE GREAT PATRIOTIC WAR

MOSFILM

TEHERAN November 30, 1943

Gentlemen.

I have some good news for Marshal Stalin.

Today, the Joint Chiefs of Staff,

with the participation of the British Prime Minister and the US President,

have decided to open a second front in the north of France

in May 1944.

I'm satisfied with that decision.

In my turn,

I'd like to inform Mr. Roosevelt and Mr. Churchill

that by the beginning of landing operations in France

the Russians will prepare a massive blow against the Germans.

To our victory!

ANKARA December 15, 1943

Mister Ambassador, these are the protocols of the Teheran conference.

Her Majesty's Prime Minister asked me to tell you

that you may need this information

in connection with the talks on Turkey's entering the war.

The President Inonu is already thinking about it.

The Prime Minister atso asked me to tell you

that you should't really hurry up President Inonu.

If I understood the Prime Minister correctly,

we shall need the million-strong, Turkish Army

when the Russians will be approaching the Barlkans.

Let's have dinner together.

Elyas, I'll be back in about 2 hours.

BERLIN. Reich Chancellery. January 6, 1944

Where did you get these documents?

The valet of the British ambassador in Ankara is our agent.

He's von Papen's agent. I don't trust von Papen.

In the materials of the Teheran Conference, there's the date

of the Anglo-American troops landing in the north of France.

That is the opening of a second front.

You don't know Churchill.

He's an old master of dismformation.

These documents were thrust on you deliberately.

My Fuhrer, my information is different.

Your trustfulness has cost me very dearly.

We all but lost Italy.

You overlooked the plot against the Duce.

I don't believe these false documents.

Churchill will never dare land in Normandy!

LIBERATION

The great battle at Kursk proved to be

one of the greatest battles of World War II.

Here, in the summer of 1943,

the tank hordes of Fascist Germany had been routed.

From here, the German army, which had enslaved Europe

had begun its retreat.

Our troops

mounted a wide offensive in the right-bank Ukraine

and were moving towards the state border of the USSR.

Film Three

DIRECTION OF THE MAIN BLOW

Screenplay by Yuri BONDAREV

Oskar KURGANOV Yuri OZEROV

Directed by Yuri OZEROV

Directofof Photography Igor SLABNEVICH

Production Designer Aleksandr MYAGKOV

Music b Yu. LEVITIN

English Subtitles by Tatiana Kameneva

Chief Military Consultant Army General S. SHTEMENKO

Cast.

Tsvetayev - N. OLYALIN Zoya - L. GOLUBKINA

Orlov - B. ZAIDENBERG

Zhukov - Mikhail ULYANOV Rokossovsky - Vladlen DAVYDOV

Vassilevsky - Ye. BURENKOV Antonov - V. STRZHELCHIK

Konev - Yu. LEGKOV Vatutin - S. KHARCHENKO

Chernyakhovsky - Ye. KOLCHINSKY

Meretskov - V. KOSTENKO Bagramyan - V. KAREN

Shtemenko - K. PROTASOV Batov - V. ZAMANSKY

Panov - N. RYBNIKOV

Stalin - Bukhuti ZAKARIADZE

Rbosevelt - S. JASKIEVICZ Churchill - Yu. DUROV

Hitler - Fritz DIEZ Himmler - E. TIDE

Goebbels - H. GIEZE Keitel - G-M. HENNEBERG

Kluge - H. HASSE Model - P. STURM

Fromm - H. SCHELTZKE Remer - H. KUHN

Stauffenberg - Alfred STRUWE Olbricht - W. ORTMANN

Haeften - E. STECHER Bek - W. WIELAND

Witzleben - O. DIERICHS

Partisans: Father - Ye. SHUTOV Son - V. VAKHLIN

Pilots: Jacque - L. PRYGUNOV Zaitsev - V. RAZUMOVSKY

Participating in Polish scenes:

W. GLINSKI, M. NOWAKOWSKI, T. SCHMIDT

Pilots of the French "Normandy-Niemen" Regiment:

A. BARTOLLI, J-P. HEGEGEN, В. RAFFALI, A. SENTONNET

British Ambassador - B. WHITE Narrator - A. KARAPETYAN

Creative Association VREMYA

First Ukrainian Front February 29, 1944

Commander of the 1st Ukranian Front Arm Ganeeai Vatutin

What is the Polish for 'butter'?

Butter, Comrade General.

And 'meat'?

Meat.

And 'bread'?

Bread, Comrade General.

See? Such a close language. No need to learn it.

And what will be 'life' in Polish?

Zycie.

Zycie?

A little different, though.

But actually,it's the same.

Turn around. The Germans!

Fire back!

Nikolai Fyodorovich.

Bad timing.

Didn't get a chance to start it.

Who will be commanding the front?

I've taken on command, Nikolai Fyodorovich.

Good luck to you.

Get well soon.

We'll meet in Poland yet.

- Zycie. - What?

He keeps repeating that word, Comrade Marshal.

Zycie...

means 'life' in Polish.

On March 4, 1944

the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front under the command of Marshal Zhukov,

the 2nd Ukrainian Front under the command of Marshal Konev

and the 3rd Ukrainian Front

under the command of Army General Malinovsky

had gone over to offensive actions.

In the course of the winter campaign of 1943-1944,

the Red Army has won a battle for the Dnieper and right-bank Ukraine,

shattered strong defensive fortification near Leningrad

and in the Crimea,

overrun the enemy on the water lines of the South Bug, Dniestr, Prut,

and is continuing the offensive in the conditions of springtime flooding.

However, our operational-strategy position, though advantageous,

remains very critical.

The German resistant is increasing.

Our troops are tired,

and they need a serious reinforcement in strength and materiel.

It's time-to go over to defensive actions.

We have gathened here, Comrade Zhukov,

to talk about offensive,

and not the deffensive actions.

I'm talking about the defease as a forced measure, Comrade Stalin.

This will allow us to better prepare are for the offensive.

We understand that, Comrade Zhukov,

but today we must define

the direction of the main blow of the summer campaign.

Let's listen to what the front commanders have to say.

Let's begin with the north.

Comrade Bagramyan.

We propose to strike a blow in the Baltic

and cut off the Army Group North from the territory of Germany.

To this end, the 1st Baltic Front

should attack alone the Western Dvina

on the direction Polotsk - Dvinsk and come out to Riga.

What does the General Staff to say to this?

The General Staff believes that in the Baltic we can't achieve suddenness

while preparing a massive offensive.

In that sector of the front, the enemy

the well-deveoped railway and highway network.

At the same time, the terrain is unfavorable for our tanks -

too many lakes and marshes.

It's a serious consideration.

For the tank armies' action on the direction of the main blow,

we need wide expanses.

But Germans think the same way, Camrade Stalin.

What do you mean?

I mean the German military doctrine.

It's more expedient to use the tank armies in flat country.

That's what they expect from us.

And what do you propose?

I propose to strike the main blow where we're not expected.

In the boggy and wooded localities of Byelorussia.

It was Suvorov who once said "Where deer cannot ass,

the Russian soldier will."

It's not the Devil's Bridge for you.

This is a modern-day war.

But the modern-day war means suddenness, Comrade Stalin.

Moreover, the General Staff supports the idea of a blow in Byelorussia.

Go to Byelorussia.

Study the situation on the spot...

Comrade Zhukov.

Yes, Comrade Stalin.

Come on! Forward! Come on!

Put me through to the regiment commander. Now!

Comrade Captain, your wounded are behind the road.

- Well? What? - The regiment commander's on the line.

I can't take the height!

One more attack like this, and I'll lose all my men.

I know the order.

What?

What did he say?

I can't repeat it in front of women.

Your wounded are behind the road. Can't you hear me?

Give me two men, and I'll carry the wounded out.

You want to die gallantly, don't you, Zoya?

Every man counts here.

- Comrade Captain! - We'll carry them out at night.

I demand that the wounded be carried out immediately!

Go away, medical instructor!

Comrade Captain!

- What is it? - Look.

That girl has gone crazy.

Guys, it's our Zoya!

Oh, she's the devil of a girl, they'll capture her!

- Cut the Germans off! - But we may hit her.

Move over!

Why not attack them, Comrade Captain? Or we'll lose the nurse.

Company commanders, come here!

Well, boys, you can only die once.

Get ready to attack! Take our places!

Come on, guys! Move it!

Communists, follow me!

Forward! Forward!

To attack, follow me! Forward!

You alive? Good girl!

Comrade Marshal, I conduct reconnaissance in force in the Parichi direction.

The 2nd Battalion of the 36th Regiment has taken height 217.

Further advance has been checked by massive enemy fire.

The battalion suffered big losses.

- Stop the offensive. - Yes, Comrade Marshal.

Transmit it - stop the offensive.

Pavel Ivanovich, tell me now.

Can we advance to Parichi?

What do you think of this direction?

Of course, it's a tempting direction.

That part of terrain is dry. But the enemy is no fool, either.

He got astride the commanding heights and created strong defenses.

Advancing to Parichi means suffering great losses.

Yes, that's the right conclusion.

A blow towards Parichi will not be unexpected.

That's where they're waiting for us.

And how are things at your left flank?

The terrain here is hard for maneuver.

A lot of small rivers with wide flood-lands and boggy marshes.

- When have you been there? - Last night.

Can we drive there?

I don't recommend it.

It's an open country covered by enemy artillery fire. Better to go at night.

We'll go now.

Pavel Ivanovich, what are the German positions here?

There're no solid defense lines here.

The defense is built on the principle of isolated strong points

on dry elevations.

I see.

What are you having?

The second front, Comrade General.

What?

Here, American Spam.

We nicknamed it second front here.

When are they going to open it, Comrade General?

Can't you cope by ourselves?

We ll cope alright, only as they say in our village,

"He who joins a fight last, will be boasting the most."

What is this you got?

These are wet shoes, Comrade General.

- What wet shoes? - Made of bast.

For your feet not to sink into quagmire.

A smart idea.

If people can walk through a bog,

then we'll find a way to get the materiel over, too.

- Anything's possible, isn't it? - You mean tanks?

We'll try.

But what a surprise it will be for the Germans!

Yes, that's the place, Georgy Konstantinovich, eh?

MOSCOW, Kremlin, May 23 And our intelligence reports confirm our assumptions.

First, the enemy rules out the possibility

of our offensive in this direction,

and doesn't have here as strong defenses as in the other sectors.

Second, the bogs are passable for people,

and if we lay roads of brushwood, for the materiel too.

That's why I propose to strike the main blow

with the right flank of the front,

with four field armies: the 3rd, 48th, 65th and 28th

in the direction of Bobruisk.

Still, you and Zhukov are dragging us into the bog, Comrade Rokossovsky.

It's not an easy way, Comrade Stalin.

But it promises success.

We have thought everything through, Comrade Stalin.

It doesn't look like you thought everything through.

Go out into the next room

and think over your proposal once more, Comrade Rokossovsky.

In the meantime,

we'll hear what Comrade Vassilevsky has to say.

As you know,

a successful operation of liberating the Crimea

had been conducted

under the command of Comrade Vassilevsky.

After that, Comrade Vassilevsky, together with Zhukov,

was elaborating the plan of the entire summer campaign.

While working on the plan of the summer campaign, Comrade Stalin,

we first of all took into account the considerations

of the front commanders present here.

The summer campaign of 1944

will be a system of major operations

taking place on a vast territory from the Baltic to the Carpathians.

The plan of the summer campaign

is drawn up in the following succession.

The first blow, in early June, well be dealt by the Leningrad,

and then Karelian Front in the direction of Vyborg.

These operations must lead th the routing of Finland

and its exit from the war.

I wish you good luck,

Comrade Meretskov.

Thank you, Comrade Stalin.

Furthermore, the General Staff proposes to strike the main blow in Byelorussia.

This direction, Comrade Stalin. has a number of serous advantages.

First, the shortest way to Berlin lies through Byelorussia.

Secondly, we'll be supported here by Byelorussian partisans.

As you know, Comrade Stalin,

270,000 partisans are operating in Byelorussia.

And, thirdly, after the liberation of Byelorussia,

when our troops step onto the Polish land,

they'll be welcomed by our friendly Polish people

who have been struggling with the fascist occupants for 5 years.

All this convinces us that we've made the right choice.

Operating on the direction of the main blow will be

the 3rd Byelorussian Front under General Chernyakhovsky,

and the 1st Byelorussian Front under General Rokossovsky.

I suggest that we name the Byelorussian operation

Operation Bagration

in honour of our fellow-countryman,

the military leader who brought glory to Russian arms

in 1812.

Go on, Comrade Vassilevsky.

After the start of Operation Bagration,

when the German High Command realizes that's here, in Byelorussia,

that the decisive battles take place,

and shifts here their reserves from the south,

Marshal Konev's 1st Ukrainian Front

will strike its blow in the direction of Lvov.

When, as a result of those powerful blows, the enemy suffers a defeat,

we can unfold an offensive in the Balkans -

in Romania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia and Hungary.

Does Comrade Zhukov wish to add anything?

Before the war, I served for a long time in the Byelorussian District,

and I'm very much familiar with the theatre of operations there.

On that boggy and wooded terrain,

it's impossible to use large masses of tanks.

That's why I propose

to send into a breakthrough only tank corps,

and not commit the four tank armies - the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th,

which are stationed behind the right flank of the 1st Ukrainian Front.

Thereby, first, we'll mislead the enemy.

Knowing the location of those armies,

he'll expect the main blow not in Byelorussia, but in the Ukraine.

Second, it'll be our powerful reserve in the 2nd stage of the offensive.

And, third,

we'll securely provide for the left flank

of General Rokossovsky's attacking armies.

I agree.

And now invite Rokossovsky.

Where, after all, are you going to strike the main blow,

Comrade Rokossovsky?

Through the bogs?

Yes, Comrade Stalin.

The direction of the main blow towards Bobruisk by the front's right wing.

I'm convinced that this is the right decision, Comrade Stalin.

The persistence of the Front Commander only proves

that the organization of the offensive has been well thought out.

Give me your map, Comrade Rokossovsky.

On June 6, 1944,

the Anglo-American troops landed in Northern France

WASHINGTON

I'm happy to have lived to see this day.

Even if it were the only thing I've done,

my life would still have been justified.

Of course, there will be much discussion about the second front

but the only thing that matters

is that the second front has been opened.

Do you mean discussions with Churchill?

Why was he so insistent on the invasion through the Balkans?

It's this way, Eleanor.

To begin with, he wanted to drive a wedge into Central Europe,

so that keep the Russians out of Austria and Romania,

and, possibly, out of Hungary.

Anc this, of course, Stalin realized, and so I did.

And all the rest of us.

Maybe, he was right,

and we should have struck a blow in the Balkans?

No, Eleanor.

This time we have chosen the shortest way to victory.

And that's about all at there's to it.

Churchill is too busy thinking about

what would be after the war

and, naturally, what would the situation of Britain.

And I do not see why I should risk the lives of American soldiers

for the interests of Britain on the European continent.

By the way, could you read me again

today's telegram from Mr. Stalin?

I didn't quite understand it.

The summer offensive of the Soviet troops,

organized according to our agreement at the Teheran Conference,

will be launched by mid-June on one of the important sections of the front.

Important sections of the front?

Some kind of Asiatic cunning.

He doesn't believe anyone.

Not even his allies.

BERLIN, Reich Chancery June 12

What's this?

Stalin's telegram to Churchill.

It's a radio intercept, deciphered with the secret code

that was passed over to us by our agent in Turkey.

His information about a second front proved true.

Yes, I remember.

Stalin writes to Churchill that the Russians' summer offensive

will begin in one of the front's sectors.

Which one?

Keitel, what do you think?

My Fuhrer, apparently, it's the northern Ukraine.

General Model thinks so, too.

Yes, I'm sure that the Russians will direct their main blow

against the Army Group North Ukraine.

Then they'll try to break through to Poland or turn to the Balkans.

Do you agree, Field Marshal Kluge?

I don't exclude the possibility

of the Russian offensive through the Baltic, either.

Four Russian tank armies are concentrated facing my front.

That's 3,000 tanks.

There's no doubt that they will attack here.

It's quite realistic, my Fuhrer.

We should first expect the Russian offensive in the northern Ukraine.

BYELORUSSIA

Where's Kozlov?

Moving by the bank.

It's all right, Vassily Ivanovich, ahead of us are ours.

Secretary of the Minsk Regional Underground Committee

of the Communist Party Kozlov

First Secretary of the Central Committee

of the Communist Party of Byelorussia Ponomarenko

Come in, Vassily Ivanovich.

How was your trip?

With no real difficulties, Panteleimon Kondratyevich.

Wall, let's begin, comrades.

Present here are the secretaries of Byelorussia's underground committees

and the commanders of major units of Byelorussian artisans.

We realize that it wasn't so easy to gather you all here.

Nor was it easy for you to get here from the enemy's rear.

Yet we decided to do that.

My friends, that long-awaited day is near.

The Army will launch an offensive in Byelorussia.

June 20

On June 20,

two days before the start of Operation Bagration,

the partisans of Byelorussia

attacked the enemy's railway communications

along the whole frontline up to the state border.

3rd Byelorussian Front June 23

The long-range aviation is in the air.

Good.

The 2nd Air Army in readiness one.

The 3rd Air Army in readiness one.

The front's artillery is ready for action, Comrade Marshal.

The 5th Tank Army has taken its initial position.

- Put me through to Bagramyan. - Yes, Comrade Marshal.

The 1st Baltic Front is ready, Comrade Marshal.

Operation Bagration is starting.

Do it, Ivan Khristoforovich.

Silence. It's a pity to break it.

But we'll break it, anyway.

Commander of the 3rd Byelorussian Front Colonel-General Chernyakhovsky

Well, good luck.

We start, comrade generals.

Commander of the 303rd Fighter Aviation Division

Major-General Zakharov

Comrade General, Colonel Golubov is here af our command.

Come in, Anatoly Yemelyanovich.

Call here Commander of the "Normandy" Regiment.

"Tulip", "Tulip".

"Tulip".

To you from me, Tanechka. Here, a daisy.

"Tulip", "Tulip". "Tulip"?

Commander of "Normandy" is called to the general.

Commander of the Normandy Fighter Aviation Regiment Lieutenant-Colonel Pouillarde

Still nothing?

Nothing for three days now.

Roll up his bedding.

When shall we fly?

Soon.

It's your second shaving today, Baron.

I always shave before a fight.

I'd rather do it myself than let the Messerschmitts shave me.

You like it?

Not bad.

I hope to meet her after the war, Lieutenant-Colonel.

I need you, Jacques.

Hello! Hello!

My pilots are wondering whether we came here for holidays.

Tell them not to worry, there'll be enough fights for everyone.

The task is like this, Comrade Pouillarde.

Your regiment, together with Golubov's regiment,

will blockade Vitebsk from air.

Why not?

Such a charming blonde would look great smoking.

I noticed that the blonde girls smoke so nicely and enigmatically.

They hold a cigarette with the big and index fingers, like this.

Didn't you understand that the girl doesn't smoke?

You got it or not?

I didn't mean to offend the lovely mademoiselle.

The Soviet pilot is wrong if he wants to play the role of Othello.

Normandy, cut out this Othello thing. It's war here, not theatre.

Comrade Senior Lieutenant,

why are you quarreling? He's very nice.

I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. My name is Jacques. What's yours?

Ivan? Sasha? Pasha?

Not Sasha-Pasha, but Senior Lieutenant Zaitsev.

Anton, you'll fly with "Normandy" and maintain connection with me.

Right.

For luck.

Four Messerschmitts on my right. I attack.

Othello!

A Messer is behind you!

Jacque! Try to make it beyond the forest!

Jacque!

Jacque, get up, quick!

Hurry!

Hurry, come on!

Thanks, Othello.

Come on!

There we go.