The Fall of Berlin (film)
Encyclopedia
The Fall of Berlin is a 1950 two-part Soviet
film directed by Mikhail Chiaureli. The plot revolves around the history of the Great Patriotic War, focusing on the role that Joseph Stalin
played in the events. It is considered as one of the most important representations of Stalin's cult of personality
.
and to have a personal interview with Joseph Stalin
. Alexei falls in love with the idealist teacher Natasha, but has difficulties approaching her. When he meets Stalin, who tends his garden, the leader helps him to understand his emotions and tells him to recite poetry to Natasha. Then, they both have a luncheon with the rest of the Soviet leadership in Stalin's home. After he returns from Moscow, Alexei confesses his love to Natasha. While they are both having a stroll in a wheat field, their town is attacked by the Germans
, who invade the Soviet Union
.
Alexei loses his consciousness and sinks into a coma. When he awakes, he is told that Natasha is missing and that the Germans are at the gates of Moscow. In the capital, Stalin plans the defense of the city, explaining to the demoralized Georgy Zhukov
how to deploy his forces. Alexei volunteers to the Red Army
, takes part in the parade in the Red Square and in the Battle of Moscow
. At Berlin, after receiving the blessings of his allies - Turkey
, the Vatican
, Romania
and Japan
- and watching a long column of Soviet slaves-laborers
, Natasha among them, Adolf Hitler
is furious to hear that Moscow has not fallen. He dismisses Walther von Brauchitsch
from his office and offers the command of the army to Gerd von Rundstedt
; the latter refuses, saying that Stalin is a great captain and Germany's defeat is certain. Hitler orders to attack Stalingrad
. In the meanwhile, Göring negotiates with British capitalist Bedstone, who supplies Germany with needed materials. After the Soviet victory in Stalingrad, Vasily Chuikov
tells Ivanov that Stalin is always with the Red Army. The storyline leaps to the Yalta Conference
, where Stalin and his Western Allies
debate the future of the war. The treacherous Winston Churchill
intends to deny the Soviets access to Berlin and almost manages to convince the gullible Franklin Delano Roosevelt to accept his plans.
and commits suicide. Hans Krebs
carries the news of Hitler's death to the Red Army and begs for a ceasefire. Stalin orders to accept only an unconditional surrender. Alexei is chosen to carry the Victory Banner
, alongside Mikhail Yegorov and Meliton Kantaria
. Their division storms the Reichstag
and the three hoist the banner atop of it. The Germans surrender and Red Army soldiers from throughout the USSR celebrate victory. Stalin's plane lands in Berlin, and he is greeted by an enthusiastic crowd of soldiers and liberated slave-laborers, holding posters with his picture and waving red flags. Stalin carries a speech in which he calls for world peace. Standing in the crowd, Alexei and Natasha recognize each other and are reunited. Natasha asks Stalin to let her kiss him on the cheek, and they hug while prisoners praise Stalin in numerous languages. The film ends with Stalin wishing all peace and happiness.
have already collaborated to create the 1946 personality cult picture The Vow
. The Soviet Minister of Cinema, Ivan Bolshakov, instructed them both to begin work on The Fall of Berlin shortly after the release of The Vow at July 1946. The film was conceived as the Mosfilm studio's gift to Stalin for his official 70th birthday,Most historians believe that Stalin's date of birth was 18 December 1878, based on various documents. However, Stalin claimed to have been born on 21 December 1879. See the article Joseph Stalin
for more information. which was to be held on 21 December 1949. The Fall was supposed to be part of a cycle of ten films about the premier's role in World War II, entitled Stalin's Ten Blows, though not corresponding with the eponymous series of Eastern Front campaigns
. The project was only partially fulfilled until Stalin's death.
Edvard Radzinsky
claimed his father heard from Pavlenko that The Vow
and The Fall of Berlin were both overlayed with Christian motifs, and were intended to sublimely identify Stalin with Jesus
: in the first, Lenin has acted like John the Baptist
and recognized him as the messiah; in the second, he had fought and defeated Hitler, whose character represented the Antichrist
. Russian historian Alexander Prokhorov believed that the film was influenced by Nazi propaganda films. Author John Riley claimed that the scene in which Stalin's plane arrives in Berlin - that was fictional; Stalin never flew to the German capital, let alone on the day of the capture of the Reichstag - was modeled after Hitler's landing in Munich from the Triumph of the Will
, and that the film's ending was inspired by a similar sequence from Kolberg
; the storming of the Reichstag "parodied" the massacre on the Odessa Steps
from The Battleship Potemkin
, a gesture intended to mock Sergei Eisenstein
, according to Riley.
According to the memories of Svetlana Aliluyeva, Chiaureli approached her father with the idea to combine the fate of his son, Yakov Dzhugashvili
, in the plot. Stalin promptly rejected this. Soviet actor Artyom Karapetian claimed Chiaureli's wife, actress Veriko Anjaparidze, told him Stalin was so outraged when he heard of this that Lavrentiy Beria
- who was standing nearby - reached into his trousers' pocket, "presumably, for his gun." The director's daughter, Sofiko Chiaureli
, recounted that her father "knew that he was saved" when Stalin wiped tears from his eyes as he watched Gelovani descend from the plane and muttered "If only I have went to Berlin."
. However, most of the episodes set in the German capital were filmed in ruined cities in the Baltic region
. In addition, a scale model of the Berlin, over one square kilometer in size, was built in Mosfilm's studios; this miniature was to create the urban combat scenes in the end of Part II.
The Soviet Army provided five divisions, their supporting artillery formations, four tank battalions, 193 military aircraft and 45 captured German tanks to recreate the open field battles portrayed in The Fall of Berlin. They consumed 1.5 million liters of fuel during the filming.
The Fall of Berlin was one of the first colored films made in the Soviet Union. The producers used Agfacolor
reels, taken from UFA
's studios in Neubabelsberg
.
, who was accused of Formalism during 1948, was called on to compose the score. Vano Muradeli
told the composer's biographer John Riley that his contribution to The Fall of Berlin and other Stalinist films was the only thing that saved him from persecution by the establishment. Riley wrote that the film's score, along with Song of the Forests
, "was the closest Shostakhovich came to overt praise for Stalin." One additional piece of music used in The Fall of Berlin was Felix Mendelssohn
's Wedding March
, heard during the scene in which Hitler marries Eva Braun; the march was banned in Nazi Germany. According to Riley, it is unclear whether Chiaureli intended to mock the Nazis by portraying them as unable to recognize an item they have forbidden, or he has simply been ignorant of the ban.
Soundtrack for Part I
1. Main Title Part 1 (2:44)
2. Beautiful Day (2:14) [accompanied by a children's chorus singing Beautiful Day; lyrics by Yevgeniy Dolmatovsky
.]
3. Alyosha By the River (1:39)
4. Stalins's Garden (2:04)
5. Alyosha and Natalia in the Fields / Attack (3:55)
6. Hitler's Reception (1:31)
7. In the Devastated Village (2:39)
8. Forward! (0:58)
Soundtrack for Part II
1. Main Title Part 2 (2:06)
2. The Roll Call / Attack at Night (3:02)
3. Storming the Seelov Heights (6:26)
4. The Flooding of the Underground Station (1:11)
5. The Final Battle for the Reichstag / Kostya's Death (4:06)
6. Yussuf's Death / The Red Banner (3:41)
7. Stalin at Berlin Airport (4:28)
8. Finale / Stalin's Speech / Alyosha and Natasha Reunited (2:43) [7. and 8. accompanied by a chorus singing Glory to Stalin; lyrics by Yevgeniy Dolmatovsky
.]
, Boris Andreyev
and Vladimir Kenigson were all awarded the Stalin Prize, 1st Class for their work. In Czechoslovakia, The film also won the Crystal Globe
in the 5th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival
.
On the day of the film's release, Literaturnaya Gazeta
published a column by Aleksandr Stein in which he described the film as "wonderful... a truthful portrayal of the relations between the people and the leader... and the love of all people to Stalin." A day after, Vsevolod Pudovkin
wrote in Soviet Art that The Fall of Berlin was an "outstanding work of Soviet cinema" that presented "in profound depth and in vast scale... a bold, creative representation of the subject... a lively demonstration of the ever developing genre of Socialist Realism." The picture was enthusiastically promoted by the Soviet press. A series of articles in Pravda
praised it as an authentic representation of history.
The public's reaction to the film was monitored by the government: in a memorandum to Mikhail Suslov
from 11 March 1950, two officials from the Bolshevik All-Union Communist Party
's Propaganda Department reported that the newspaper Art and Life received numerous letters from viewers, who - although generally approving of the film - criticized various aspects of the plot; many of them cited Alexei Ivanov's boyish conduct as unworthy of a Stakhanovite. Lieutenant Colonel Yevgeni Chernonog, a war veteran, went drinking after watching The Fall of Berlin. While intoxicated, he commented that he never saw Stalin in Berlin. He was arrested and condemned to eight years in the Gulag
.
The East German political establishment excessively promoted the picture, as well; It was officially classified as a documentary, and all servicemen of the Barracked People's Police
were obliged to watch it. However, The Fall of Berlin was received with little enthusiasm by the populace. Years later, in an article he wrote for the Deutshce Filmkunst magazine on 30 October 1959, Sigfried Silbermann - director of the state film distributor Progress-Film Verleih - attributed this response to the effect that years of anti-Soviet propaganda had on the German people.
The Fall of Berlin was distributed in Western Europe shortly after its release, but most countries, including France, banned it. It reached the United Kingdom and the United States only at 1952 - during the Korea War. In the UK, the film was one of the few foreign-language pictures to be presented in the BBC's program Current Release; former war correspondent Matthew Halton was invited to comment on it. The American magazine Variety
described it as "The Russian answer to the many American and British films about the war... having some contemporary significane, in the light of the tensions between the West and the Soviet Union." The New York Times' critic dubbed it as a "deafening blend of historical pageantry and wishful thinking... directed as if his (Chiaureli's) life depended upon it" and - in what author David Caute claimed was the worse condemnation that could be leveled at it in the day - that it had a "Hollywood-style plot". He also disapproved of the historical veracity of the Yalta Conference scene, while John Howard Lawson
, recently released from prison, praised it as an authentic depiction of events. Officials in Artkino
, the picture's distributor, claimed that the film was viewed by 1.2 million people in the United States by June 1952.
On February 1956, Nikita Khrushchev
delivered a speech condemning Stalin's cult of personality in front of the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. In the midst of it, he told the audience: "Let us recall the film, The Fall of Berlin. Here only Stalin acts. He issues orders in a hall in which there are many empty chairs. Only one man approaches him to report something to him - it is Poskrebyshev
... And where is the military command? Where is the politburo? Where is the government? What are they doing, and with what are they engaged? There is nothing about them in the film. Stalin acts for everybody, he does not reckon with anyone. He asks no one for advice. Everything is shown to the people in this false light. Why? To surround Stalin with glory - contrary to the facts and contrary to historical truth." Following the speech, the film was banned altogether, and all of its copies were placed in the archives. However, it continued to be screened in the People's Republic of China
, the leadership of which opposed Khrushchev's criticism of Stalin.
, which depicted Stalin as Vladimir Lenin
's most devout disciple; and to The Vow, in which he is chosen as Lenin's heir and takes an oath to keep his legacy. In The Fall of Berlin, Lenin has no impact on the plot. Instead of being the state founder's successor, Stalin's legitimacy was now based on his leadership of the USSR during the war.
Denise Youngblood wrote that the film, although not the first to portray Stalin as "war hero in chief" - that was already done in pictures like The Battle of Stalingrad
- elevated him to a new status: "it deified Stalin." Richard Taylor pointed out that the premier was the only decision maker in the plot, the only one responsible for the victory over Germany, and all other characters were either subservient or antagonistic. Stalin's stoic calm was stressed out by deliberately contrasting it to the hysterical rage of Hitler, or to the slow wit of Georgy Zhukov
, who was portrayed in accordance with his political status at the late 1940s, after he was shunned by Stalin: Zhukov was not even among the generals who received Stalin in Berlin. Beside this, most characters - from Natasha to Gerd von Rundstedt
- praise him as a great leader. Author Katerina Clark discerned that Stalin, beside his function as a great captain, was made the enabler of romantic relationship: before meeting him, Alexei was incapable of expressing his love to Natasha. Slavoj Žižek
commented that Stalin played the part of the "magician and the matchmaker who wisely leads the couple to reunion."
Alexei's character was not intended to be perceived as an individual,It is interesting to note that Alexei Ivanov served as the third man in the group that carried the Victory Banner
, alongside two historical figures: Mikhail Yegorov and Meliton Kantaria
. The other two were officially recognized and were awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union
. There was another person with the two in the Reichstag, though: Alexei Berest
, a junior political officer. His part in the operation was silenced until years after Stalin's death. but rather, a symbol to the entire Soviet people: he was depicted as an archetypal worker; his date of birth is given as 25 October 1917 by the Julian Calendar
, the day of the October Revolution
.
The movie also made many references to the political situation in Europe. Turkey
, which was a neutral country during the war but a rival of the Soviet Union in the Cold War
, was portrayed as if it was an Axis state; the Turkish ambassador even greeted Hitler in the name of İsmet İnönü
. The Nazi sympathies of Vatican ambassador Cesare Orsenigo
were emphasized as well. Churchill, seen as an enemy after his 1946 Fulton Speech, was portrayed in a highly negative fashion.
The film is regarded by many critics as the epitome of Stalin's cult of personality in cinema: Denise Youngblood wrote that "it was impossible to go further" in the "veneration" of him; Philip Boobbyer claimed that the cult reached "extraordinary proportions" with its release; Lars Karl opined that it "stood above any other part of the cult"; Slavoj Žižek regarded it as the "supreme case of the Stalinist epic" Nikolas Hüllbusch commented that it was the "zenith" of the representation of Stalin's screen "alter-ego"; and Richard Taylor believed that it was "the apotheosis of Stalin's cult of Stalin".
. On 2003, the film was remastered by a company from Toulouse
, in a relatively poor quality. At 2007, it was re-released by the American group International Historical Films. No available version contains the Beria scene, though several old uncensured copies of the film appear to exist.
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
film directed by Mikhail Chiaureli. The plot revolves around the history of the Great Patriotic War, focusing on the role that Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
played in the events. It is considered as one of the most important representations of Stalin's cult of personality
Cult of personality
A cult of personality arises when an individual uses mass media, propaganda, or other methods, to create an idealized and heroic public image, often through unquestioning flattery and praise. Cults of personality are usually associated with dictatorships...
.
Part 1
Alexei Ivanov, a shy steel factory worker, greatly surpasses his production quota and is chosen to receive the Order of LeninOrder of Lenin
The Order of Lenin , named after the leader of the Russian October Revolution, was the highest decoration bestowed by the Soviet Union...
and to have a personal interview with Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
. Alexei falls in love with the idealist teacher Natasha, but has difficulties approaching her. When he meets Stalin, who tends his garden, the leader helps him to understand his emotions and tells him to recite poetry to Natasha. Then, they both have a luncheon with the rest of the Soviet leadership in Stalin's home. After he returns from Moscow, Alexei confesses his love to Natasha. While they are both having a stroll in a wheat field, their town is attacked by the Germans
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
, who invade the Soviet Union
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was the code name for Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a front., the largest invasion in the history of warfare...
.
Alexei loses his consciousness and sinks into a coma. When he awakes, he is told that Natasha is missing and that the Germans are at the gates of Moscow. In the capital, Stalin plans the defense of the city, explaining to the demoralized Georgy Zhukov
Georgy Zhukov
Marshal of the Soviet Union Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov , was a Russian career officer in the Red Army who, in the course of World War II, played a pivotal role in leading the Red Army through much of Eastern Europe to liberate the Soviet Union and other nations from the Axis Powers' occupation...
how to deploy his forces. Alexei volunteers to the Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
, takes part in the parade in the Red Square and in the Battle of Moscow
Battle of Moscow
The Battle of Moscow is the name given by Soviet historians to two periods of strategically significant fighting on a sector of the Eastern Front during World War II. It took place between October 1941 and January 1942. The Soviet defensive effort frustrated Hitler's attack on Moscow, capital of...
. At Berlin, after receiving the blessings of his allies - Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
, the Vatican
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
, Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
and Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
- and watching a long column of Soviet slaves-laborers
OST-Arbeiter
OST-Arbeiter was a designation for slave workers gathered from Eastern Europe to do forced labor in Germany during World War II. The Ostarbeiters were mostly from the territory of Reichskommissariat Ukraine . Ukrainians made up the largest portion although many Belarusians, Russians, Poles and...
, Natasha among them, Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
is furious to hear that Moscow has not fallen. He dismisses Walther von Brauchitsch
Walther von Brauchitsch
Heinrich Alfred Hermann Walther von Brauchitsch was a German field marshal and the Oberbefehlshaber des Heeres in the early years of World War II.-Biography:...
from his office and offers the command of the army to Gerd von Rundstedt
Gerd von Rundstedt
Karl Rudolf Gerd von Rundstedt was a Generalfeldmarschall of the German Army during World War II. He held some of the highest field commands in all phases of the war....
; the latter refuses, saying that Stalin is a great captain and Germany's defeat is certain. Hitler orders to attack Stalingrad
Battle of Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad was a major battle of World War II in which Nazi Germany and its allies fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad in southwestern Russia. The battle took place between 23 August 1942 and 2 February 1943...
. In the meanwhile, Göring negotiates with British capitalist Bedstone, who supplies Germany with needed materials. After the Soviet victory in Stalingrad, Vasily Chuikov
Vasily Chuikov
Vasily Ivanovich Chuikov was a Russian lieutenant general in the Red Army during World War II, twice Hero of the Soviet Union , who after the war became a Marshal of the Soviet Union.-Early life and career:Born into a peasant family in the village of Serebryanye Prudy, he joined the Red Army during...
tells Ivanov that Stalin is always with the Red Army. The storyline leaps to the Yalta Conference
Yalta Conference
The Yalta Conference, sometimes called the Crimea Conference and codenamed the Argonaut Conference, held February 4–11, 1945, was the wartime meeting of the heads of government of the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union, represented by President Franklin D...
, where Stalin and his Western Allies
Western Allies
The Western Allies were a political and geographic grouping among the Allied Powers of the Second World War. It generally includes the United Kingdom and British Commonwealth, the United States, France and various other European and Latin American countries, but excludes China, the Soviet Union,...
debate the future of the war. The treacherous Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
intends to deny the Soviets access to Berlin and almost manages to convince the gullible Franklin Delano Roosevelt to accept his plans.
Part 2
Stalin asks his generals who will take Berlin, they or the Western Allies. The generals answer that they will capture the city. Alexei's Guards Army advances towards Berlin, while Hitler has a nervous breakdown and demands that his soldiers fight to the end. The Germans plan to execute the inmates of the concentration camp in which Natasha is held before the arrival of the Red Army, but Alexei's unit liberates the prisoners before they carry through their design. Natasha faints, and he does not find her. Hitler and the German leadership fall into despair and lose their grip on reality the closer the Soviets get to Berlin. Hitler orders to flood the subway stations as the Soviets approach, drowning thousands of civilians. He then marries Eva BraunEva Braun
Eva Anna Paula Hitler was the longtime companion of Adolf Hitler and, for less than 40 hours, his wife. Braun met Hitler in Munich, when she was 17 years old, while working as an assistant and model for his personal photographer and began seeing him often about two years later...
and commits suicide. Hans Krebs
Hans Krebs (general)
Hans Krebs was a German Army general of infantry who served during World War II.-Early life:Krebs was born in Helmstedt. He volunteered for service in the Imperial German Army in 1914, was promoted to lieutenant in 1915, and to first lieutenant in 1925...
carries the news of Hitler's death to the Red Army and begs for a ceasefire. Stalin orders to accept only an unconditional surrender. Alexei is chosen to carry the Victory Banner
Victory Banner
The Soviet Banner of Victory is the banner raised by the Red Army soldiers on the Reichstag building in Berlin, on April 30, 1945. It was raised by three Soviet soldiers: Alexei Berest, Mikhail Yegorov, and Meliton Kantaria, from Ukraine, Russia, and Georgia respectively.The Victory Banner, made...
, alongside Mikhail Yegorov and Meliton Kantaria
Meliton Kantaria
Meliton Varlamovich Kantaria or Kantariya , Hero of the Soviet Union , was a Georgian sergeant of the Soviet Army credited to have together with M. A...
. Their division storms the Reichstag
Reichstag (building)
The Reichstag building is a historical edifice in Berlin, Germany, constructed to house the Reichstag, parliament of the German Empire. It was opened in 1894 and housed the Reichstag until 1933, when it was severely damaged in a fire. During the Nazi era, the few meetings of members of the...
and the three hoist the banner atop of it. The Germans surrender and Red Army soldiers from throughout the USSR celebrate victory. Stalin's plane lands in Berlin, and he is greeted by an enthusiastic crowd of soldiers and liberated slave-laborers, holding posters with his picture and waving red flags. Stalin carries a speech in which he calls for world peace. Standing in the crowd, Alexei and Natasha recognize each other and are reunited. Natasha asks Stalin to let her kiss him on the cheek, and they hug while prisoners praise Stalin in numerous languages. The film ends with Stalin wishing all peace and happiness.
Cast
- Mikheil GelovaniMikheil GelovaniMikheil Gelovani was a Georgian-Soviet actor, known for his many portrayals of Joseph Stalin in cinema.-Early life:Mikheil Gelovani was a descendant of the old Georgian princely house of Gelovani. He made his stage debut in a theater in Batumi during 1913. From 1919 to 1920, he attended the Drama...
as Joseph StalinJoseph StalinJoseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
. - Boris AndreyevBoris AndreyevBoris Fyodorovich Andreyev was a Soviet actor. He appeared in 51 films between 1939 and 1982.-Biography:Boris Andreyev was born 9 February 1915 in Saratov, Russian Empire to a family of workers. His childhood and youth years were spent in Atkarsk, Saratov Governorate...
as Alexei Ivanov. - Marina Kovaliova as Natasha Rumyantseva.
- Alexey GribovAlexey GribovAlexey Nikolayevich Gribov was a Soviet actor.He was born in 1902 in Moscow. Alexey Gribov starred in more than sixty the films and the movies and he was an actor of the Moscow Art Theatre. He was a People's Artist of the USSR and Hero of Socialist Labour...
as Kliment VoroshilovKliment VoroshilovKliment Yefremovich Voroshilov , popularly known as Klim Voroshilov was a Soviet military officer, politician, and statesman...
. - Nikolay BogolyubovNikolay Bogolyubov (actor)Nikolay Ivanovich Bogolyubov was a Soviet actor and a People's Artist of the RSFSR . In 1933 he played in Boris Barnet's Okraina; in 1941, he was awarded the Stalin Prize.-Selected filmography:* Tommy...
as Khmelnitsky. - Tamara NosovaTamara NosovaTamara Nosova was a Soviet and Russian actress, who was awarded the title of People's Artist of the USSR in 1992. She appeared in 27 films between 1948 and 1999. She was married to writer Vitali Gubarev.-Biography:...
as Katia. - Ruben SimonovRuben SimonovRuben Simonov was a Soviet artist and director, Peoples Artist of the USSR, Professor. Awarded by the State Prize of the USSR title ....
as Anastas MikoyanAnastas MikoyanAnastas Ivanovich Mikoyan was an Armenian Old Bolshevik and Soviet statesman during the rules of Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin, Nikita Khrushchev, and Leonid Brezhnev....
. - Andrei AbrikosovAndrei AbrikosovAndrei Lvovich Abrikosov was a Soviet stage and film actor. In 1941, he was awarded the Stalin Prize. He appeared in 39 films between 1931 and 1972...
as General Aleksei AntonovAleksei AntonovAleksei Innokentievich Antonov was a General of the Soviet Army, awarded the Order of Victory for his efforts in World War II.-Career:...
. - Jan WerichJan WerichJan Werich was a Czech actor, playwright and writer.-Life:Between 1916 to 1924 he attended "reálné gymnasium" in Křemencová Street in Prague...
as Hermann GöringHermann GöringHermann Wilhelm Göring, was a German politician, military leader, and a leading member of the Nazi Party. He was a veteran of World War I as an ace fighter pilot, and a recipient of the coveted Pour le Mérite, also known as "The Blue Max"...
. - Georgy Tatishvili as Meliton KantariaMeliton KantariaMeliton Varlamovich Kantaria or Kantariya , Hero of the Soviet Union , was a Georgian sergeant of the Soviet Army credited to have together with M. A...
. - Dmitry Dubov as Mikhail Yegorov.
- Fedor Blasevich as Marshal Georgy ZhukovGeorgy ZhukovMarshal of the Soviet Union Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov , was a Russian career officer in the Red Army who, in the course of World War II, played a pivotal role in leading the Red Army through much of Eastern Europe to liberate the Soviet Union and other nations from the Axis Powers' occupation...
. - Nikolai Ryzhov as Lazar KaganovichLazar KaganovichLazar Moiseyevich Kaganovich was a Soviet politician and administrator and one of the main associates of Joseph Stalin.-Early life:Kaganovich was born in 1893 to Jewish parents in the village of Kabany, Radomyshl uyezd, Kiev Governorate, Russian Empire...
. - Gavriil Belov as Mikhail KalininMikhail KalininMikhail Ivanovich Kalinin , known familiarly by Soviet citizens as "Kalinych," was a Bolshevik revolutionary and the nominal head of state of Russia and later of the Soviet Union, from 1919 to 1946...
. - Maxim Strauch as Vyacheslav MolotovVyacheslav MolotovVyacheslav Mikhailovich Molotov was a Soviet politician and diplomat, an Old Bolshevik and a leading figure in the Soviet government from the 1920s, when he rose to power as a protégé of Joseph Stalin, to 1957, when he was dismissed from the Presidium of the Central Committee by Nikita Khrushchev...
. - Konstantin Bartashevich as General Vasily SokolovskyVasily SokolovskyVasily Danilovich Sokolovsky was a Soviet military commander.Sokolovsky was born into a peasant family in Kozliki, a small town in the province of Grodno, near Białystok in Poland . He worked as a teacher in a rural school, where he took part in a number of protests and demonstrations against the...
. - Sergei Blinnikov as Marshal Ivan KonevIvan KonevIvan Stepanovich Konev , was a Soviet military commander, who led Red Army forces on the Eastern Front during World War II, retook much of Eastern Europe from occupation by the Axis Powers, and helped in the capture of Germany's capital, Berlin....
. - Boris LivanovBoris LivanovBoris Nikolayevich Livanov was a Soviet and Russian film actor, and screenwriter. He was a member of the Moscow Art Theatre from 1924 through 1972.* He was awarded the Stalin Prize five times...
as Marshal Konstantin RokossovskyKonstantin RokossovskyKonstantin Rokossovskiy was a Polish-origin Soviet career officer who was a Marshal of the Soviet Union, as well as Marshal of Poland and Polish Defence Minister, who was famously known for his service in the Eastern Front, where he received high esteem for his outstanding military skill...
. - Vladimir Lyubimov as Marshal Alexander Vasilevsky.
- Boris Tenin as General Vasily ChuikovVasily ChuikovVasily Ivanovich Chuikov was a Russian lieutenant general in the Red Army during World War II, twice Hero of the Soviet Union , who after the war became a Marshal of the Soviet Union.-Early life and career:Born into a peasant family in the village of Serebryanye Prudy, he joined the Red Army during...
. - A. Poryakov as General Vasily KuznetsovVasily Kuznetsov (general)Vasily Ivanovich Kuznetsov was a Soviet General and a Hero of the Soviet Union.-Early life:...
. - Victor Stanitsyn as Winston ChurchillWinston ChurchillSir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
. - Oleg Frohlich as Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
- Leonid Pirogov as James F. ByrnesJames F. ByrnesJames Francis Byrnes was an American statesman from the state of South Carolina. During his career, Byrnes served as a member of the House of Representatives , as a Senator , as Justice of the Supreme Court , as Secretary of State , and as the 104th Governor of South Carolina...
. - Vladimir Sevaliev as Adolf HitlerAdolf HitlerAdolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
. - Vladimir Kenigson as General Hans KrebsHans Krebs (general)Hans Krebs was a German Army general of infantry who served during World War II.-Early life:Krebs was born in Helmstedt. He volunteered for service in the Imperial German Army in 1914, was promoted to lieutenant in 1915, and to first lieutenant in 1925...
. - Nikolai Plotnikov as Field Marshal Walther von BrauchitschWalther von BrauchitschHeinrich Alfred Hermann Walther von Brauchitsch was a German field marshal and the Oberbefehlshaber des Heeres in the early years of World War II.-Biography:...
. - Vladimir Pokrovsky as General Alfred JodlAlfred JodlAlfred Josef Ferdinand Jodl was a German military commander, attaining the position of Chief of the Operations Staff of the Armed Forces High Command during World War II, acting as deputy to Wilhelm Keitel...
. - Michael Sidorkin as General Sergei ShtemenkoSergei ShtemenkoSergei Matveevich Shtemenko was a Soviet general, who served as the Chief of the Soviet Armed Forces' General Staff from 1948 to 1952.-Early life:...
. - Maria Novakova as Eva BraunEva BraunEva Anna Paula Hitler was the longtime companion of Adolf Hitler and, for less than 40 hours, his wife. Braun met Hitler in Munich, when she was 17 years old, while working as an assistant and model for his personal photographer and began seeing him often about two years later...
. - N. Petrunkin as Joseph GoebbelsJoseph GoebbelsPaul Joseph Goebbels was a German politician and Reich Minister of Propaganda in Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. As one of Adolf Hitler's closest associates and most devout followers, he was known for his zealous oratory and anti-Semitism...
. - V. Renin as Field Marshal Gerd von RundstedtGerd von RundstedtKarl Rudolf Gerd von Rundstedt was a Generalfeldmarschall of the German Army during World War II. He held some of the highest field commands in all phases of the war....
. - K. Gomola as Heinz LingeHeinz LingeHeinz Linge was an SS officer who served as a valet for German dictator Adolf Hitler.- Early life :Linge was born in Bremen, Germany. Before joining the SS in 1933 he was employed as a bricklayer and was selected by Sepp Dietrich to be one of 117 original bodyguards for Adolf Hitler...
. - A. Urazaliev as Yusuf.
- K. Roden as Charles Bedstone.
- Ivan Solovyov as Johnson
- Yuri Tymoshenko as Zaichenko.
- Yevgeniya Melnikova as Director.
- Dmitry Pavlov as Tomashevich.
- Veriko Anjaparidze as Hans' mother.
- Sofia Giatzintova as Alexei's mother.
- Willi Narloch as SS officer captured by Alexei.
Background
Stalin's cult of personality, which began to manifest itself already at the late 1930s, was marginalized during World War II; to mobilize the population against the enemy, Soviet films focused on historical heroes who defended Russia or on the feats of the people themselves. The premier's character appeared in only two pictures during the war. However, as victory seemed secure, Stalin tightened his control over every aspect of the Soviet society, including cinema. After 1945, his cult returned to the screen with greater intensity than ever before, and he was credited as the sole architect of Germany's defeat. Denise J. Youngblood wrote that shortly afterwards, there remained only three kinds of war heroes: "the dead, the maimed and Stalin."Inception
Mikheil Chiaureli, Stalin's favourite director, and writer Pyotr PavlenkoPyotr Pavlenko
Pyotr Andreyevich Pavlenko , , was a Soviet writer, screenwriter and war correspondent. He became a member of the CPSU in 1920.-Early life:...
have already collaborated to create the 1946 personality cult picture The Vow
The Vow (1946 film)
The Vow is a 1946 Soviet film directed by Mikhail Chiaureli. It is considered a representation of Joseph Stalin's cult of personality.-Plot:...
. The Soviet Minister of Cinema, Ivan Bolshakov, instructed them both to begin work on The Fall of Berlin shortly after the release of The Vow at July 1946. The film was conceived as the Mosfilm studio's gift to Stalin for his official 70th birthday,Most historians believe that Stalin's date of birth was 18 December 1878, based on various documents. However, Stalin claimed to have been born on 21 December 1879. See the article Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
for more information. which was to be held on 21 December 1949. The Fall was supposed to be part of a cycle of ten films about the premier's role in World War II, entitled Stalin's Ten Blows, though not corresponding with the eponymous series of Eastern Front campaigns
Stalin's ten blows
Stalin's ten blows is a term for ten successful strategic offensives conducted by the Red Army in 1944...
. The project was only partially fulfilled until Stalin's death.
Development
As with all films in which his character made an appearance, Stalin took a keen interest in the work on The Fall of Berlin. The premier intervened in Pavlenko's writing, read the screenplay's manuscript and corrected several grammatical mistakes; he also deleted a short sequence during which a German civilian in Berlin exhorted his family to hasten and flee as the Red Army approaches. German historian Lars Karl believed that this signaled his resolution to demonstrate that the civilian populace had nothing to fear from the Soviets. The picture was the first feature film about the Battle of Berlin and the events in Hitler's bunker, preceding Der letzte Akt by five years.Edvard Radzinsky
Edvard Radzinsky
Edvard Stanislavovich Radzinsky is a Russian playwright, writer, TV personality, and film screenwriter. He is also known as an author of several books on history which were characterized as "folk history" by journalists and academic historians.-Biography:Edvard Stanislavovich Radzinsky was born...
claimed his father heard from Pavlenko that The Vow
The Vow (1946 film)
The Vow is a 1946 Soviet film directed by Mikhail Chiaureli. It is considered a representation of Joseph Stalin's cult of personality.-Plot:...
and The Fall of Berlin were both overlayed with Christian motifs, and were intended to sublimely identify Stalin with Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
: in the first, Lenin has acted like John the Baptist
John the Baptist
John the Baptist was an itinerant preacher and a major religious figure mentioned in the Canonical gospels. He is described in the Gospel of Luke as a relative of Jesus, who led a movement of baptism at the Jordan River...
and recognized him as the messiah; in the second, he had fought and defeated Hitler, whose character represented the Antichrist
Antichrist
The term or title antichrist, in Christian theology, refers to a leader who fulfills Biblical prophecies concerning an adversary of Christ, while resembling him in a deceptive manner...
. Russian historian Alexander Prokhorov believed that the film was influenced by Nazi propaganda films. Author John Riley claimed that the scene in which Stalin's plane arrives in Berlin - that was fictional; Stalin never flew to the German capital, let alone on the day of the capture of the Reichstag - was modeled after Hitler's landing in Munich from the Triumph of the Will
Triumph of the Will
Triumph of the Will is a propaganda film made by Leni Riefenstahl. It chronicles the 1934 Nazi Party Congress in Nuremberg, which was attended by more than 700,000 Nazi supporters. The film contains excerpts from speeches given by various Nazi leaders at the Congress, including portions of...
, and that the film's ending was inspired by a similar sequence from Kolberg
Kolberg (film)
Kolberg is a 1945 German propaganda film directed by Veit Harlan and Wolfgang Liebeneiner. It opened on January 30, 1945 simultaneously in Berlin and to the crew of the naval base at La Rochelle. It was also screened in the Reich chancellery after the broadcast of Hitler's last radio address on...
; the storming of the Reichstag "parodied" the massacre on the Odessa Steps
Potemkin Stairs
The Potemkin Stairs , is a giant stairway in Odessa, Ukraine. The stairs are considered a formal entrance into the city from the direction of the sea and are the best known symbol of Odessa....
from The Battleship Potemkin
The Battleship Potemkin
The Battleship Potemkin , sometimes rendered as The Battleship Potyomkin, is a 1925 silent film directed by Sergei Eisenstein and produced by Mosfilm...
, a gesture intended to mock Sergei Eisenstein
Sergei Eisenstein
Sergei Mikhailovich Eisenstein , né Eizenshtein, was a pioneering Soviet Russian film director and film theorist, often considered to be the "Father of Montage"...
, according to Riley.
According to the memories of Svetlana Aliluyeva, Chiaureli approached her father with the idea to combine the fate of his son, Yakov Dzhugashvili
Yakov Dzhugashvili
Yakov Iosifovich Dzhugashvili was one of Joseph Stalin's four children . Yakov was the son of Stalin's first wife, Ekaterina Svanidze...
, in the plot. Stalin promptly rejected this. Soviet actor Artyom Karapetian claimed Chiaureli's wife, actress Veriko Anjaparidze, told him Stalin was so outraged when he heard of this that Lavrentiy Beria
Lavrentiy Beria
Lavrentiy Pavlovich Beria was a Georgian Soviet politician and state security administrator, chief of the Soviet security and secret police apparatus under Joseph Stalin during World War II, and Deputy Premier in the postwar years ....
- who was standing nearby - reached into his trousers' pocket, "presumably, for his gun." The director's daughter, Sofiko Chiaureli
Sofiko Chiaureli
Sofiko Chiaureli was a Georgian actress, thought to be the muse of filmmaker Sergei Parajanov. She played a wide variety of roles on stage of the Kote Marjanishvili Theatre and the Rustavelli Theatre ....
, recounted that her father "knew that he was saved" when Stalin wiped tears from his eyes as he watched Gelovani descend from the plane and muttered "If only I have went to Berlin."
Principal photography
Chiaureli brought some 10,000 Soviet extras to Berlin for the filming, and also hired many local residents for the tunnel flooding sequence; He wasn't able to work in the Reichstag, that was located in the British Zone of West Berlin, and conducted the photography mainly in the Babelsberg StudiosBabelsberg Studios
The Studio Babelsberg, located in Potsdam-Babelsberg, Germany, is the oldest large-scale film studio in the world. Founded in 1912, it covers an area of about . Hundreds of films, including Fritz Lang's Metropolis and Josef von Sternberg's The Blue Angel were filmed there...
. However, most of the episodes set in the German capital were filmed in ruined cities in the Baltic region
Baltic region
The terms Baltic region, Baltic Rim countries, and Baltic Rim refer to slightly different combinations of countries in the general area surrounding the Baltic Sea.- Etymology :...
. In addition, a scale model of the Berlin, over one square kilometer in size, was built in Mosfilm's studios; this miniature was to create the urban combat scenes in the end of Part II.
The Soviet Army provided five divisions, their supporting artillery formations, four tank battalions, 193 military aircraft and 45 captured German tanks to recreate the open field battles portrayed in The Fall of Berlin. They consumed 1.5 million liters of fuel during the filming.
The Fall of Berlin was one of the first colored films made in the Soviet Union. The producers used Agfacolor
Agfacolor
thumb|An Agfacolor slide dating from the early 1940s. While the colors themselves hold up well after 60 years, damages visible include dust and [[Newton's rings]].Agfacolor is a series of color photographic products produced by Agfa of Germany...
reels, taken from UFA
Universum Film AG
Universum Film AG, better known as UFA or Ufa, is a film company that was the principal film studio in Germany, home of the German film industry during the Weimar Republic and through World War II, and a major force in world cinema from 1917 to 1945...
's studios in Neubabelsberg
Potsdam-Babelsberg
Babelsberg is the largest district of the Brandenburg capital Potsdam in Germany. The affluent neighbourhood named after a small hill on the Havel river is famous for Babelsberg Palace and Park, part of the Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin UNESCO World Heritage Site, as well as for Studio...
.
Music
Composer Dmitri ShostakovichDmitri Shostakovich
Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich was a Soviet Russian composer and one of the most celebrated composers of the 20th century....
, who was accused of Formalism during 1948, was called on to compose the score. Vano Muradeli
Vano Muradeli
Vano Muradeli was a Soviet Georgian composer.Born in Gori, Georgia, then part of Imperial Russia, he graduated from Tbilisi State Conservatory in 1931. From 1934 to 1938, he worked at the Moscow Conservatory. From 1942 to 1944, he served as a principal and artistic director of the Central Ensemble...
told the composer's biographer John Riley that his contribution to The Fall of Berlin and other Stalinist films was the only thing that saved him from persecution by the establishment. Riley wrote that the film's score, along with Song of the Forests
Song of the Forests
Dmitri Shostakovich composed his oratorio The Song of the Forests, Op. 81, in the summer of 1949. It was written to celebrate the forestation of the Russian steppes following the end of World War II...
, "was the closest Shostakhovich came to overt praise for Stalin." One additional piece of music used in The Fall of Berlin was Felix Mendelssohn
Felix Mendelssohn
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Barthóldy , use the form 'Mendelssohn' and not 'Mendelssohn Bartholdy'. The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians gives ' Felix Mendelssohn' as the entry, with 'Mendelssohn' used in the body text...
's Wedding March
Wedding March (Mendelssohn)
Felix Mendelssohn's "Wedding March" in C major, written in 1842, is one of the best known of the pieces from his suite of incidental music to Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night's Dream...
, heard during the scene in which Hitler marries Eva Braun; the march was banned in Nazi Germany. According to Riley, it is unclear whether Chiaureli intended to mock the Nazis by portraying them as unable to recognize an item they have forbidden, or he has simply been ignorant of the ban.
Soundtrack for Part I
1. Main Title Part 1 (2:44)
2. Beautiful Day (2:14) [accompanied by a children's chorus singing Beautiful Day; lyrics by Yevgeniy Dolmatovsky
Yevgeniy Dolmatovsky
Yevgeniy Aronovich Dolmatovsky was a Soviet poet and a Russian popular song lyricist. He was born and died in Moscow.-Examples of his songs:* Ballad of the Siberian Land - 1947* Yearning for the Motherland - 1948* Song of the Forests （music by Domitri Shostakovich, Opus 81） - 1949** The Pioneers...
.]
3. Alyosha By the River (1:39)
4. Stalins's Garden (2:04)
5. Alyosha and Natalia in the Fields / Attack (3:55)
6. Hitler's Reception (1:31)
7. In the Devastated Village (2:39)
8. Forward! (0:58)
Soundtrack for Part II
1. Main Title Part 2 (2:06)
2. The Roll Call / Attack at Night (3:02)
3. Storming the Seelov Heights (6:26)
4. The Flooding of the Underground Station (1:11)
5. The Final Battle for the Reichstag / Kostya's Death (4:06)
6. Yussuf's Death / The Red Banner (3:41)
7. Stalin at Berlin Airport (4:28)
8. Finale / Stalin's Speech / Alyosha and Natasha Reunited (2:43) [7. and 8. accompanied by a chorus singing Glory to Stalin; lyrics by Yevgeniy Dolmatovsky
Yevgeniy Dolmatovsky
Yevgeniy Aronovich Dolmatovsky was a Soviet poet and a Russian popular song lyricist. He was born and died in Moscow.-Examples of his songs:* Ballad of the Siberian Land - 1947* Yearning for the Motherland - 1948* Song of the Forests （music by Domitri Shostakovich, Opus 81） - 1949** The Pioneers...
.]
Contemporary response
The Fall of Berlin was released a month after Stalin's birthday, at 21 January 1950. In the USSR, it was watched by 38.4 million viewers, becoming the third most popular Soviet movie of 1950. Director Mikheil Chiaureli, writer Piotr Pavlenko, cinematographer Leonid Kosmatov, composer Dmitry Shostakovich and actors Mikheil GelovaniMikheil Gelovani
Mikheil Gelovani was a Georgian-Soviet actor, known for his many portrayals of Joseph Stalin in cinema.-Early life:Mikheil Gelovani was a descendant of the old Georgian princely house of Gelovani. He made his stage debut in a theater in Batumi during 1913. From 1919 to 1920, he attended the Drama...
, Boris Andreyev
Boris Andreyev
Boris Fyodorovich Andreyev was a Soviet actor. He appeared in 51 films between 1939 and 1982.-Biography:Boris Andreyev was born 9 February 1915 in Saratov, Russian Empire to a family of workers. His childhood and youth years were spent in Atkarsk, Saratov Governorate...
and Vladimir Kenigson were all awarded the Stalin Prize, 1st Class for their work. In Czechoslovakia, The film also won the Crystal Globe
Crystal Globe
Crystal Globe is the main award at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, first given in the city of Karlovy Vary of the Czech Republic, in 1948.In the international competition of films, IFFKV presents the following awards:...
in the 5th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival
Karlovy Vary International Film Festival
The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival is a film festival held annually in July in Karlovy Vary , Czech Republic. The Karlovy Vary Festival gained worldwide recognition over the past years and has become one of Europe's major film events....
.
On the day of the film's release, Literaturnaya Gazeta
Literaturnaya Gazeta
Literaturnaya Gazeta is a weekly cultural and political newspaper published in Russia and Soviet Union.- Overview :...
published a column by Aleksandr Stein in which he described the film as "wonderful... a truthful portrayal of the relations between the people and the leader... and the love of all people to Stalin." A day after, Vsevolod Pudovkin
Vsevolod Pudovkin
Vsevolod Illarionovich Pudovkin was a Russian and Soviet film director, screenwriter and actor who developed influential theories of montage...
wrote in Soviet Art that The Fall of Berlin was an "outstanding work of Soviet cinema" that presented "in profound depth and in vast scale... a bold, creative representation of the subject... a lively demonstration of the ever developing genre of Socialist Realism." The picture was enthusiastically promoted by the Soviet press. A series of articles in Pravda
Pravda
Pravda was a leading newspaper of the Soviet Union and an official organ of the Central Committee of the Communist Party between 1912 and 1991....
praised it as an authentic representation of history.
The public's reaction to the film was monitored by the government: in a memorandum to Mikhail Suslov
Mikhail Suslov
Mikhail Andreyevich Suslov was a Soviet statesman during the Cold War. He served as Second Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1965, and as unofficial Chief Ideologue of the Party until his death in 1982. Suslov was responsible for party democracy and the separation of power...
from 11 March 1950, two officials from the Bolshevik All-Union Communist Party
Communist Party of the Soviet Union
The Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the only legal, ruling political party in the Soviet Union and one of the largest communist organizations in the world...
's Propaganda Department reported that the newspaper Art and Life received numerous letters from viewers, who - although generally approving of the film - criticized various aspects of the plot; many of them cited Alexei Ivanov's boyish conduct as unworthy of a Stakhanovite. Lieutenant Colonel Yevgeni Chernonog, a war veteran, went drinking after watching The Fall of Berlin. While intoxicated, he commented that he never saw Stalin in Berlin. He was arrested and condemned to eight years in the Gulag
Gulag
The Gulag was the government agency that administered the main Soviet forced labor camp systems. While the camps housed a wide range of convicts, from petty criminals to political prisoners, large numbers were convicted by simplified procedures, such as NKVD troikas and other instruments of...
.
The East German political establishment excessively promoted the picture, as well; It was officially classified as a documentary, and all servicemen of the Barracked People's Police
Kasernierte Volkspolizei
Kasernierte Volkspolizei were the military units of the Volkspolizei in the German Democratic Republic...
were obliged to watch it. However, The Fall of Berlin was received with little enthusiasm by the populace. Years later, in an article he wrote for the Deutshce Filmkunst magazine on 30 October 1959, Sigfried Silbermann - director of the state film distributor Progress-Film Verleih - attributed this response to the effect that years of anti-Soviet propaganda had on the German people.
The Fall of Berlin was distributed in Western Europe shortly after its release, but most countries, including France, banned it. It reached the United Kingdom and the United States only at 1952 - during the Korea War. In the UK, the film was one of the few foreign-language pictures to be presented in the BBC's program Current Release; former war correspondent Matthew Halton was invited to comment on it. The American magazine Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
described it as "The Russian answer to the many American and British films about the war... having some contemporary significane, in the light of the tensions between the West and the Soviet Union." The New York Times' critic dubbed it as a "deafening blend of historical pageantry and wishful thinking... directed as if his (Chiaureli's) life depended upon it" and - in what author David Caute claimed was the worse condemnation that could be leveled at it in the day - that it had a "Hollywood-style plot". He also disapproved of the historical veracity of the Yalta Conference scene, while John Howard Lawson
John Howard Lawson
John Howard Lawson was an American writer. He was head of the Hollywood division of the Communist Party USA. He was also the cell's cultural manager, and answered directly to V.J. Jerome, the Party's New York-based cultural chief...
, recently released from prison, praised it as an authentic depiction of events. Officials in Artkino
Nicola Napoli
Nicola Napoli was the President of Artkino Pictures, Inc., the primary distributor of Soviet films in the United States, Canada, Central America and South America from 1940 to 1982...
, the picture's distributor, claimed that the film was viewed by 1.2 million people in the United States by June 1952.
De-Stalinization
Stalin's death at March 1953 signaled a sharp turn in the politics of the Eastern Bloc. After Beria was arrested and executed, Chiaureli was instructed by the new rulers to leave Moscow. The Fall of Berlin was withdrawn from circulation. A directive of the Soviet Film Export Bureau to halt its screening reached East Germany at July. During the summer of 1953, the scene featuring Alexei Ivanov dining with Stalin and the other Soviet leaders in Moscow was edited out from all available copies; author Richard Taylor attributed this to the appearance Beria's character had there. In the post-1953 version, Ivanov is introduced to Stalin, and is then shown strolling with Natasha in the wheat field.On February 1956, Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev led the Soviet Union during part of the Cold War. He served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, and as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, or Premier, from 1958 to 1964...
delivered a speech condemning Stalin's cult of personality in front of the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. In the midst of it, he told the audience: "Let us recall the film, The Fall of Berlin. Here only Stalin acts. He issues orders in a hall in which there are many empty chairs. Only one man approaches him to report something to him - it is Poskrebyshev
Alexander Poskrebyshev
Alexander Nikolaevich Poskrebyshev was a Soviet Major-General. USSR political, state and communist party functionary. Member of Soviet Communist Party since march 1917...
... And where is the military command? Where is the politburo? Where is the government? What are they doing, and with what are they engaged? There is nothing about them in the film. Stalin acts for everybody, he does not reckon with anyone. He asks no one for advice. Everything is shown to the people in this false light. Why? To surround Stalin with glory - contrary to the facts and contrary to historical truth." Following the speech, the film was banned altogether, and all of its copies were placed in the archives. However, it continued to be screened in the People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
, the leadership of which opposed Khrushchev's criticism of Stalin.
Critical analysis
Historian Nikolas Hüllbusch viewed The Fall of Berlin as a representation of Stalin's strengthening political power. He compared it to the first fiction film that featured the premier, the 1937 Lenin in 1918Lenin in 1918
Lenin in 1918 is a 130-minute long Soviet revolution film released in 1939. It gives the background of the Russian Civil War after the October Revolution.The film was directed by Mikhail Romm with E. Aron and I. Simkov as co-directors...
, which depicted Stalin as Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Ilyich Lenin was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and communist politician who led the October Revolution of 1917. As leader of the Bolsheviks, he headed the Soviet state during its initial years , as it fought to establish control of Russia in the Russian Civil War and worked to create a...
's most devout disciple; and to The Vow, in which he is chosen as Lenin's heir and takes an oath to keep his legacy. In The Fall of Berlin, Lenin has no impact on the plot. Instead of being the state founder's successor, Stalin's legitimacy was now based on his leadership of the USSR during the war.
Denise Youngblood wrote that the film, although not the first to portray Stalin as "war hero in chief" - that was already done in pictures like The Battle of Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad (1949 movie)
The Battle of Stalingrad is a 1949 two-part Soviet epic film about the Battle of Stalingrad, directed by Vladimir Petrov. The script was written by Nikolai Virta.-Film I:...
- elevated him to a new status: "it deified Stalin." Richard Taylor pointed out that the premier was the only decision maker in the plot, the only one responsible for the victory over Germany, and all other characters were either subservient or antagonistic. Stalin's stoic calm was stressed out by deliberately contrasting it to the hysterical rage of Hitler, or to the slow wit of Georgy Zhukov
Georgy Zhukov
Marshal of the Soviet Union Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov , was a Russian career officer in the Red Army who, in the course of World War II, played a pivotal role in leading the Red Army through much of Eastern Europe to liberate the Soviet Union and other nations from the Axis Powers' occupation...
, who was portrayed in accordance with his political status at the late 1940s, after he was shunned by Stalin: Zhukov was not even among the generals who received Stalin in Berlin. Beside this, most characters - from Natasha to Gerd von Rundstedt
Gerd von Rundstedt
Karl Rudolf Gerd von Rundstedt was a Generalfeldmarschall of the German Army during World War II. He held some of the highest field commands in all phases of the war....
- praise him as a great leader. Author Katerina Clark discerned that Stalin, beside his function as a great captain, was made the enabler of romantic relationship: before meeting him, Alexei was incapable of expressing his love to Natasha. Slavoj Žižek
Slavoj Žižek
Slavoj Žižek is a Slovenian philosopher, critical theorist working in the traditions of Hegelianism, Marxism and Lacanian psychoanalysis. He has made contributions to political theory, film theory, and theoretical psychoanalysis....
commented that Stalin played the part of the "magician and the matchmaker who wisely leads the couple to reunion."
Alexei's character was not intended to be perceived as an individual,It is interesting to note that Alexei Ivanov served as the third man in the group that carried the Victory Banner
Victory Banner
The Soviet Banner of Victory is the banner raised by the Red Army soldiers on the Reichstag building in Berlin, on April 30, 1945. It was raised by three Soviet soldiers: Alexei Berest, Mikhail Yegorov, and Meliton Kantaria, from Ukraine, Russia, and Georgia respectively.The Victory Banner, made...
, alongside two historical figures: Mikhail Yegorov and Meliton Kantaria
Meliton Kantaria
Meliton Varlamovich Kantaria or Kantariya , Hero of the Soviet Union , was a Georgian sergeant of the Soviet Army credited to have together with M. A...
. The other two were officially recognized and were awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union
Hero of the Soviet Union
The title Hero of the Soviet Union was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded personally or collectively for heroic feats in service to the Soviet state and society.-Overview:...
. There was another person with the two in the Reichstag, though: Alexei Berest
Alexei Berest
Oleksi Prokopovich Berest was a Soviet political officer and one of the three Red Army soldiers who hoisted the Victory Banner.-Early life:Born to an impoverished...
, a junior political officer. His part in the operation was silenced until years after Stalin's death. but rather, a symbol to the entire Soviet people: he was depicted as an archetypal worker; his date of birth is given as 25 October 1917 by the Julian Calendar
Julian calendar
The Julian calendar began in 45 BC as a reform of the Roman calendar by Julius Caesar. It was chosen after consultation with the astronomer Sosigenes of Alexandria and was probably designed to approximate the tropical year .The Julian calendar has a regular year of 365 days divided into 12 months...
, the day of the October Revolution
October Revolution
The October Revolution , also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution , Red October, the October Uprising or the Bolshevik Revolution, was a political revolution and a part of the Russian Revolution of 1917...
.
The movie also made many references to the political situation in Europe. Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
, which was a neutral country during the war but a rival of the Soviet Union in the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
, was portrayed as if it was an Axis state; the Turkish ambassador even greeted Hitler in the name of İsmet İnönü
Ismet Inönü
Mustafa İsmet İnönü was a Turkish Army General, Prime Minister and the second President of Turkey. In 1938, the Republican People's Party gave him the title of "Milli Şef" .-Family and early life:...
. The Nazi sympathies of Vatican ambassador Cesare Orsenigo
Cesare Orsenigo
Cesare Vincenzo Orsenigo was Apostolic Nuncio to Germany from 1930 to 1945, during the rise of Nazi Germany and World War II...
were emphasized as well. Churchill, seen as an enemy after his 1946 Fulton Speech, was portrayed in a highly negative fashion.
The film is regarded by many critics as the epitome of Stalin's cult of personality in cinema: Denise Youngblood wrote that "it was impossible to go further" in the "veneration" of him; Philip Boobbyer claimed that the cult reached "extraordinary proportions" with its release; Lars Karl opined that it "stood above any other part of the cult"; Slavoj Žižek regarded it as the "supreme case of the Stalinist epic" Nikolas Hüllbusch commented that it was the "zenith" of the representation of Stalin's screen "alter-ego"; and Richard Taylor believed that it was "the apotheosis of Stalin's cult of Stalin".
Restoration
In 1991, after the dissolution of the Soviet Union The Fall of Berlin had its first public screening in thirty-five years, during the 48th Venice International Film Festival48th Venice International Film Festival
The 48th Venice International Film Festival was held on September 3 - September 14, 1991.-Jury:*Gian Luigi Rondi head of jury*Silvia D'Amico Bendico*James Belushi*John Boorman*Michel Ciment*Moritz de Hadeln*Naum Kleiman*Oja Kodar*Pilar Miró-Awards:...
. On 2003, the film was remastered by a company from Toulouse
Toulouse
Toulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...
, in a relatively poor quality. At 2007, it was re-released by the American group International Historical Films. No available version contains the Beria scene, though several old uncensured copies of the film appear to exist.
External links
- Part I and Part II of The Fall of Berlin, on Mosfilm's Youtube channel.
- The Fall of Berlin for direct free viewing on the Mosfilm studio's official site.
- The Fall of Berlin:Part 1 and The Fall of Berlin:Part 2 on the IMDb.
- The Fall of Berlin on kino-teatr.ru.
- The Fall of Berlin on Mubi.
- The Fall of Berlin on the Princeton UniversityPrinceton UniversityPrinceton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
Department of Slavistics' site. - A review of The Fall of Berlin by Michael Barrett.
- An essay about The Fall of Berlin on akado.ru.
- The Fall of Berlin on ostfilm.de.