A lot of films have been shot about the Great Patriotic War, which show how much our country has won in a terrible battle with fascism. One of these films is the movie "Liberation", filmed by director Yuri Ozerov.
Epic "Liberation"
Work on the film "Liberation: The direction of the main blow" lasted for six years, four countries took part in the filming: the USSR, Italy, Poland and Germany. The script for the film was created by writers Yuri Bondarev and Oscar Kurganov. Most of the crew are people who went through the war: both the director, and the cameraman, and both screenwriters and editors. The epic "Liberation" consists of 5 films: "The Arc of Fire" (1968), "Breakthrough" (1969), "The direction of the main blow" (1970), "The Battle for Berlin" (1971), "The Last Assault" (1971).
"Exemption: Direction of the main blow"
"The direction of the main blow" is the third part of the epic. The events of the film begin on the third day of the November conference in Tehran, in which Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill take part. The main outcome of the meeting is the decision to open a second front by May 1944. In the spring of 1944, at Stalin’s headquarters, it was decided to launch an offensive operation, choosing for the offensive wooded and marshy places of Belarus. This decision was based on the fact that through Belarus the shortest route to Berlin. The operation, at the suggestion of the commander in chief, was called "Bagration". Command of the operation, which began on June 23, was entrusted to Marshal Zhukov and Generals Vatutin and Rokossovsky. The offensive begins on several fronts, and by August 29, 1944, Belarus was completely liberated from German troops. A group of German officers, realizing that the war is lost, is trying to remove Hitler, carrying a briefcase with a bomb into the meeting room. Their attempt ended in failure, the conspiracy was uncovered, and the conspirators were shot.
Actors in the film
The selection of actors for the roles in the film “Liberation: The direction of the main blow” (1971) proved to be difficult, because all the prototypes of the heroes were alive, it was important for them how they would look on the screen. The director was required not only to find an actor for the main role, but also to obtain consent from the prototype for this actor to play it in the epic. Nevertheless, in the film “Liberation: The direction of the main blow” (1971), the actors were selected excellently, and the roles were perfectly played. The mass and battle scenes were attended by the troops of the Belarusian military district, a group of Soviet troops in Germany, the Baltic Fleet and Polish troops.
Real historical characters in the movie
In the film "Liberation: The direction of the main blow" there are 28 real historical characters. Let's start with the main characters - from Stalin and Hitler.
The role of Joseph Vissarionovich went to the Georgian actor Bukhuti Zakariadze. Many critics were not satisfied with the choice of the director, since, in their opinion, there was no portrait resemblance to the leader, but Bukhuti played the role excellently, creating the image of a man under whose leadership one of the most bloody wars in history was won.
Ozerov had no doubt who to invite to the role of Hitler in the 1971 film "Liberation: The direction of the main blow" - an actor from Germany Fritz Diez. Fritz did not agree for a long time, as he was already tired of this role, which he played several times in theater and cinema. It took intervention at the level of state leaders to obtain the consent of the artist. Dietz believed that this role simply haunted him all his life. By the way, Fritz Ditz himself was an anti-fascist.
The famous clown and trainer Yuri Durov got the role of Churchill. This is not his first movie work, in 1968 he starred in the film "Parade-alle" in the role of a trainer. Durov played Churchill twice: in the epic "Liberation" and in the 1993 film "The Tragedy of the Century."
The role of Zhukov was played by the then popular actor Mikhail Ulyanov. Ulyanov initially refused the role flatly, and only after assuring the director that his candidacy was approved by the marshal himself, he decided to withdraw.
Stanislav Yaskevich, a popular actor in Poland, played the role of American President Roosevelt in the 1971 film “Liberation: The direction of the main blow”. The same role went to him in the 1977 film "Soldiers of Freedom."
Other actors and roles
Nikolai Olyalin is an actor in the film “Liberation: The direction of the main blow” (1971), who played the role of captain Tsvetaev. This was his first movie job. The role turned out to be so convincing that the front-line soldiers treated Olyalin as a comrade. He not only played the role, but lived it on the screen.
Many viewers remembered the role of Jacques, the French pilot from the Normandy-Niemen squadron, who died in the first air battle. In this role, Lev Prygunov, already known at that time in the films "Outpost of Ilyich" and "Going to a Thunderstorm", starred. The artist is still filming a movie.
For the role of the main conspirator, Colonel Stauffenberg, who led the operation "Valkyrie", the German actor Alfred Struve was invited by the director.
There are many more interesting acting works in the film: Larisa Golubkina as Zoe, Vladlen Davydov - Rokossovsky, Vasily Shukshin - Konev, Nikolai Rybnikov - Panov. It is impossible to tell about all.
Thanks to the high professionalism of the actors, the excellent script and the talented director and camera work, the saga "Liberation" has become one of the best films about the war, which have no equal in world cinema.