Leningrad (2009)

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

To say this movie has no idea what it's doing is an understatement. This film is baffling. I understand it's not a Hollywood movie. I understand it's not bound by those norms. But by god. This movie jumps around more than my most unstable relationship. At no point did I realize who the main characters were, what anyone's goals were, who we were supposed to be rooting for and why this movie was so shoddy! I mean, start at bad audio dubbing, finish with the most random cuts happening every two seconds! I'm not joking this movie gets laughable. 1.5 million people died. How do you make that funny. I'll tell you how, you have: -obvious stage lights -horrific acting and accents -no sort of consideration or placement of scenes -bad dubbing -no build up -no plot or theme focus -ridiculous scenes, such as one where what we think (we don't know) is the main character walking after someone in despair, and they literally just walk into a mound of ice and pretend to trip... Oh and the siege of Leningrad, yeah that's about 30 people who slowly run towards each other.And, the only reason we know this famine is getting worse is because we see the town's announcer every few minutes and every time we see him he's coughing a little more and he's wearing an extra item of clothing!OK, so maybe it did get the costumes and the sets right, sure, but that's the thing! Most people will just give this movie a pass because its set in World War Two! It's just a bit insulting that some Russian filmmakers will go and try their hand at history and a Hollywood war movie now they've got a budget and just fail so badly filmmaking-wise!Please, if you watch this don't expect it to be some interesting foreign period piece.

Mira Sorvino plays a Russian born journalist from Britain who gets trapped in the besieged city of Leningrad during WWII. I recently completed a book called Armageddon by Max Hastings about the end of the war in Europe. Even though I had read quite a lot about WWII in Europe I was still shocked by the savagery inflicted on the people in the path of the German attack (Barbarossa) and then the return of the Russians as they pushed them back to Germany. The war on the Western front (France and Belgium) was fought almost as a gentleman's war when compared to the fighting on the Eastern front. (A generalization, I know) The siege of Leningrad was typical of the war on the Eastern front. If you want to read about savagery read Chapter 10 on East Prussia in Armageddon - or read Harrison Salisbury's the 900 Days, which deals exclusively with Leningrad.God help us if any of us ever had to endure what the people in Eastern Europe suffered during WWII. Almost 3 million Russians were directly affected by the siege of Leningrad - by dying or being evacuated from their home. The movie does an excellent job of depicting for us what it must have been like. We observe: the politics and propaganda of war when the Russians first let the journalists into Leningrad - not showing them the bread lines, etc.; a young man's delight (Yura) at receiving a bar of chocolate; the trading of a 8 carat diamond ring for a small tin of black marker meat; a coo - coo clock working in the midst of a devastated city; selling top soil for people to eat because they believed that some sugar had been melted into it; children speaking longingly about leaving the oven door open so they could go to sleep for good; people butchering a horse while still alive for its meat; and human cannibalism. This film shows how desperate people become when they are starving. My Mother lived thru the Blitz in Plymouth, England during WWII. She always used to laugh when she heard Americans complain about rationing in the U.S. during the war. Watch Attack on Leningrad and maybe we will realize how fortunate we are to live in a land which has never suffered the privations of total war as Europe did during WWII. This is a movie which I imagine few people will see - (there were only 20 reviews in IMDb.) But it is one which people need to see - if only so they can appreciate what others went thru and to be thankful for all we have in this country. I hope you watch it, even though it is tough to watch. Best regards DonB

Where do I start for the review of Attack On Leningrad! Firstly, as the title identifies, the former Soviet city of Leningrad is the focus, the attack is the German air and land forces during their summer offensive in 1941. For reason of ideology, The German leader, Hitler, wanted to raise this city to the ground. Opposing this attack, the Soviets wanted to prevent the city that renders the name of the Russian revolutionary leader falling into German hands and contingent destruction. During this attack and eventual besiege, the inhabitants of Leningrad suffered 900 days of the most harrowing experiences any group of people suffered during those already horrifying years of violence and brutality. Uniquely, the directors injects a story involving foreign, British, news correspondences reporting from inside this city befitting hell, a young Soviet female police officer, a young family and various army officers, both soviet and German, members of the NKVD and inhabitants of Leningrad. Also, half way through the film their is a tense plot twist.On paper this film appears a nerves strain of cinematic representation. If the director's ambitious vision had matched this cinematic ability, it could have been an epic film worthy of a higher rating. Instead, Attack on Leningrad is tedious and choppy. It jumps from one plot point to another without returning to resolve the storyline. About half way through, we discover that news correspondent Kate was raised in England yet born in Russia, and her father was a White Russian General during the revolution. This is not a good thing for Kate to be in the midst of the desperate Red Russians and their murderous regime now fighting to save their Motherland. Yet, this arousing plot twist is unsuspectingly left unevaluated, resulting in a incoherent film failing to fulfil an interesting and enumerating subject. Even though there are scenes well handled and diligently display the suffering of the cities population. Yet, overall there are too many emotionally flats and poorly constructed moments throughout the film. The result is a promising plot and creaky enterprise finally collapsing into a smoking heap.

If you've read 900 days you'll be treated to a very real view of what happened from 1941 to 1944 in Leningrad. I recommend reading the book first. Effects in this movie are intense. I'm surprised this movie didn't win many awards. Von Leeb and the mighty German army couldn't take Leningrad cause it was defended by 1.5 million starving Russians protecting family's and homes. This movie takes you into the lives of not just Kate the journalist, but several other characters who struggle to survive the day to day life of the siege. This is one of the best historical films ever made. Ranks with some of the best like "Longest day", "Bridge too far", Bridge over river Kai", to name a few. Enjoy