Underplayed Gems

The Battle of Russia (1943)

The Battle of Russia poster
Original title
Why We Fight: The Battle of Russia
Directed by
Anatole Litvak, Frank Capra
Genre
documentary film, propaganda film
Country
United States
Runtime
1h 23m
Rated
12
Rating
6.9 of 10 from 35 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
The 3D catalogue: film cases on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalogue in 3D

The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

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How it feels

This documentary shows Russia's fight against invading forces during World War Two. It uses archival footage and narration to explain the country's military history and its role in the war.

patriotichistoricalearnestmilitantorchestralsombereducationalepisodic

What happens

The Battle of Russia (1943) is the fifth film of Frank Capra's Why We Fight documentary series. The longest film of the series, it has two parts. It was made in collaboration with Russian-born Anatole Litvak as primary director under Capra's supervision. Litvak gave the film its "shape and orientation," and the film had seven writers with voice narration by Walter Huston. The score was done by the Russian-born Hollywood composer Dimitri Tiomkin and drew heavily on Tchaikovsky along with traditional Russian folk songs and ballads. The film historian Christopher Meir noted that the film's popularity "extended beyond the military audience for it was initially intended, and was the second in the series to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

More like this

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