"Gentlemen, I am twenty-five years old (girl). At the front, I have managed to destroy three hundred and nine (309) invaders. Don't you gentlemen think, you've been hiding behind me for too long?!"
- Lieutenant Lyudmila Mikhailovna Pavlichenko -
(from a speech in Chicago in 1942 trying to rally the US support for the war.)
This movie (based on a true story) was about the most successful female sniper in history, Lyudmila Mikhailovna Pavlichenko.
She was also regarded as one of the top military snipers of all time.
The movie took place with the siege of Sevastopol as the backdrop of the story.
Hence the title, "The Battle for Sevastopol".
Sevastopol was one of the war theatre on the Eastern Front of WWII. Sevastopol in Crimea has strategic and tactical advantage to whichever side that controls it.
According to wiki the "...Soviet naval base at Sevastopol was one of the strongest fortifications in the world. ... Its importance as a potential naval and air base would enable the Axis (Germany and its allies) to conduct far-ranging sea and air operations against Soviet targets into and over the Caucasus ports and mountains..."
Basically, Sevastopol is a very strategic place to base your war operation in order to conquer the Soviet Union, at the time one of the Allies (the good guy of WWII).
From Sevastopol, the Germans can command its forces into Soviet territories.
The Siege of Sevastopol lasted for about eight months, (30 October 1941 – 4 July 1942), before it fell to the German forces.
From the frontline defending Odessa (in Ukraine, which was formerly part of the Soviet) and later Sevastopol, Lyudmila Pavlichenko, defended her comrades in arms with her sharpshooting skills. The movie intermingled between her exploit as a sharpshooter and the many romantic interests that tried to woo her in between fighting.
In the end, war claimed them from her and the only thing she can do is survive.
Her record as a sniper was 309 confirmed kills. This is for a period of about a year which makes her average about one kill per day. She is known as "Lady Death". This website puts her as the 8th most successful sniper of all time in the history of modern warfare.
As comparison, the most successful sniper on record, Simo Hayha, nicknamed the "White Death" (a Finnish soldier in the Winter War), has a confirmed kills of 505, with an average of over 5 kills per day).
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| Lyudmila Mikhailovna Pavlichenko b. 12th July 1916 - d. 10th Oct 1974 |
The song ("Kukushka" or "Cuckoo" in English), the trailer and Polina Gagarina's voice, convey both the horror of the war and the courage of the young woman that fought in that war.
It conveys her growth from a young innocent girl to romantic interest, loves lost, despair and vengeance, and ultimately her determination to win and survive the war.
I generally do not like war movie but this one catches my attention and the promo trailer with the OST certainly did its magic.
This is an excellent Russian production and to all those who like war movie, this is certainly a must see.
(Youtube link here for the movie.)
As an aside, the biggest human loss in WWII were from the Soviet.
Soviet death (military and citizens) were about 9 times more than the Allies combined and resulted in the lost of about 13% to 15% of the Soviet population at that time (source here, here and here).
If the Soviet did not join WWII, Nazi Germany could have won the war (some historians say "would").
Western media propaganda, has been propagating the propaganda that if we did not have the Western Allies, we would not have freedom today.
Bull!
If we did not have the Soviet on our side, we would not have freedom today.
Hitler's mistake was thinking he could win the war on two fronts, the western front, towards France and the UK, and the Eastern front, trying to conquer the Soviet Union at the same time.
With Germany and the Axis forces divided on these two fronts, the Soviet rallied her citizens.
While they lost Sevastopol in the beginning, they ultimately contributed to the victory of the Allies significantly.
I have no love for communism as the Soviet Union were at the time, but historical fact are historical fact, and we have to tell the truth.
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Kukushka (Cuckoo) Lyrics (English translation)
How many songs are not written yet?
Tell me, Cuckoo, sing it to me
Where should I live, in the city or outside?
Lay like a rock or burn like a star?
Like a star
My sun, come on, look at me
My palm turned into a fist
And if there's gunpowder, give me fire
Like this!
Who's going to follow my lonely track
The strong and the brave laid down their lives
On the battlefield, in fight
Few of them remained in our memory
Sober-minded, with the steady hand, in arms
In arms
My sun, come on, look at me
My palm turned into a fist
And if there's gunpowder, give me fire
Like this!
Where are you now, my liberty?
Who are you meeting sweet sunrise with
Answer me!
It's good to live with you and hard without you
The head on patient shoulders
To put under the whip, under the whip
You, my sun, come on, look at me
My palm turned into a fist
And if there's gunpowder, give me fire
Like this! (x2)
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