by Joseph Davis, Contributing Writer
One thing people who know me best can tell you is that I have an unyielding interest in history. Something about the stories of the past draw me in, as I look to see what can be learned for the future. I also tend to find myself drawn to films depicting war, with some of my all time favorite films including Saving Private Ryan, 1917, or All Quiet on the Western Front. These two factors are what drew me into this month’s entry for Out of Market in 2015’s Battle for Sevastopol, which I rented through Amazon Prime but is streaming through Tubi. It is a Russian-Ukrainian film set during World War II and focuses on one Lyudmila Pavlichenko, the most successful female sniper in history. With this June being the 80th anniversary of the launch of Operation Barbarossa, or the German invasion of the Soviet Union, and while the actual Siege of Sevastopol would begin later in the year, it’s worth exploring the early months of the Eastern Front of the Second World War and its depiction in film.
For the start of this film, I was thrown off for a brief moment when characters spoke in English, as Eleanor Roosevelt visits the Soviet Union in 1957 (I had to double check IMDb to ensure that this film actually was not widely released in the United States). During her time there, she visits our central character whom she forms a bond with during the film, something that seems shocking for the early years of the Cold War, as US-USSR relations were tense on a good day once the iron curtain drew to a close. However, in a way it feels like a good bridge for any non-Russian audience members to the story of Lyudmila and to the soldiers who fought and died on the eastern front. While some of the portions of the film that depict the characters speaking English feels off, especially at times where it feels clear that some of the characters are being dubbed over, I do believe it’s worth having these moments in the film as it shows the relationship that she had with the former First Lady, and how each of them shaped both their own lives and their relationship between the two of them.
When it comes to depicting Lyudmila’s time behind her rifle, from discovering her talent to her final shots of the war, while it does feel as if the director is trying to do a bit much at times story-wise, it is also where this movie tends to come into its own. From the early battles outside Odessa to the actual Siege of Sevastopol, this movie does show the chaos and confusion of war relatively well, and it does a strong job of showing Lyudmila’s abilities behind a rifle and her value in regards to propaganda against the Germans as “Lady Death.” It also does a solid job regarding the use of CGI to depict scenes of battle, especially in the reel of air combat as we briefly get to see the German Luftwaffe and the Messerschmitt Bf 109 going up against the Soviet Air Force and what appears to be the Polikarpov I-16 (is it clear that I’ve read more about World War II than I should have?). Just to see some depiction of the early days of the eastern front in film is something I find fascinating and worth diving into to learn more about.
The final thing I want to discuss is the film’s depiction of Lyudmila’s relationships during the film. While in some ways the romantic aspect of the character feels at times contrived, and at times bogs the movie down, it’s interesting to see how she interacts with her friends, including a nurse in the Red Army, and her fellow soldiers during the war. Those who look at her in this film less as a tool, like the officers in the army and her handler during her visit to the states, and more as a person, much like Eleanor Roosevelt does in various points during the film, is where the character really feels to shine. It shows her struggles both in war in trying to do her part to beat back the Axis powers and as a woman in war where western reporters question her appearance in uniform. You can tell that the director very much knew that the character whose story he was trying to tell was deeply complex in a complex time, and had several threads involved that needed to be addressed. Not only that, but the film is not as much meant to hint Lyudmila but those who fought and died during the siege of Sevastopol.
Now, I will admit that films depicting war are not everyone’s forte. While films depicting warfare have always fascinated me, I know people who truly don’t understand why I have a deep interest in these movies. However, I also believe that any film that encourages you to look back at history and those who helped shape it, such as Lyudmila Pavlichenko, is worth watching to begin with. While Battle for Sevastopol does stumble at times, I would argue just for bringing light to someone like Lyudmila, who played a unique and instrumental part in the Second World War, is worth taking the time to view. Also, you have a banger of a song by Woody Guthrie and his machine that kills fascists, so what more would you need for me to tell you so you’ll take a chance?
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