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
