Stalingrad

In the spring of 1942, German troops advance deep into the Soviet Union on Hitler's orders. Inadequately clothed and without sufficient food, the Wehrmacht soldiers freeze and starve, largely abandoned by their leaders. The film follows a group of assault engineers, including Lance Corporal Fritz (Dominque Horwitz) and Sergeant “Rollo” (Jochen Nickel). After serving in the African campaign and taking leave in Italy, the Wehrmacht soldiers soon find themselves on a train bound for the Eastern Front in Russia. Lieutenant Hans von Witzland (Thomas Kretschmann) names the destination that would become a deadly frozen hell for around one million people in the freezing winter of 1942/1943: Stalingrad. Director Joseph Vilsmaier (“Herbstmilch,” “Rama Dama”) had a very personal connection to Stalingrad, as three of his brothers lost their lives in the Russian campaign. With a film budget of 20 million marks and a huge production team of 180 technicians, 100 stuntmen, 12,000 extras, more than 20 tanks, vast quantities of ammunition and explosives, Vilsmaier's third film is considered a mammoth production that brought the horrors of war to the screen. Filming took place mainly in Cervo, Italy, Prague, northern Bohemia, and the Finnish Arctic Circle—no filming took place in the city of Stalingrad itself, now called Volgograd. (Source: Wikipedia)