Blokada (Blockade) (2006) - Sergey Loznitsa

The
longest siege during World War II was that of Leningrad, which lasted
for 900 days, from September 1941 to January 1944, when Hitler
attempted to starve the Soviet city of three million people into
submission. Estimates of the number of residents who died from
starvation, disease or cold range from 641,000 to 800,000.

Comprised
solely of rarely-seen footage found in Soviet film archives by director
Sergei Losnitsa, BLOCKADE vividly re-creates those momentous events,
featuring a meticulously reconstructed, state-of-the-art soundtrack
added to the original black-and-white silent footage. The result gives
viewers the eerie impression of being not just an observer but
virtually a participant in the events as they unfold on the streets of
Leningrad.

BLOCKADE is organized episodically, beginning with
defensive measures, including artillery emplacements, anti-tank
fortifications, trenches, and observation balloons; the devastating
effect of artillery shelling and aerial bombing of the city; the
marching of captured German soldiers through the streets, surrounded by
taunting Soviet crowds; the corpses lying on street corners or dragged
on sleds to mortuaries for eventual burial in mass graves; citizens
desperately foraging for food, water and firewood; the joyous
celebrations upon the breaking of the siege and the disturbing
aftermath.

BLOCKADE is a dramatically compelling demonstration
of the power of archival footage, here synergized by an evocative
soundtrack, to bring history to life.

"Recommended! Very well done... A valuable contribution to those studying the impact of war." — Educational Media Reviews Online

"Grand
Prize for the strength and purity of its vision, its beauty and its
startling, yet tragic insight into the aftermath of war." —Jury of the
2006 Krakow Film Festival

"Absorbing... poignant viewing! Shots
of burning and later devastated buildings are backed by a soundtrack of
sirens and raging flames. Sounds of soft weeping are matched to imagery
of mass graves, which still have power to shock. Later on, dead,
shrouded bodies are seen littering the streets, but most of the
pedestrians, by this point so inured to the sight, simply walk past."
—Variety

“Remarkable! Loznitsa's haunting film presents many
stark images of the conflict. The sight of historic St. Petersburg,
already impoverished before the war began, and now on the brink of
utter desolation, is a disturbing one, as inhabitants struggle with the
double-pronged menace of the bitter winter and warfare itself.”—Krakow
Life


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