Historical drama. The film adaptation of the novel of the same name by the Soviet novelist Yevgeny Vorobyov, in turn based on the life and service of the Soviet intelligence officer, Hero of the Soviet Union and Knight of the Order of Lenin, Colonel Lev Efimovich Manevich. And since I have not read the original book source, I will evaluate the picture as an independent work (and I will also get a little smarter about the real facts of Colonel Manevich's biography). I had never heard of this man, as well as this picture, until I was prompted by the name of people well versed in Soviet cinema, and also my activity as a film reviewer makes me broaden my horizons. And the recommendation turned out to be in the subject. I liked the picture in the end, and here's my brief opinion - A good forgotten film about a forgotten hero. I will note right away that there was not a single minus in the picture, although there are some details that should be discussed in a separate paragraph, but for now I will focus your attention on the advantages of this biographical and historical drama.
So, here they are:
1. Scenario - May 9, 1945. The whole world celebrates the victorious end of the Great Patriotic War. Fascist Germany has been defeated, and there are only a few months left until the end of the Second World War. And while everyone is rejoicing, a former prisoner of a Fascist concentration camp, released from captivity just four days ago, dies in Upper Austria on this day. He was buried there, in Austria. This prisoner was a certain Austrian merchant Konrad Kertler, arrested in the thirties in fascist Italy - he is also a resident of Soviet intelligence Lev Efimovich Manevich, who extracted important information about military secrets of Italy, Germany and Spain for our Motherland. And even while already in prison, he continued his activities. This is what the picture is dedicated to. She talks about the everyday life of Lev Efimovich. About his talent for persuasion, about his agents whom he was able to recruit, about the situation before and during World War II. Of course, the two-and-a-half-hour picture did not contain all the twists and turns of this man's fate, but it showed his character, his firmness, his courage and fortitude, his iron character and his selfless devotion to the Motherland, which he had served since 1918 (and earlier, just this year he joined the RKPB) and up to until his death on May 9, 1945.
2. The story of the forgotten hero - as already mentioned, I did not know about Lev Efimovich before viewing the picture, but his activities contributed to our victory (along with other scouts, some of which are still classified). Manevich was declassified in 1965 (giving the award "Hero of the Soviet Union"), it's a pity that his name is not as well known as Richard Sorge (and I'm not talking about his "famous telegram", which is not in the archives). Although I partly understand that the fewer people know about the scout, the better for the Motherland (we still don't know who "Werther" is, who transmitted data about Operation Citadel to Moscow). I would like to go to the city of Linz, to the memorial cemetery of St. Martin-Sud, and put a red carnation on the grave of Lev Efimovich and honor the memory of the hero of the Soviet Union.
3. Costumes, scenery - the action of the picture takes place in Italy, Germany, Spain and Austria, while the creators managed (with a clearly meager budget) to create a feeling of complete immersion in that environment for the viewer. Italy is very different from Germany (although both countries are brutal fascist totalitarian dictatorships), Spain with its flavor and local fascism of General Franco. The costumes correspond to the era, as well as the material culture in the frame (furniture, household items, and so on).
4. Atmosphere - at the same time, the creators were able to immerse us in the atmosphere of that time. It was a crossroads, a dashing time, a time of hope and a time of despair. But it is in times like these that heroes perform great deeds that allow them to change the impending threat (or soften the blow as much as possible). Dialogues, switching to different languages, accents - everything plays on the atmosphere and makes the viewer literally feel for himself what a dangerous and deadly environment Lev Efimovich worked in, and how his agents, risking everything, helped him to extract and deliver information to the Center.
A little about the main characters:
1. Konrad Kertler (Lev Manevich) performed by Oleg Strizhenov is, according to legend, an Austrian businessman who establishes his business in fascist Italy, making useful acquaintances among the big bourgeoisie and aristocracy not only in Italy, but also in Germany and Spain, but in fact is a Soviet intelligence officer extracting military secrets of the above countries. Always calm, polite, smart, calculating, very attentive. Even in prison, being sentenced to a long term of imprisonment, he was able to extract and transmit valuable information to Moscow. Oleg Alexandrovich Strizhenov was great in this role, and he managed to reincarnate (this is not Colonel Danilov from "Proceed to Liquidation"). Bravo!
2. Giannina, played by Maria Sagaidak, is Conrad's young secretary, who praises her boss in every possible way and tries to please him. Probably secretly in love with him. She does not fully believe that her boss turned out to be an enemy spy of a foreign power (during the investigation, Manevich did not confess and did not give out any of his agents). Maria Ivanovna was convincing in this role. Good girl!
3. Jan Berzin, played by Voldemar Zandberg, is the head of Manevich from the intelligence directorate of the Red Army, who is always confident in his subordinate and whom he protects in every possible way from the attacks of some colleagues. The "grated roll" itself. He and Manevich were even in Spain, albeit on different sides of the front. Voldemar Yanovich showed a strict but fair boss who is responsible for his people with his head (the real Berzin answered with his head, in 1938 for the failure in Copenhagen).
And I will also mention Leonid Kanevsky, who was incomparable in the role of Maurizio.
Now about some details. In the picture, the year of Manevich's arrest was treated at ease (in the picture it is 1936, whereas in reality he was taken in 1932), so Manevich's Spanish line looks rather strange, because the Civil War began there in 1936, when Manevich was already arrested. The finale is of course shortened, because the last years of Manevich's life were fit in ten minutes, but a lot happened to him during the period from 1943 to 1945, for example, he contracted tuberculosis, from which he died on May 9, 1945, having lived to the Great Victory. Well, the picture urgently needs restoration (no, not in coloring, as I saw this painted something, I almost fell off my chair), because the film on which the picture was shot is of very lousy quality. Restore it, put it on digital platforms and familiarize the younger generation with this hero, so that they know what real patriotism is, and not a modern school drill with raising the flag.
It is a pity that at one time the picture did not find a response from the viewer, and sank into obscurity, from which it periodically comes out, although the creators did everything so that the viewer would not get bored when viewing, then dialogues, then chronicle footage, then the secrets of the scout's work.
My rating is 8 (because of the quality of the picture, the hand did not rise to put it higher) out of 10 and my recommendation for viewing!
