The Third Blow
Encyclopedia
The Third Blow is a Soviet
1948 film directed by Igor Savchenko
.
orders the Red Army
to liberate the Crimea from the German occupiers. The Wehrmacht
's local commanders beg Hitler to allow them to retreat from the vulnerable position, but he refuses. After a fierce battle, the Soviet forces destroy the German and Romanian units defending the peninsula and retake Sevastopol
.
, the Crimean Offensive of Spring 1944, which served as the setting for the story.
The Third Blow was the first of the 'Artistic Documentaries', a series of large-scale Soviet screen productions which were meant to present the official interpretation of the USSR's history, especially the history of the Second World War. As all the artistic documentaries concerned with the war, The Third Blow consisted mainly of battle scenes, strewn with staff meetings of the Red Army's generals and Stalin. In addition, there were short episodes portraying the common soldiers and ordinary people participating in the events.
The film, in compliance with Stalin's cult of personality
, presented the Soviet leader in a highly favorable manner, centering on his role as the supreme commander. Aleksei Dikiy, who performed his role, was reportedly Stalin's favorite for depicting himself.
French film critic André Bazin
described the film as Stalinistic propaganda, writing that in The Third Blow: "Stalin mediates alone for a long time and.... He alone decides what measures would be taken... Vasilevsky
is still there, but acts solely as a confidant, doubtless to save Stalin from appearing ridiculous by talking to himself."
In the Nikita Khrushchev
years, after the de-Stalinization
, many of the scenes involving Stalin were edited out of the film and it was re-released at 1965 under the title Southern Knot (Южный узел).
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
1948 film directed by Igor Savchenko
Igor Savchenko
Igor Andreyevich Savchenko was a writer and director of films, often cited as one of the great early Soviet filmmakers, alongside Sergei Eisenstein and Vsevolod Pudovkin and Aleksandr Dovzhenko....
.
Plot
On April 1944, Joseph StalinJoseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
orders the Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
to liberate the Crimea from the German occupiers. The Wehrmacht
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
's local commanders beg Hitler to allow them to retreat from the vulnerable position, but he refuses. After a fierce battle, the Soviet forces destroy the German and Romanian units defending the peninsula and retake Sevastopol
Sevastopol
Sevastopol is a city on rights of administrative division of Ukraine, located on the Black Sea coast of the Crimea peninsula. It has a population of 342,451 . Sevastopol is the second largest port in Ukraine, after the Port of Odessa....
.
Production
The film's title was derived from the third of Stalin's ten blowsStalin's ten blows
Stalin's ten blows is a term for ten successful strategic offensives conducted by the Red Army in 1944...
, the Crimean Offensive of Spring 1944, which served as the setting for the story.
The Third Blow was the first of the 'Artistic Documentaries', a series of large-scale Soviet screen productions which were meant to present the official interpretation of the USSR's history, especially the history of the Second World War. As all the artistic documentaries concerned with the war, The Third Blow consisted mainly of battle scenes, strewn with staff meetings of the Red Army's generals and Stalin. In addition, there were short episodes portraying the common soldiers and ordinary people participating in the events.
The film, in compliance with Stalin's cult of personality
Cult of personality
A cult of personality arises when an individual uses mass media, propaganda, or other methods, to create an idealized and heroic public image, often through unquestioning flattery and praise. Cults of personality are usually associated with dictatorships...
, presented the Soviet leader in a highly favorable manner, centering on his role as the supreme commander. Aleksei Dikiy, who performed his role, was reportedly Stalin's favorite for depicting himself.
Reception
The film won the 1948 Gottwaldov Workers' Film Festival Award and a 2nd degree Stalin Prize at 1949. Arkadi Perventsev received the Award for Best Writing in the 1948 Karlovy Vary Film Festival for his work on the script.French film critic André Bazin
André Bazin
André Bazin was a renowned and influential French film critic and film theorist.-Life:Bazin was born in Angers, France, in 1918...
described the film as Stalinistic propaganda, writing that in The Third Blow: "Stalin mediates alone for a long time and.... He alone decides what measures would be taken... Vasilevsky
Aleksandr Vasilevsky
Aleksandr Mikhaylovich Vasilevsky was a Russian career officer in the Red Army, promoted to Marshal of the Soviet Union in 1943. He was the Chief of the General Staff of the Soviet Armed Forces and Deputy Minister of Defense during World War II, as well as Minister of Defense from 1949 to 1953...
is still there, but acts solely as a confidant, doubtless to save Stalin from appearing ridiculous by talking to himself."
In the Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev led the Soviet Union during part of the Cold War. He served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, and as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, or Premier, from 1958 to 1964...
years, after the de-Stalinization
De-Stalinization
De-Stalinization refers to the process of eliminating the cult of personality, Stalinist political system and the Gulag labour-camp system created by Soviet leader Joseph Stalin. Stalin was succeeded by a collective leadership after his death in March 1953...
, many of the scenes involving Stalin were edited out of the film and it was re-released at 1965 under the title Southern Knot (Южный узел).
Selected cast
- Aleksei DikiyAleksei Dikiy-Ukraine:He was born Aleksei Denisovich Dikiy on February 24, 1889, inEkaterinoslav, Russian Empire, now Dnepropetrivsk, Ukraine. At youngage he moved to Kharkov, where his sister, named Maria Sukhodolska - Dikova, was a popular actress, and she helped...
as Joseph StalinJoseph StalinJoseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
. - Nikolay BogolyubovNikolay Bogolyubov (actor)Nikolay Ivanovich Bogolyubov was a Soviet actor and a People's Artist of the RSFSR . In 1933 he played in Boris Barnet's Okraina; in 1941, he was awarded the Stalin Prize.-Selected filmography:* Tommy...
as Kliment VoroshilovKliment VoroshilovKliment Yefremovich Voroshilov , popularly known as Klim Voroshilov was a Soviet military officer, politician, and statesman...
. - Ivan PereverzevIvan PereverzevIvan Pereverzev was a Soviet actor. He appeared in 47 films between 1940 and 1977.-Selected filmography:* It Happened in the Donbass * The Third Blow * Dream of a Cossack...
as General Yakov KreizerYakov Kreizer-Before the war:Kreizer's Jewish parents were granted permission to live outside the Jewish pale of settlement because his grandfather was a cantonist soldier in the Russian imperial army. Kreizer enlisted in the Red Army in 1921, volunteered to the school for infantry officers in Voronezh and...
. - Mark BernesMark BernesMark Naumovich Bernes was a Soviet actor and singer of Jewish ancestry , who performed some of the most poignant songs to come out of the World War II, including Tyomnaya noch and Zhuravli...
as Sailor Chmega. - Sergey MartinsonSergey MartinsonSergey Alexandrovich Martinson was a Russian eccentric comic actor, the master of pantomime, buffoonery and grotesque. He became People's Artist of the RSFSR in 1964....
as Adolf HitlerAdolf HitlerAdolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
. - Mikhail AstangovMikhail AstangovMikhail Fyodorovich Astangov , pseudonym of M.F. Ruzhnikov was a Soviet actor, and an acclaimed People's Artist of the USSR .-Selected filmography:* Minin and Pozharsky * Suvorov * The Murderers are Coming...
as General Erwin JaeneckeErwin JaeneckeErwin Jaenecke , was a German Colonel General. He served during World War II against Poland, France and the Soviet Union....
:.
External links
- The Third Blow on the IMDb.