Here’s A New WW2 Movie You’ve Probably Never Heard Of

Gentlemen, we may be surrounded by bullshit flying cape movies, but every now and again we get relief with some WW2 goodness.

Panfilov’s 28 is a movie about a single routed division’s stand against the German army in the suburbs of Moscow in 1941.  There was considerable debate within the German high command in the Autumn of 1941 about whether or not to advance straight to Moscow or to consolidate the movement they had already made.  This delay meant the battle of Moscow took place in the dead of winter, on the outskirts of the city.

In the end, capturing the city would not have won the war even if they had arrived earlier. But Hitler’s delaying action probably bought him two years at least, against the will of his generals who were in fact wrong.

The movie has caused some controversy as Russian historians assert that the depicted event was a Soviet propaganda fabrication.  But culture Minister Vladimir Medinsky has launched a scathing attack on doubters.

“They are trying to knock away the foundations of our faith in things that are absolutely set in stone and holy,” Medinsky said on television.

“Even if this story was invented from start to finish… this is a holy legend, which is simply untouchable. And people who do this are the scum of the earth,” he told journalists.

Real or fake, I want to see it!  Nice atmospheric cinematography there.  The only upcoming release date I can see (it’s already out in Russia) is an Estonian release for December 12th.