They were students at the Podolsk Military School of Infantry and Artillery, training and living the life of adolescence and its world, until the day came when the Nazi armies with their equipment and equipment stormed the Soviet lands with the intention of occupying Moscow, but the defense and artillery teams are far away, and the German occupier is approaching very quickly, so they recruited Podolsk students, They sent them to the front line before their training was over, not to fend them off but to block their progress, waiting for support to arrive. What was the fate of these 3,500 students, and how much blood was shed in that cold autumn of 1941?
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In the midst of this, the Russians have documented cinematically for many of the facts and events that convey some of these horrors, especially those that contain dramatic elements that incite the directors to embody them cinematically. The Russian was stung by his fire, and she ensured that the memory of the fallen would be preserved, so that their stories would be recorded in the hearts of every Russian.
Human shields to impede Hitler’s armies… Teenagers in the line of fire
The film “The Final Stand”, or in Russian (Подольские Курсанты), meaning “Podolsk Students” – which began showing at the end of 2020, documents an important real historical fact from the dark events of the Second World War, where the director “Vadim Shmilyov” repeated He painted its events again in a sad and painful context, especially since the victims who fell on the battlefield were teenagers who had not yet entered the youth stage, and they were students of the Podolsk Infantry and Artillery School.
At that time, the students were practicing their training under the leadership of Colonel “Stiberelsky” (actor Yevgeny Dyatlov) in a very ordinary way, on how to confront and eliminate the enemy’s targets, represented by the artillery, by creating an atmosphere that simulates the atmosphere of war and confrontation, while the artillery students through anti-artillery weapons Eliminate their intended goals, followed by higher orders to send these students to the front line, to impede the advance of the Nazi armies that crossed the borders, and continue their advance to Moscow.
The school director, the colonel, tried to refuse, telling them that the students were still young and had not yet completed their training, but he had to implement and send them into the line of fire, to impede the advance of “Hitler’s” armies for at least four days until support arrived, but the days of confrontation were long, and the lake of blood increased Its size after the river was colored by it, and piles of students’ bodies piled up as a result of raining barrel bombs from planes, infantry bullets and artillery, in the absence of professional fortifications.
More than this, hunger has affected them due to the delay in the supply lines, in addition to the cold and harsh nature of the region, and despite these desperate circumstances and data, the Russian military leadership continued its obstinacy, and used their tender bodies as a human shield by which they impeded the advance of the armed enemy in a good way, which is determined to reach Moscow under any condition.
The moment the students of the Podolsk Military Infantry and Artillery School left their school before the end of their training and their departure to the war front
The chaos of adolescence.. The misleading first scenes maneuver
The introduction to the movie “The Final Stand” was misleading, unlike war films that often evoke manifestations of blood, destruction, murder, displacement and devastation, in order to put the viewer in the work atmosphere, and at the same time prepare him for scenes that could affect his affection and reception, but the introduction to the movie “The Final Stand” Initially, images were transmitted that suggested a heated confrontation under bad weather conditions due to heavy rain, supported by the sounds of eagerness and orders from commanders, and presenting the immediate outcome in fear and speed, which is the war data that held the viewer’s breath and made him anticipate the confrontation and know its details.
Then this recipient discovers that they are just exercises in the Podolsk school, in the presence and supervision of the strict principal of the school with strong and harsh features. Grief, blood, burning, fragmentation, amputation of limbs, the accumulation of corpses, and other manifestations of war and military confrontation and its remnants and secretions.
The film then enters the atmosphere of the training school and the riots of students and their lives, by depicting the games and pranks of adolescents, the childish love relationships and jealousy between the students, such as what happened with the students “Sashka Lavrov” (actor Artyom Gabin) and “Dmitriy Shemyakin” (actor Igor Yudin). The two fell in love with the blonde nurse “Masha Grigorieva” (actress by Bov Konstantinova), so they competed to win her heart, and skirmishes and quarrels broke out between them that made their supervisor imprison them as a punishment, awaiting their dismissal from school completely, in addition to the relationship of the doctor mother with her son, the student who is being trained. In the same school, and the officer’s relationship with his wife and son, as well as other relationships shown by the film, which paved the way for her in that school.
Actress Buff Konstantinova as the blonde nurse Masha Grigorieva
A human dress in the heart of military life.. the foundation of the film
Director Vadim Shmilyov focused the lens of the camera on human relations, their good and evil, their rejection and acceptance. He showed them according to the context of ordinary life data that can occur in every place and environment, especially with the presence of differences and the principle of acceptance and rejection between these personalities, which is the smart way that the director adopted to implicate them The viewer emotionally, and increases the index of vulnerability and understanding of the purposes and dimensions of the film, and this came during the good establishment of the film by presenting the characters and showing them in human clothing, away from military strictness, although they were in its heart.
All of these facts settle under the main idea that stems from an important historical incident that is still firmly established in the consciousness of every Russian soldier and citizen despite the passage of 80 full years since its occurrence. .
The Colonel gave the students an order to leave school with their childhood, wear the clothes of soldier and manhood and go to the war field in defense of their country, which has become in need of them, even before the end of their training period, and at the same time this point was the decisive turn in the film, after they move from a quiet space and peaceful to a hostile and strict space, so that the moment of farewell from the school is one of the important scenes that was established with rare cleverness.