User Reviews

A convincing and brutal drama about the war's ugly and scary face, which is as much poignant as it is riveting and engrossing from start to finish.

The doomed fortress of the border town of Brest was built a hundred years before the first onset of German deceitful invasion into the Soviet land at early dawn of June 22, 1941. It had been changing hands several times before, notably in 1918 when it was surrendered to the Germans under notorious Brest Peace Treaty. It was released thereafter to the Poles, then liberated by the Red Army, then transferred to Poland again. Under the Polish administration the fortress was first affected by German air raid in 1939 and significantly damaged under the massive onslaught of the German troops.

Before the end of 1939 the city of Brest (and its fortress) was finally incorporated into the Soviet Union. By the commencement of war, the Brest fortress was a home to a number of Soviet military units - infantry battalions, reconnaissance and artillery regiments, miscellaneous attached units and troops, all-in-all up to 8000 servicemen and several hundreds of their families, wives and children were stationed therein.

The film starts unfolding peacefully on the eve of the war - a regular day in the lives of ordinary people in a military compound - orchestra rehearsals, dancing, shopping, kisses, Saturday evening film screening - the late peaceful everyday routine...

Persistent rumors that the Germans were cranking up preparations for a breakthrough on the border were considered as sabotage and eventually suppressed. But anticipation of imminent disaster was intensified by a particularly creepy late night scene of the special vanguard troops disguised in Soviet military uniform disembarking from a train following subdued German language orders.

Heavy artillery fire that all of a sudden pierced silence at the daybreak of June 22 instantly inflicted heavy human and material losses, disrupted communication, cut off power supply and destroyed military munitions. Followed by meticulously coordinated combat assault immediately afterward, it took the inhabitants by surprise and split the garrison into several relatively small and isolated pockets of nevertheless pretty fierce resistance.

Under massive German attacks the city was defeated fairly early, whereas the small number of the besieged Brest fortress survivors with scarce resources, deprived of food, water and medicine, and with narrowing hope for reinforcement or backing from the retreating regular forces, kept on defending the small plot of Soviet land against the invaders for many days.

Though the essence of the story is certainly a portrayal of the valor of Soviet soldiers that lost their lives defending the first citadel and symbol of Russian resistance, the film manages to avoid as much as possible worn-out heroic clichés and propagandistic pathos that were often compulsory elements even in the best examples of Soviet war movies of the past. Yet, unlike many politically engaged modern movies, it resists the temptation to deride the peculiarities of Soviet lifestyle of that time and to speculate on the popular issues of "Stalinist regime's atrocities".

Instead, the film focuses on accurate capturing of a full range of authentic human emotions from joy, love and devotion at the early beginning of the film through angst, fear and pain as it progresses to hopelessness and despair. It tells the frightening story of regular people, which lives were turned upside down overnight when they end up face to face with unstoppable deadly force menacing their families, their loved ones, their own lives and their country.

It pulls no punches when it comes to depiction of enormous destructions and horrors of war with first rate set designs and visually arresting special effects, but the main asset of the film is, of course, excellent nuanced performances from the entire cast especially the leads - Korshunov, Merzlikin and Derevyanko.

The story is told as if from the perspective of a teenage boy witnessing the outbreak of war and providing narration already as a war veteran that has survived the worst war in modern history. It may be emotionally draining cinematic experience for many viewers, but I believe it could be especially conducive for the younger generation to acquire better understanding of the actual tremendous price the nation has paid for the great Victory.

If you read my title, you might consider the comparison perhaps the most famous American world war epic odd, but I'll explain that shortly.

To get the necessities out of the way--the film describes the fall of the Brest Fotress in far western Belarus (or Byelorussian SSR, in this case). The film does not elaborate on the history, as already pointed out: it does not point out that Brest was captured from Poland just two years earlier, courtesy of the Brest-Litovsk Treaty. Nor does it mention the Polish population of Brest, forced west or deported to the east by the government after that fact. And finally, it does not mention that Brest, like the rest of Western Belarus, was subject to a Polish colonization effort after Poland annexed it (during the first Polish-Soviet War, which they won) and under military rule due to conflicts between Poles and Belarusians. All of this is, as it happens, not relevant to the movie makers, and given how few people have heard of the first Polish-Soviet War, the Polonization of West Belarus, or the deportation of Brest's Polish residents, it's not surprising. Outside of the CIS countries and eastern Poland, you'll be surprised to find anyone know knows Belarus is its own country. Brest is a rough, rural, but otherwise idyllic countryside town--unbelievable from a western perspective, perhaps, but not in conflict with survivor narratives we have today, and intended to set up the disaster that follows.

The movie DOES offer some historic context, however--it begins with Major Gavrilov's warning of an impending disaster for Brest, and the Brest Fortress, in the event of a German invasion, though he is dismissed by skeptical comrades more trusting of their country's "ally". When the war begins in earnest, Gavrilov, Commissar Fomin, and Lieutenant Kizhevatov rally a bloody, nearly fanatical defense of their country and, for many, their home against the German invasion. This makes up the meat of the movie, with the narrative of a foster student Sashka, attached to a military band, caught in the middle. The war cinematography is thrilling and exciting, comparable to the aforementioned "Saving...", albeit with an emphasis on brutal close-quarters fighting--exaggerated, potentially, for the necessity of emphasizing the difference between mechanized warfare in the field and indoor fighting in somewhere like Brest or Stalingrad. Seeing the Soviet defenders--mostly Red Army men, joined by die-hard Frontier troops and a few NKVD Rifle Battalion NCOs, from what I see--counter-attack German positions with shovels and chairs as well as rifles and machineguns seems unbelievable at first, but it doesn't clash with the western narrative of a primitive Red Army, or accounts of hand-to-hand fighting from both world wars. The disastrous results that usually follow serve as a reminder that this isn't something fantastical like "Enemy at the Gates" or an optimistic adventure like "Inglorious Bastards". Thhe defenders themselves are portrayed as human and vulnerable, capable of tears, despair and emotion at inopportune times--though it suffers from a "blink and you'll miss it", situation the scant non-Slavs shown in the Red Army.

As a war movie, it's portrayal of the German enemy is naturally important. The Germans are portrayed, as usual, as organized, very competent, and extremely clever--an infiltration scene early on, wherein German commandos impersonate NKVD NCOs to enter the fortress highlights this. However, there's hardly any more demonization of them then in "Saving Private Ryan" or "Band of Brothers", in part because they're also portrayed distantly and hidden, in contrast with the very human Soviet defenders--with a few exceptions. In one, some Germans are shown about to assault a captured woman, who is ultimately gunned down--this is hardly unbelievable, and it serves more to show the guilt felt by a (civilian) Byelorussian at having used the distraction she provided to escape his own fate, than the Germans being ravenous monsters. In another, the advancing Germans gun down fleeing civilians from a machinegun position. Damning, certainly, but consider: during the German occupation, between 2 and 2.5 million people in Byelorussia, of nine million, perish. The scene, if fictionalized, is likely intended to demonstrate the particular callousness the Germans, as a whole, displayed towards "Reichskommissariat Ostland". Aside from this, Germans usually seem distant and, on occasion, just as desperate as their Soviet enemies.

"Fortress" stands well with its American counterparts, and even decently with epics like "Come and See", ending with a sobering tribute to the film's historical personalities--the vindicated Pyotr Gavrilov is explained as having survived German captivity only to be imprisoned for the act of surrender (though the movie inaccurately suggests such a fate befell "most" POWs, when it was primarily inflicted on officers and others who carried more "blame"), only to be rehabilitated and made Hero of the USSR in 1957, in a damning critique of the country, and Stalin's, complacency towards Germany. The Jewish Commissar Fomin, being twice a target of the German Commissar Order, is executed immediately. The movie goes out of its way to defend those who did surrender, suggested they only did so at the behest of the defenders, after army men begged their families to take the German offers for leniency. Soldiers who surrender are shown as only having been human, witnesses to extraordinary violence, and are understandably broken, and even have a degree of sympathy from those who fight on. All and all, this is a well-done, particularly sympathetic, and highly enjoyable war epic that maintains the tradition of sobering portrayals we've expected from CIS cinematography on the Second World war.

In case you've come upon this movie by accident, I'd suggest you go ahead and watch it, and then return return back to read the reviews.

The Brest Fortress pushes war movies to a completely different level of realism, poetry and emotional force. It is so visceral, so real and so emotionally powerful that by the end you're part of the battle and no longer a detached viewer. Not a single shot is wasted, not a single line of dialog is a filler, not a single acting even from extras feels like acting, not a single moment do you feel that this is a movie and not real life. The makeup, the wounds, the dirt, the blood, everything is real and it all hits you with one of the best cinematography in a war movie since Ivan's Childhood. And The Brest Fortress pays homage to that great movie in many ways.

Russians suffered unimaginable horrors during WWII and that trauma in their psyche along with their great heritage of story telling and great cinema combines to create another great Russian war movie.

I feel privileged to have watched this movie, knowing that its still unknown in the west, there is not even a wikki page about it yet.

"- This fortress, fortress here, we keep the defense, - This fortress, fortress here, we keep the defense..."

This film is perhaps the best, but certainly one of the best war films made in the past 20 years in Europe. Talking about the legend of the Second World War, the epic Brest fortress that was first attacked by the Nazi hordes, the first day of the war with the USSR 22nd June 1941.

The story tells of a young boy who is a trumpeter in the orchestra in Brest fortress and all the time movie battle through hell trying to find a girlfriend who is lost in the war. During his quest he survives the horrors of the battle in which he actively participate.

The film is full of scenes of war, desperate efforts of the Russian soldiers who defended the fort, during the most certainly futile struggle. While it is a fortress under siege, the German army has penetrated far beyond the fortress that is doomed to fail, but even when they find out, Russian soldiers decided to fight to the end. Excellent film directed complemented by the strong acting and perfect music. Scenes of war are almost epic, presented with the harsh reality.

Brest Fortress is something similar like the American fort Alamo, just became much larger and more powerful symbol of the perseverance of Russian troops, tragedies, and ultimate victory.

The film certainly has to be seen, and the quality of acting, directing and scenes of war, beyond almost all the western movies so far recorded.

The film shows the people and the destiny woven through this historical epic about the Brest fortress. Avoided, and quite nice, skilled and successful, politics and ideology, and instead of great political speeches film shows pure heroism, struggle, and an iron will, not only from the military fortress of the crew, but also the entire Soviet people to defend the country from the fascist hordes .

Ordinary people, cooks, musicians, soldiers, doctors, civilians become suddenly, on that fateful morning of the 22nd June 1941, heroes, they want it or not, they like it or not. The film shows the harsh reality. Absolute lack of preparation and complete negligence of the Soviet army before the dawn of war, a total neglect of the defense of the nation from German aggression. Shows the persistent struggle of the army commander, Major Gavrilov and warning of impending war.

And Germans come as a shock bolt from the blue. The collapse of the Soviet military is obvious. Mass deaths, the collapse front, panic and chaos. From such chaos and terror, the rise of the heroic figures of defense fortress. Major Gavrilov, political commissar of Fomin and many others that his example of heroism, defiance and leadership endured ten times stronger against the German enemy, to the last drop of blood, the last bullet, the last drop of water ...

Long after the movie, in your ears will ring a continuous repetition of words spoken бѕ radio operator from the fortress:

"- This fortress, fortress here, we keep the defense, - This fortress, fortress here, we keep the defense..."

Sunday shop in Asda Superstore Brighton UK. Always look at new DVD display. Full this week of USA horror and comedy Z movies. This shop also puts new foreign films with subtitles on the display, prices reduced as the lazy Brits still can't be botherd to read a subtitled film. What a lazy bunch some of us are, all though the Norwegion sub titled fun fest that is The Troll Hunter is pulling them in here in Brighton. I digress.I like true history, this film of the heroic defence of the Brest Fortress in June 1941 was something even at my age, 70 I had never heard of.Half way through, it's 138 mins long,I halt it for a cup of tea and said out loud, Hey a real film, no bloody CIC,no American crap heroics,and boy I am looking forward to seeing the rest.In my tea break I find that this fantastic heartbreaking true war film did not even get a UK cinema release. Disgraceful.All the performances are stunning, the film looks great on the wide print. Rent this and learn what barstards the Nazis really were. Highly recommended.

I don't like reading subtitles, but I will for a particularly good movie, and this certainly is one. I also don't normally gravitate toward war movies, but again, I'll make an exception for a good one, and I give this one a 9. It might be even better than that. There is so much for the eye here; I'm very impressed at the amount of work which must have gone into making every shot look so real. Also, the soundtrack was not overwhelming; for the most part, what we see is what carries the emotion, and that is a testament to the power of the events and the quality of the reconstruction of them for this movie.

There's a lot of violence, shooting, dying, etc. here, but not a lot of really nasty gore, which is something I appreciate. I'm sure the reality may have been even uglier than what is shown in this movie, but I don't need to see every last ounce of gore to know that war sucks and people get horribly maimed and killed. What is shown is enough to make the point well.

Very high quality movie; strongly recommended.

There can be no doubt that The Fortress is a cinematic masterpiece with grade one photography, acting, special effects, screenplay, pace and emotional depth. None of this is questioned and all readers are recommended to view it. Basing the story from the viewpoint of a child trainee soldier was particularly effective and the film effortlessly holds viewer attention throughout the generous 138 minutes.

Moreover the film was well researched in many aspects. Not only were the sets extremely accurate in their portrayal of the fortress but even the ruins were perfectly reconstructed from post war photographs. The officers really existed and their heroism was deservedly depicted.

But it is without question a work of huge political propaganda. And it completely failed to illustrate the true horror of war as it really happened.

In every battle the wounded always outnumber the dead. Indeed many die subsequent to the injuries of combat and the percentage of soldiers killed outright is normally rather low. War is not a computer game in which the fallen just drop dead on the spot with a little groan. It is a sea of suffering and screaming and agony in which the able are caught in a quandary whether to aid the victims or run for safety.

But this was not at all captured in the film. The victims just die instantly and lie there in huge peaceful heaps. Even their faces appear as if they just went to sleep. Of course this is rubbish.

The film depicts those Russians that fought on as heroes whilst any soldiers that left are slurred with the implication of cowardice. The Germans are portrayed as inhuman killing machines without compassion and slurred with the entirely untrue concoction of using civilians as human shields in their attack. Russian attacks are shown as courageous head on charges across open ground as if they were led by 19th.century heroes whilst in fact the leadership was inept and too inexperienced to coordinate effective counter attacks. The film did not portray the brutal use of boy soldiers by the Russians as ammunition feeders to machine gun posts and ID tag collectors from the fallen. And Commissar Fomin is shown to have given himself up for execution as a Jew whilst in fact he was betrayed by his own men as a hated Bolshevic. Such details suggest a very different reality inside the stubborn pockets of resistance than the film portrays. And it takes little imagination to understand the motive.

'Stalingrad', the notable 1993 epic of that engagement remains supreme in the honest depiction of war and this film cannot reach it. Ultimately heroism and barbarism are individual aspects of battle and not national psychologies. But this film attempts to show good and evil as if there can be a good side to war. And it never suggests that Russian preparations to attack Germany in 1942 were well under way in 1941 and that Hitler only attacked first before Stalin did the same to him.

Sorry readers but this film must be taken with a large pinch of salt. Nevertheless I did shed a tear with the old man at the end and my heart went out to the young musician boy as it was meant to.

This is definitely the best war movie shot in the ex-USSR in post-Soviet time. This is what that war was for our country and our people. The level of fiction and fantasy is minimal; the movie is shot as close to historical truth as possible. The Brest Fortress Museum supervised the plot thoroughly. The Brest Fortress became the place where the German invaders lost 5% of their East Front deadcount within the first week of war. Come have a look on how our granddads fought against the Nazis. There are no starship troopers in the movie; just real Red Army soldiers and a deadly mouse gray mass of German invaders that killed 20+ millions of our compatriots and brought to our country countless loss.

My impressions from this movie are mostly positive but I must clarify that: 1. I love war movies. 2. I'm particularly interested in Eastern Front theater. 3. I'm immune to some propaganda and one-sided view of history that can typically be expected from Russian war films.

All in all, "Brestskaya krepost" does a good job showing us the dramatic and heroic struggle of Red Army soldiers. The problem is that the Germans would never do a movie glorifying the bravery of Wehrmacht, without showing their cruelty and war crimes for balance. The Russians have no such dilemmas. What am I talking about? The Soviets invaded Poland in 1939 alongside Germans and the city of Brest became part of their loot. Actually it was captured by the Germans back then and handed over to Soviets. The Polish general who was in charge of the Polish defence of Brest fortress was taken captive by the Soviets and murdered by them as part of the Katyn massacre in 1940. In general during those 2 years of reign over formerly Polish territory the Soviets did very nasty things to the people living there, so nasty that those who somehow managed to evade prisons and gulags welcomed the Wehrmacht with some hope. But the film shows none of that. Watching the movie I constantly asked myself: why are they behaving like they were living in that area since generations? like they were defending Moscow? why are they so faithful to a criminal totalitarian system run by a madman? Red Army soldiers couldn't know in June 1941 that surrendering to Germans meant likely death. Yes, you can see some Soviet soldiers surrendering in the movie, but still the message seems to scream: those were cowards, the real heroes fought to the last bullet - totally wrong!

It's a good movie with very strong war scenes. The makeup and action sequences are so impressive that it really pulls you back to 1941, and you feel like you're in a fort. Why did people fight so ruthlessly during WWII? Why do people go to war? I think World War II was really a unicorn, but it didn't erase the horror of war. War may have dramatic moments, but terrible moments taint all war moments.

The film's downside is its lack of depth in its portrayal of war. Issues of family and love play such an important role before the fight, but are rarely mentioned after the fight begins. I know the point of the film is to contrast idyllic peacetime scenes with the dirty and squalid aspects of war. Also, I can see that most of the budget and effort does go into the battle sequence. However, this imbalance of sentimentality (contrasting depictions) and action (i.e. Combat) ultimately makes this film considered not great. The film struggles to get universal acclaim for its shift in rhythm. I may have been too harsh on this film considering the extremely high scores given by the top reviews, but the truth is that this film cannot escape its reputation as a military/historical buff favorite. In other words, the film failed as art but succeeded in almost every other way.

A competently made war film with a strong patriotic tone. Most acting is good and the extras generally give a convincing impression of actually being soldiers (quite uncommon in a lot of war films). Costumes, sets and special effects are very good - amongst the best amongst modern Russian war films. Action, especially in the larger battles, often became unconvincing with Russian soldiers near universally portrayed as comically heroic. I completely understand the Russian desire to celebrate the heroism and suffer which occured in WW2, but this film goes too far. Exaggeration to this degree does no service to the real heroes of WW2 because it dehumanises them to become the immortal heroes of propaganda, thereby losing the real human stories and experiences. The characters became two dimensional patriots with unflinching resolve and loyalty. This is not a convincing depiction of events - from a histprical perspective. In the end Brestkaya Krepost is like a WW2 propaganda film created with modern cinematic competency. It is merely an entertaining display of WW2 themed violence and does not do justice to the actual defence of Brest Fortress. For a far better Russian WW2 film I would reccomend 'Come and See' 1985.

I like this movie considering all the crap films made in my country for last 20 years. From my view it has almost no propaganda (ok, I'm brainwashed already). Narrator probably is telling less that he could, so some plot points are not that clear, but the film keeps you at the screen for all the time.

And final note to some historians here: if you mention history background and occupation of Brest by Soviet Union in 1939, please go further and mention that it was taken by Poland from Russia in 1919, it was behind the Curzon line (the Poland people were not the majority of population) and should have stayed the Russian city.

I won't repeat what a number have already said - as historical document, it is clearly pro-Soviet, overlooking anything inconvenient, such as how come the fort was occupied by the Soviets in the first place.

I would say that these remarks are a little odd considering US propaganda in films such as Saving Private Ryan, Pearl Harbor and U571, which is not discussed with the same vigour but in which facts are equally ignored or distorted: in terms of these films, Brest Fortress more than holds its own or betters.

I would say that the comment that this is the best WWII film to come out of Europe in the last 20 years ignores Downfall and The Pianist, amongst others: Brest Fortress is not quite of that calibre.

The film nevertheless does contain strong acting by an able cast and the battle scenes are well done. Overall it is probably about 30 mins too long.

This is one of the best east front movies I've seen since Zvezda, if not ever. Sure, it totally ignores the fact that just a few months before, the soviets invaded Poland and probably murdered most polish officers in Brest. Sure, it portrays all Soviets - even the NKVD officers - as nice (and funny) people, which probably wasn't the case. And of course all German soldiers are some kind of werewolves.

Still, it's a great movie. You'll get to know and love most of the characters, you'll suffer with them, you'll grieve with them.

Yes, it is a very Russian movie. Russian propaganda if you so will (from a Polish perspective). Still, one of the best ww2 movies ever, and a lot more realistic than certain American movies about American conscripts shooting down elite German SS soldiers as if it was a video game.

Every nation has their sacred topics, for Russians, this is Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945, and as a result, more than 27 000 000 people were killed, and thus it is almost not possible to touch this topic with almost a slighter hint of doubt or criticism. The war caused a huge array of war movies made in the former USSR, as well as modern Russia. Many were great, many were just banal, mediocre efforts. The Brest Fortress is a 2010 work, and it introduces many famous contemporary Russian actors, and the budget is very big. As a result, a very tragic, deep, heavy, dark and merciless film was made. It depicts first week of the war in June 1941, and it shows deeply tragic fates of Fortress defenders. Apart from obvious inaccuracies or goofs, there are huge and impressive battle scenes with many great moments. But the feeling of deja vu and seeing an old Soviet propaganda film does not leave us here. Well done, but with very obvious touches of pro-Soviet sentiments

This movie is just... wow! Mind blowing... I was thinking at 'Letters from Iwo Jima' by Clint Eastwood - this is the only war movie that can compete with it in terms of intensity, the profile of drama, tragedy, poetry, heroism and historical realism. It's not the usual WW2 movie that can be seen at Hollywood, with big 'good' allied soldiers killing like a machine gun a lot of 'bad' enemies. It's a movie about a defeat, about a tragedy. Hope and death. Suffering. Love. And a lot of sacrifice. However, beside its strong moral and ethical weight, the movie really looks good: image, special effects (I suspect some CGG was involved), sound, music (which is simply wonderful) everything looks like in a Hollywood made movie. And, as far as I know, the historical truth was almost 100% respected. In short, this is a movie which is both educational and fun. For me it's a 10/10... I didn't knew that the new Russian wave can make such brilliant masterpieces!

Positiv: The sound engineer and the explosives guys did a great job indeed. Great camera: Little of this horrible close-up-shakycamera-war-movie camera in fast and nervous montage, which is refreshing. The actors deliver a great performance.

Negative: -Tactically, its like the A-Team with lots of casualties added. -The main plot is untouched: The fortress is pointless. The attackers just moved around and left pockets of resistance to the second line mop-up troops. The German advance was not hold up by this fighting, no important road or railway was blocked by the fortress. It would have been a nice angle to the story to portrait the relentless defense put up despite knowing the pointlessness all of that.

That leads to me being unable to connect ("feel along") to the characters. Not the soldiers put up the fight but the officers and commissars lead the headless pack. The soldiers do what they are told and die attacking over open ground without anyone questioning this.

A fair share propaganda can be overlooked, because in sowjet times you obviously had to build it in. The breathtaking "come and see" has its propaganda captives scenes at the end, but its a side note to the amazing movie. Here, its too much. The propaganda spin of the story is told, not the story behind the propaganda story. So just six stars to the hero fortress.