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I notice once or twice later the subtitles seem grammatically wrong again and suspect they were done by someone whose not a native speaker or was put under severe enough time constraints they didn’t double check their work though for the most part it’s fine. Great start… and they move too fast to read for the last sentence or two. The subtitles at the start confuse ‘German’ and ‘Germany’ while omitting the definite article. Now in 1944, the Red Army is back on Estonian border.’ Since German Army, Wehrmacht, accepts only German citizens, Estonians have to fight in Waffen-SS and other military units. 72 000 Estonians are mobilized to German armed forces. 55 000 Estonians are mobilized to the Red Army. ‘In 1939, Soviet Union and Germany sign a Treaty of Non-Aggression.

The film was funded by the Estonian Film Institute, Estonian Ministry of Defence, Cultural Endowment of Estonia and private investments.ĭuring the run of the film Estonian, German and Russian are spoken.Įxcuse me not using names for the most part but in war films everyone seems reduced to stereotypes and can you honestly say, barring the central characters, you ever remember the names of the entire cast during these – most of whom die shortly after their ‘provide a minimal amount of character development by showing a picture of family which foreshadows they’ll die in the next scene’ moment? The film focuses on the individual in the context of the war rather than war itself, and shows the war from both perspectives – those of the Estonians in the Red Army and in the German Army. Choices had to be made, not only by the soldiers, but also by their loved ones. This had even had an impact on the outcome of the First Battle of the Marne.The film is set in the year 1944, from the Battle of Tannenberg Line (25 July – 10 August 1944) to the Battle of Tehumardi in Sõrve Peninsula (October – November 1944) and is shown through the eyes of Estonian soldiers who had to pick sides and thus fight against their fellow countrymen. This was correct in many ways, as the defeat of the Russians had resulted in a significant reduction in forces on the Western Front. However, the Grand Duke Nicholai, commander-in-chief of the Russian Army, stated that it was “an honour to make such a sacrifice”. The defeat was so great that Britain decided to keep it from the public.

The defeat was so catastrophic that Samsonov committed suicide. Of the 150,000 men in the Russian Second Army, just 10,000 managed to escape, with 30,000 becoming casualties and more than 95,000 taken prisoner. In fact, many Russian soldiers threw their rifles away and surrendered. Samsonov had realised the severity of his situation on 28th August, but his attempts to breakout near Tannenburg ended in disaster. Other German units were also moved to the Tannenberg region and the Germans surrounded the Russian Second Army. The 1 Corps were then moved into a position that would prevent the Second Army from retreating to Russia, which effectively trapped Samsonov. General Francois, who commanded the 1 Corps, captured Soldau and further weakened the Russian lines of communication. The German’s attack on Samsonov’s Second Army took place on 27th August and was very successful. The Germans, on the other hand, were finding it easy to intercept Russian messages, including one informing Samsonov of Rennenkampf’s marching plan - stating outright that Samsonov would not receive help from the First Army - and another stating the routes Samsonov planned to use to attack the Germans. Struggling with lack of communications, Samsonov was unaware of what Hoffman had planned and he also didn’t that the Russian First Army had halted its advances - he assumed Rennenkampf was moving through East Russia as planned. Ludendorff and Hindenburg were both credited for the events at Tannenberg but it was actually Colonel Maximilian Hoffman who had detailed how they should surround Russia’s Second Army. By 22nd August, the Eastern Front was tabled and the Germans started to surround Samsonov’s army.