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7 Great Foreign Language War Films You Should See: Brest Fortress

Like many history buffs, I love it when films bring military history to life. Of course, I prefer they do it in a believable way and with the support of an intriguing story such as Saving Private Ryan or Platoon.

Good war films can help supply the dramatics and realism of war to those of us who are already submersed in military history, but they also bring in a new generation of history lovers. In my case, films convinced me to read about events after viewing films like The Longest Day, A Bridge Too Far, and Stalag 17.

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World War II films are perhaps the most popular and lauded of all war films and for good reason. Many non-English speaking countries have contributed significantly to the genre, but often get overlooked by even the stoutest of military history geeks.

Here are seven World War II films from various countries in no particular order that are worth your time to see if you haven’t already. I have narrowed the field to include only films with regular units; therefore, no partisan, resistance, or commando style films. Also, all these films are available with English subtitles.

1. Stalingrad (German – 1993)

2. Brest Fortress (Belorussian/Russian – 2010)

3. Unknown Soldier (Finland – 2017)

4. Days of Glory (Morocco – 2006)

5. Battle for Sevastopol (2015 – Russian)

6. Das Boot (German – 1981)

7. 1944 (Estonian – 2015)

Brest Fortress

(Belorussian/Russian – 2010)

This is an intense film based on actual events of the defense of the Brest Fortress at the beginning of Operation Barbarossa in June of 1941. The defenders depicted were involved from the very beginning of Germany’s invasion of the Soviet Union.

The film is narrated from the viewpoint of 15 year-old Alexander “Sasha” Akimov whose parents died during the Spanish Civil War and who now serves as a musician with his brother in the Red Army in Brest.

The battle for the fortress was historically piecemeal with many different groups forming the resistance, and limited communications between them. The film does a great job in focusing on the defense of the fortress in various areas around the complex.

Nine thousand soldiers and 300 families were inside the fortress at the beginning of Barbarossa and were ill prepared for an invasion. The destruction of equipment and supplies by German artillery and air raids only added to their predicament.

It is one of the most heroic defenses by the Soviets in the early war with most German reports listing the defenders as holding out until June 29. Other reports have defenders as still being active in July.

The defenders of the fortress accounted for 5% of all German casualties in June of 1941, which admittedly weren’t significant, but the outnumbered and outgunned men and women give the Wehrmacht a good punch in the nose.

Following the fall of the fortress and subsequent surrender, all Jews and political officers (commissars) were executed immediately by the German army.

Brest Fortress has great action sequences with a good deal of realism and a fantastic pace that will satisfy nearly every fan of World War II history. It is a nice visual on a theater of the war that is mostly untouched by Western film studios.