Stalingrad

A war film like you’ve never seen before, Stalingrad takes every facet of war and blows it up in your face with a fanfare of flame and flash. This flick, set in wartime Russia, is the devastatingly beautiful, epic, tragic tale of five brothers – not in blood, but in bond – and their heroic hold to keep Russia out of Germany’s grasp.

One of the first ever war movies to be shown in IMAX 3D, it truly encapsulates the horror of war. Fight scenes that are so well shot it’s like watching an art form, and not a brutal slaughter. Explosions so catastrophic that they’re a picturesque painting, and hardly the burning and fall of a hundred men. A story so heartfelt and calamitous it wrenches you out of your recline and pulls you into the screen and into the moment.

Entirely in Russian and German (with subtitles), Stalingrad is told through the voice of a rescue worker in modern day Japan comforting a girl in the wake of an earthquake. Gripping and intense, the cinematography is a character in and of itself. 3D films are sometimes seen as a novelty, or a gimmick perhaps, put in a film for the sake of making a few more millions, but had this been in 2D, it is safe to say the sobering impact the film has would have been considerably less.

Beautifully shot and beautifully told, Stalingrad suffice to say is a significant step forward in the war movie genre. An insurmountable and fascinatingly astounding cast and crew, this film tells the woes and difficult choices of men and women during the war. A film that literally leaves your chair quaking and your heart pounding – and maybe a few tears, too – it is safe to say that this is deserving of a grand procession of recognition and praise.

Hannah Ross

Stalingrad is released in select cinemas on 21^st February 2014.

Watch the trailer for Stalingrad here: