A group of Soviet mechanics slog through a muddy forest on a mission that would eventually help change the course of World War II: reaching Joseph Stalin.
Among them is an engineer who wants to convince the Kremlin leader that a new tank he has designed can transform the Soviet Union’s outdated forces a year ahead of the invasion by Nazi Germany.
Based on a little-known chapter of Soviet history from 1940, this is the scenario for a film being shot outside Moscow with state funding.
Photo: AFP
The movie, which has the working title To See Stalin, is the latest in a string of Russian government-backed productions about inspiring tales from World War II aimed at bolstering patriotic fervor that the Kremlin can tap.
Critics say the productions tend to whitewash the crimes of the Soviet leadership while downplaying the tragedies of the war, while also playing fast and loose with the truth.
“The idea came from the culture ministry, which has been actively pushing to retell the stories of the heroes from our country’s past,” 32-year-old director Kim Druzhinin told reporters as he oversaw the shoot.
Druzhinin’s latest project centers on the tale of Mikhail Koshkin, who in the spring of 1940 drove his prototype tank more than 2,000km across the Soviet Union to pitch the design to Stalin.
The journey would eventually cost Koshkin his life, as he died from pneumonia contracted along the route.
However, his T-34 tank went into mass production and eventually helped Moscow push back Nazi forces after their devastating invasion in 1941.
“It is tragic story about a designer who got his tank into production at the cost of his own life,” Druzhinin said.
The film, which the director said he wants to shoot “in the style of a Soviet adventure movie,” has raised some eyebrows over what is expected to be a positive portrayal of Stalin in a fleeting appearance at the end of the film.
Russian authorities have sought to downplay the horrors of Stalin’s rule, during which millions were executed or sent to labor camps.
Instead, officials highlight his role in winning the war against Germany, saying that the conflict — which claimed an estimated 22 million Soviet lives more than 70 years ago — is a sacrosanct rallying point for society today.
“Stalin is the culmination of the film, the destination, the reward you must receive like at the end of a fairytale,” Druzhinin said.
The film received the bulk of its financing — 60 million rubles (US$1 million) — from the Russian Ministry of Culture.
Those involved in the production have no doubt over its aim.
“When I read the script and saw that it was ordered by the culture ministry, I immediately understood that it was aimed at stirring up patriotism,” said actor Dmitry Podnozov, who plays one of Koshkin’s crew.
The authorities have “fear of young people taking to the streets to protest,” Podnozov said, so are looking to generate nationalist pride to curb any anti-Kremlin sentiment.
For Druzhinin this is not a first foray into making state-sponsored films on historical subjects.
Last year his World War II action movie called Panfilov’s 28 came out about the resistance of a group of Soviet soldiers who sacrificed their lives destroying 18 German tanks advancing on Moscow in 1941.
Despite a poor response from critics, the film drew support from the highest levels of the Kremlin — with Russian President Vladimir Putin sitting down to watch it alongside Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev.
While the tale of heroism inspired generations of Soviet and Russian citizens, there was one major catch: It appears not to have been true.
Documents declassified by Russia’s state archive in 2015 showed that the incident was in fact invented by a Soviet journalist before becoming part of the Soviet war propaganda.
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