Product Description

Dovzhenko's Wartime Masterworks - Original and Uncut in a Remastered Deluxe Two-Disc DVD Edition. Produced as the Red Army swept across Ukraine in 1943-44, "Ukraine in Flames" and "Victory in Soviet Ukraine" are among World War 2's most unusual documentaries. Drawing upon footage from 24 Soviet cameramen, and made under the guidance of Soviet director Alexander Dovzhenko, they capture the Eastern Front in wide-angle as well as searingly personal dimensions. Combining Dovzhenko's visual lyricism with the deeply felt eloquence of his commentary, they stand among the director's greatest works.

These DVD restorations make available, for the first time since their wartime Soviet release, Dovzhenko's original, uncut versions. Digitally restored from original 35mm lavender prints, they also offer new translations of Dovzhenko's vividly poetic narration, never before available to English-speaking audiences.

Part I: Ukraine in Flames (1943)
An impassioned account of "how the steppes were sowed with rage," Dovzhenko's film ranges across Ukraine's forests and plains, chronicling the horrors of German invasion and the gathering forces of Ukrainian resistance. In scenes that recall the director's masterpiece Earth, peasants newly delivered from German occupation rebuild their lives, sowing grain across fields freshly cleared of corpses, as surviving peasant women speak bitterly of the crimes committed by Nazi occupiers. Praised by film scholar Jay Leyda as "an astonishingly personal movie...an inspiration to every artist who works in the documentary film," "Ukraine in Flames" shows the faces of war rarely seen.

Part II: Victory in Soviet Ukraine (1944)
Terror and triumph on the Eastern Front, as Dovzhenko's cameras capture the Red Army on the offensive. As German forces retreat, fierce combat scenes give way to harrowing revelations among them the mass graves uncovered at Babi Yar in regions newly freed from German control. Speaking before electrified crowds in Kiev's center, General Zhukov displays, as seen nowhere else on film, his trademark charisma and exhortative powers. A work of passionate patriotism, Dovzhenko's film also clearly rebukes Stalin here conspicuously missing in action for which the director paid dearly. Directed by Alexander Dovshenko & Yuliya Solntseva.

• 5 Historical Slideshows:
  • Between Kiev & Moscow: The Career of Alexander Dovzhenko
  • Soviet Cinema in the Great Patriotic War
  • Historical Background
  • Personalitites
  • Soviet Propaganda Posters
  • Interactive Scene Selections
  • Switchable English Voice-Over Soundtrack or Original Russian with Optional English Subtitles
  • Digitally Restored from Original 35 MM Lavender Film Prints.

    USSR, 1943/44 (2 DVD Box Set) Part 1: 76 minutes; Part 2: 65 minutes. Digitally Restored from original 35mm Lavender prints, possibly the highest quality film elements known to exist.

    An explanation about the titles: Ukraine in Flames and Victory in Soviet Ukraine are the titles these films became known as in English. The original Russian titles (translated into English) conveyed by the films opening credits are respectively: The Battle For Our Soviet Ukraine in the Unforgettable Difficult Years of the Great Patriotic War and
    Victory in the Western Ukraine: An Expulsion of the German Aggressors Beyond the Borders of the Soviet Ukraine.

Review

Ukraine Battle Footage Shown:

Part 1: Ukraine in Flames
Battles of Lvov, Odessa, and Kiev

Part 2: Victory in Soviet Ukraine
Battles of Kharkov, Polesye, Zaporozhye, Zvenigorodka, Lysyanka, Tornopol, Prosnikov, Korsun, Shechenkovsky, Korosten, Zhitomir, Kiev, Odessa, and Lvov.

• Aspect Ratio ‏ : ‎ 1.33:1
• Product Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8 x 5.31 x 0.75 inches; 4.2 ounces
• Director ‏ : ‎ Alexander Dovshenko, Yuliya Solntseva
• Media Format ‏ : ‎ DVD, NTSC
• Run time ‏ : ‎ 2 hours and 21 minutes
• Release date ‏ : ‎ October 1, 2012
• Subtitles: ‏ : ‎ English
• Studio ‏ : ‎ International Historic Films, Inc.
• Country of Origin ‏ : ‎ USA
• Number of discs ‏ : ‎ 2