4 Days in May

4 Days in May
4 Days in May
	Poster
Directed by	Achim von Borries
Screenplay by	Achim von Borries, Eduard Reznik
Based on	the work of Dmitry Faust
Produced by	Stefan Arndt, Aleksei Guskov
Starring	Paul Wenzel, Aleksei Guskov
Music by	Thomas Finer
Release date	9 August 2011 (Locarno Film Festival);
Running time	97 minutes
Countries	Germany, Ukraine, Russia
Languages	Russian, German
Budget	5.6 million USD

4 days in May (Vier Tage im Mai) is a war drama film directed by Achim von Borries and starring Paul Wenzel and Aleksei Guskov. It is a German-Russian-Ukrainian co-production. The film was released on August 9, 2011, at the Locarno Film Festival.

The official slogan is: "Sometimes the border goes not between “them” and “us”, but between good and evil".

Plot

It is one of the last days before the capitulation of Nazi Germany in May 1945. The setting is the Baltic coast in Pomerania. A unit of the Soviet Army, comprising seven men and led by a captain nicknamed "Gorynych" ("dragon") (Aleksei Guskov) by his companions, has left for reconnaissance and observation of the movements of the retreating Germans. The group is housed in a large building, a shelter for orphaned girls. A German Army detachment is situated close by, awaiting transport for evacuation by sea to Denmark, where they plan to surrender to the British. Both parties understand that the war is almost over; they do not want to engage each other and choose to wait things out. But resistance is not over for a teenage orphan Peter (Paul Wenzel), who was indoctrinated in the "no surrender" tradition of National Socialism. Soviet intelligence officers disarm him and patiently try to neutralize his youthful aggression.

On May 8, 1945, Victory in Europe Day, a Soviet major who is commander of the division that includes the reconnaissance unit, arrives with Red Army troops. He was drunk on the occasion of Germany's capitulation. The major tries to rape one of the German girls, but the captain disarms him and stops the attempt. Wishing to eliminate witnesses of his indecent behavior, the major said that the enemy, in disguise, infiltrated the building, and began an assault by his unit. The German detachment did not surrender but came to rescue the children. Then they made provisions for the safe withdrawal of the orphans on a fishing launch to Denmark.

Cast

Paul Wenzel as Peter
Aleksei Guskov as captain, commander of the reconnaissance
Ivan Shvedoff as Trubitsin, scout
Andrew Merzlikin as Gray, the scout
Sergei Legostaev as Ivanov, a scout
Grigoriy Dobrygin as Fedyunin
Merab Ninidze as Major
Gerald Alexander Held as Colonel Wald
Martin Brambach as Lt. Wendt
Angelina Häntsch as Anna
Petra Kelling as patroness of the shelter

Reliability

Aleksei Guskov, the producer and the lead actor, based the screenplay on a work by Dmitry Faust. The author, telling the story of Marshal of the Soviet Union, K. Moskalenko, described the reported case of German troops coming to the aid of the small Soviet reconnaissance unit. Scouts prevented the drunken major - a tank officer - from raping a German girl. The plausibility of the story was supported by its publication in the prestigious Russian historical illustrated magazine Rodina. However, the same journal contained an article by Boris Sokolov, in which he called into question the authenticity of the political report quoted by Dmitry Faust. Later, other historians argued that the story was totally fictional, unsupported by archival documents. In particular, the Russian historian Alexei Isaev said Faust had actually written about the "brotherhood of the weapon" on the island of Rügen.

Awards

Special Jury Award: For courage and humanism, and the prize "Golden Boat" in the "Vyborg Account" film festival "Window to Europe"(Vyborg, 2011).

References

The information in this article is based on that in its Russian equivalent.

The magazine "Around the World" № 5, 2006.

External links

Official website
4 Days in May at IMDb
Card "for 4 days in May"^{[permanent dead link]} in the public register of films MC RF