Dmitry MESKHIEV
Дмитрий МЕСХИЕВ
Dmitri MESKHIEV
Russia, 2015, 120mn 
fiction
Battalion
▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪

Батальонъ

 

 Bataillon

 Batalion

Russian subtitle : Батальон смерти
 
Directed by : Dmitry MESKHIEV (Дмитрий МЕСХИЕВ)
Writing credits : Ilya AVRAMENKO (Илья АВРАМЕНКО)
 
Cast
Mariya ARONOVA (Мария АРОНОВА) ...Maria Bochkareva
Mariya KOZHEVNIKOVA (Мария КОЖЕВНИКОВА) ...Contess Tatischev
Nikolay AUZIN (Николай АУЗИН) ...Selezniov
Marat BASHAROV (Марат БАШАРОВ) ...Kerenski
Aleksey DMITRIEV (Алексей ДМИТРИЕВ)
Irina RAKHMANOVA (Ирина РАХМАНОВА) ...Froska
Dmitry SHEVCHENKO (Дмитрий ШЕВЧЕНКО)
Vladimir ZAYTSEV (Владимир ЗАЙЦЕВ) ...Brusilov
 
Cinematography : Ilya_2 AVERBAKH (Илья_2 АВЕРБАХ)
Music : Yuri POTEYENKO (Юрий ПОТЕЕНКО)
Sound : Anatoli BELOZEROV (Анатолий БЕЛОЗЕРОВ), Lev EZHOV (Лев ЕЖОВ)
Editing : Aleksey_2 MAKLAKOV (Алексей_2 МАКЛАКОВ), Mariya SERGEENKOVA (Мария СЕРГЕЕНКОВА)
Produced by : Fyodor BONDARCHUK (Федор БОНДАРЧУК), Dmitry RUDOVSKY (Дмитрий РУДОВСКИЙ), Igor UGOLNIKOV (Игорь УГОЛЬНИКОВ)
Production : Корнер Ворк. Art Pictures Studio, Corner Work.
Film revenue in Russia : 8.9032 million dollars
Spectators : 2 100 000
Release date in Russia : 20/02/2015
 

Awards :
Audience Award Festival international du cinéma d'Alger : FICA, Algiers (Algeria), 2017
Best Actress in a Supporting Role Mariya KOZHEVNIKOVA , Golden Eagle awards, Moscow (Russia), 2016
Best music Yuri POTEYENKO , Golden Eagle awards, Moscow (Russia), 2016
Best Sound Lev EZHOV , Anatoli BELOZEROV , Golden Eagle awards, Moscow (Russia), 2016

Plot synopsis
Spring, 1917. February Revolution changed the life of Russia and the course of the Great War. Tzar has already abdicated. In the trenches near Smorgonj, where confrontations with Germans lasted for almost a year, the Bolsheviks conducted their propaganda and called for peace with the enemy. Russian officers were not able to decide anything without the approval of the so-called military committee. The army was on the verge of complete destruction. By order of the provisional government, in order to raise morale, a women's "death battalion" was formed under the command of Maria Bochkareva, who was decorated with the medal of St. George. In the ranks of "shock battalions" there were primarily women who served the army in front line (in the Russian Imperial Army there was a designated number of women occupying high positions, among them there were those decorated with St. George medal), and women from civic families, noblewomen, students, teachers, workers. Most of them were women and Cossacks. The Bochkarova’s Battalion was consisted of representatives of famous Russian noble families, but also of simple peasant women and maids. For example, Bochkareva’s adjutant was Maria Skridlova - daughter of Admiral N.I. Skridlov. By nationality volunteers were mostly Russian, but there were other nationalities as well - Estonians, Latvians, Jewish, English. In late June, the female "Battalion of Death" consisted of 200 soldiers arrived under Smorgonj (now Belarus), and a week later they joined the fight. Several times the battalion started a counterattack. The unit under the command of lieutenant Bochkareva held heroically in battle, all the time in the first rows, shoulder to shoulder with other soldiers. They were caring the ammunition, and some even did scouting or intelligence tasks. "Battalion of Death" was an example of courage, strength and calmness; they raised morale of soldiers and prove that each of these women deserved the name: Russian army fighter.
Source : http://www.fest.rs/Movies/2035/
 

Commentaries and bibliography
La Première Guerre mondiale vue par le cinéma russe, Alexey BELOGORYEV, Dimitri FILIMONOV, La Revue russe, 2016, N°47, 2016
 

Selected in the following festivals or events :
- War in contemporary Russian cinema, kinoglaz.fr (France), 2023
- Festival international du cinéma d'Alger : FICA, Algiers (Algeria), 2017
- Semaine du film russe à Alger et Oran, Algiers (Algeria), 2017
- Golden Eagle awards, Moscow (Russia), 2016
- Carthage Film Festival, Carthage (Tunisia), 2016
- Russian Resurrection Film Festival, Different cities (Australia), 2015
- Honfleur Russian Film Festival, Honfleur (France), 2015
- Festival "Les Saisons russes de Lyon", Lyon (France), 2015
- Open Russian Film Festival Kinotavr, Sochi (Russia), 2015
- Belgrade International Film Festival, Belgrade (Serbia), 2015