Pavlov’s house is an apartment building in Stalingrad that was held by sometimes not more than four men while under constant assault in the Battle of Stalingrad. Reportedly, German maps marked it as a “fortress.” Everything about the two month long battle that took place there suggests that a superb action movie could be made about these events.
We’ve got a junior NCO being ordered to seize and defend the building after all the actual officers of his platoon were killed. German forces whittle his 30 men down to 4 (!!) but they hold out until another 25 men arrive days later. Pavlov bucks tanks from the roof and blows up a dozen of them. The defenders dug trenches for resupply and laid tons of mines and barbed wire as fortification. So many enemy casualties piled up that they had to go out during lulls in the fighting to kick over the piles of bodies! The civilians who lived there actually stuck around the whole time, should there be a need to add a romance or some difference in perspective.
The battle lasted for TWO MONTHS! Just the highlight reel alone has got to be two hours of sound and fury.
This could be the Soviet version of “Saving Private Ryan” and yet it seems to have only found attention in video games. WTF, Hollywood?
It’s because to most Americans World War II in Europe started on June 6, 1944 and ended shortly after the Battle of the Bulge. There is a ton of ignorance about the decisive role played by the Soviets in defeating Germany.
(And yes, you could make one hell of a war movie about Pavlov’s House.)
There are all kinds of things in history that should be made into a movie. My idea is one should be made about the closing days of WWI and the different minutes of silence and the unveiling of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. I think it could be a stirring movie.
But back to the OP, I agree it’d be amazing, but who would be the good guys? Well, no one is going to root for Nazi Germany, but then are we left to root for the Reds? For 60 years they have been the bad guys.
The good guys issue shouldn’t be a problem; it was dealt with in Enemy at the Gates. You can even portray German soldiers as good guys (cf. Das Boot) as long as you show they don’t agree with Nazism.
It really would make an excellent movie and God knows we need some WWII movies that aren’t purely about US troops on D-day. Also, it would make me feel that the 3+ hours I spent trying to defend that house in Call of Duty weren’t *completely *wasted.