The Siege of Leningrad

Michael Kloft's documentary chronicles the harrowing story of the Nazi blockade of Leningrad, which lasted for 872 days—from September 1941 to January 1944—and resulted in the deaths of over a million people. The Siege of Leningrad combines substantial archival footage with powerful descriptions—provided both through narration and interviews with researchers (as well as excerpts from survivors' accounts)—of what actually happened during the more than two years of deprivation. Judged in terms of both losses and its importance to the ultimate defeat of the German army on the Eastern front, the battle of Leningrad is no less significant than the one at Stalingrad, which has received far more attention on film, and Kloft's work calls welcome attention to that fact. Unfortunately, rather than employing subtitles for the Russian interview segments, the documentary instead superimposes spoken English translations with poorly-mixed sound levels, making it difficult to follow either the Russian or the English. Still, while this is a serious and annoying defect, it doesn't entirely submarine the film, which should be considered a strong optional purchase. Aud: C, P. (F. Swietek)