Cinematheque: Aleksei Guerman

Directed by Aleksei Guerman, Soviet Union, 1971, 35mm, 97 min. A searing anti-war film, Guerman’s first solo feature was banned for 15 years. Based on true events in WWII, the film follows Lazarev, a Russian sergeant who defected to the Nazis, only to later return to the Red Army. Suspicious of his loyalty, Lazarev’s co-combatants repeatedly make him prove his allegiance through a gauntlet of increasingly risky missions. “Bravura filmmaking at its best.” (Artforum). Subtitled.