The Russians Are Coming

The Russians Are Coming

1987 · 92 min · ★ 5.7 · Drama, War

It’s the spring of 1945 in a small resort town on the Baltic. Günter is 16 and firmly believes that the Germans will win the war. During the hunt for a forced labourer who is on the run, Günter catches him and watches as he is shot to death. He proudly accepts the award of an Iron Cross before being shipped to the nearby front as part of the last contingent of troops. He is quickly captured by Soviet soldiers, but manages to escape and return home. When the town is occupied by the Red Army, Günter is arrested for the murder of the forced labourer. The film was banned in 1968 before it was completed, and a large portion of the negative was later destroyed.

Directed by Heiner Carow · Written by Heiner Carow

Your Rating

Cast

Gert Krause-Melzer Günter
Viktor Perevalov Igor
Dorothea Meissner Christine
Norbert Christian Vater Bergschicker
Karla Runkehl Mutter Bergschicker
Vsevolod Safonov Golubkow
Rolf Ludwig Vater Walcher
Katja Paryla Mutter Walcher
Hans Hardt-Hardtloff Polizist
Claus Küchenmeister Willi
Ulrich Teschner Bannführer
Peter Bause deutscher Soldat

Make it a double feature

3h 25m together

The Russians Are Coming

Coming Out

Both from Heiner Carow.

More from Heiner CarowSee all →

Die Hochzeit von Länneken

Die Hochzeit von Länneken · 1964

Die Hochzeit von Länneken

The little island of Laenneken is a place where time seems to stands still. Traditional customs and age-old power relations are still in place and are unaffected by modern-day influences. Not even the foundation of a fishery cooperative has diminished the power of the two richest fishermen, Pröpping and Grabe. Both men have been bitter rivals for ages. Nevertheless, Grabe’s son Henning and Pröpping’s daughter Bärbel prepare to break with the traditions that restrict their lives, as they are had over heels in love with each other and want to marry.

Life Begins

Life Begins · 1960

A new world full of excitement and temptation opens up for 18-year-old Erika when her father flees from Krüselin, a small village in Brandenburg, to West Berlin, taking his daughter with him. Her uncle's luxurious house, the turbulence of life in the big city, and her cousin's progressive thinking and quick wit all turn her head at first. But behind all this glitter and tinsel lurks the cold, hard world of money and Erika begins to feel homesick for the town where she grew up and for Rolf, her first real boyfriend.

So Many Dreams

So Many Dreams · 1986

Karin, a well-known and loved midwife in her early forties, receives a high-order decoration from the state. While still overwhelmed with happiness about this honor, she is faced with a difficult decision when she encounters a young women who claims to be her daughter.

Pugowitza

Pugowitza · 1981

World War II is over and Heinrich, a young German boy, influenced by the Russians, starts to act according to Communist principles in a small German village.

They Called Him Amigo

They Called Him Amigo · 1959

They Called Him Amigo

A refugee from a Nazi concentration camp is discovered by some boys in WWII Berlin. They provide him with food and help him to continue his flight. Later one of the boys, the son of a communist, is charged with theft, arrested and sent to a concentration camp.

Fähre in den Tod

Fähre in den Tod · 1996

Fähre in den Tod

It is a terrible disaster! Due to a series of wrong decisions, the ferry Castor gets caught in a sea storm and sinks. The tragedy is already foreshadowed in small details: first there is an hour-long delay before departure, then some trucks are not properly secured and on the bridge there is a heated discussion between Captain Eriksen and his deputy van Damme about how to deal with the storm warning received. The captain's sudden heart attack complicates the situation. The next day, it is learned ashore that the Castor has sunk. Herwegh, the head of the commission of inquiry, then tries to find out who is morally responsible for the disaster and who the real culprits are. In the process, several human dramas unfold...

Icarus

MovieFamilyDrama

Eight-year-old Matthias dreams that he will someday become a pilot and his divorced parents will get back together. He waits yearningly for his ninth birthday because his father has told him the story of Icarus, and promised to take him on a sightseeing flight. When Matthias' father doesn't come home, he is devastated. He runs throughout the city, talks to his friend about the relationships of adults, looks for his father at his desk, and gets himself into conflict with the police. As he sits alone on the roof of a house, he comes to the conclusion that Icarus didn't plummet to the earth because he didn't listen to his father, but rather because his father had forgotten him.

Sheriff Teddy

Sheriff Teddy · 1957

MovieFamilyDrama

A story about thirteen years old Kalle who is moving with the family from West Berlin to East.

Coming Out

Coming Out · 1989

MovieDramaRomance

Philipp, a closeted teacher, is dating a female colleague to keep up appearances. One night he stumbles into a gay bar and falls for a man. Transformed by this love, he is no longer afraid to face up to who he is.

The Legend of Paul and Paula

The Legend of Paul and Paula · 1973

The Legend of Paul and Paula

MovieDramaRomance

Paul and Paula have had bad experiences with love: Paul is financially well off but has lost all affection for his wife, and Paula leads a troublesome life raising two children on her own. They meet and discover a strong passion for each other. Life seems like a dream when they're together - but their short flights from the burdens of reality are once and again interrupted by Paul's ties to family and career.

The Journey to Sundevit

The Journey to Sundevit · 1966

The Journey to Sundevit

MovieAdventureFamily

Little Tim Tammer, the son of a lighthouse keeper, lives right on the Baltic Sea beach, but his remote home often leaves him feeling lonely. When Young Pioneers pitch their tents nearby, he is overjoyed and quickly makes new friends.

The Mistake

The Mistake · 1992

It is 1988. Jacob, from Hamburg in West Germany, falls in love with Elisabeth in East Germany. When they secretly meet in East Berlin, it seems the Stasi (secret police) knows about it. When Jacob visits her village, someone informs on him and he is deported. Elisabeth knows who begrudges her this love and takes her revenge. Critics note that in this film, director Heiner Carow revisits the themes of his 1972 smash hit, The Legend of Paul and Paula, which became a cult film throughout Germany.

Until Death Do Us Part

Until Death Do Us Part · 1979

Until Death Do Us Part

MovieDramaRomance

Scenes from an East German marriage. A young couple, Sonya and Jens, are very much in love; they get married and have a child. When Sonya wants to go back to work after her maternity leave, they clash for the first time; Jens insists that she remain a full-time wife and mother. Until Death Do Us Part turns an actual police report into a gripping drama, as the director explores the depths of his characters' emotions, driving the conflict to a catastrophic climax.

Career

MovieDramaCrime

Günter Walcher, 40-years-old, is a hardworking, apolitical West German businessman caught in a moral conflict. He is offered a promotion to become the head of a division—on the condition that he find a reason to fire Zacharias, a communist and the work council chairman.

More Like This

Come and See

Come and See · 1985

The invasion of a village in Belarus by German forces sends young Flyora into the forest to join the weary Resistance fighters, against his family's wishes. There he meets a girl, Glasha, who accompanies him back to his village. On returning home, Flyora finds his family and fellow peasants massacred. His continued survival amidst the brutal debris of war becomes increasingly nightmarish, a battle between despair and hope.

Escape from Sobibor

Escape from Sobibor · 1987

Escape from Sobibor

MovieDramaThriller

The true story of WWII's notorious Sobibor Nazi death camp, where a courageous inmate orchestrates and leads the escape of over 300 prisoners.

Tobruk

MovieDramaHistory

In September 1942, the German Afrika Korps under Rommel have successfully pushed the Allies back into Egypt. A counter-attack is planned, for which the fuel dumps at Tobruk are a critical impediment. In order to aid the attack, a group of British commandos and German Jews make their way undercover through 800 miles of desert, to destroy the fuel dumps starving the Germans of fuel.

Law Abiding Citizen

Law Abiding Citizen · 2009

Law Abiding Citizen

MovieDramaCrime

A frustrated man decides to take justice into his own hands after a plea bargain sets one of his family's killers free. He targets not only the killer but also the district attorney and others involved in the deal.

The Big Bird Cage

The Big Bird Cage · 1972

The Big Bird Cage

MovieActionCrime

Women rebel against slave labor in a filthy jungle prison where they feed sugar cane to a mechanical maw.

All the Invisible Children

All the Invisible Children · 2006

All the Invisible Children

Seven short films - each one focused on the plight of a different child protagonist.

Slaughterhouse-Five

Slaughterhouse-Five · 1972

Slaughterhouse-Five

MovieDramaScience Fiction

Billy Pilgrim, a veteran of the Second World War, finds himself mysteriously detached from time, so that he is able to travel, without being able to help it, from the days of his childhood to those of his peculiar life on a distant planet called Tralfamadore, passing through his bitter experience as a prisoner of war in the German city of Dresden, over which looms the inevitable shadow of an unspeakable tragedy.

The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp

The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp · 1943

The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp

General Candy, who's overseeing an English squad in 1943, is a veteran leader who doesn't have the respect of the men he's training and is considered out-of-touch with what's needed to win the war. But it wasn't always this way. Flashing back to his early career in the Boer War and World War I, we see a dashing young officer whose life has been shaped by three different women, and by a lasting friendship with a German soldier.

Le Deuxième Souffle

Le Deuxième Souffle · 1966

Le Deuxième Souffle

MovieActionDrama

A gangster escapes jail and quickly makes plans to continue his criminal ways elsewhere, but a determined inspector is closing in.

Tales from the Hood

Tales from the Hood · 1995

Tales from the Hood

MovieHorrorCrime

A strange mortician tells four horrific tales to three drug dealers that he traps in a local funeral parlor.

Why We Fight: Prelude to War

Why We Fight: Prelude to War · 1942

Why We Fight: Prelude to War

MovieDocumentaryWar

Prelude to War was the first film of Frank Capra's Why We Fight propaganda film series, commissioned by the Pentagon and George C. Marshall. It was made to convince American troops of the necessity of combating the Axis Powers during World War II. This film examines the differences between democratic and fascist states.

Straight Time

Straight Time · 1978

MovieCrimeDrama

After being released on parole, a burglar attempts to go straight, get a regular job, and just go by the rules. He soon finds himself back in jail at the hands of a power-hungry parole officer.

In Enemy Hands

In Enemy Hands · 2004

At the height of Hitler's infamous U-boat war, the crew of the U.S.S. Swordfish were heading home after months at sea. They never made it. Now prisoners of war aboard U-boat 429, a small group of American survivors will find their loyalties put to the ultimate test when they're forced to join their German captors to fight for their very lives.

Rate this film

Your ratings make Midnight smarter