Welcome back to Movie Recap. Today I'm gonna show you a 2015 Ukrainian biographical war film called,
Battle for Sevastopol. Spoilers ahead. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the video.
The movie begins in 1957 at Moscow Vnukovo Airport, wherein Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt,
the First Lady of the United States, pays Lyudmila Pavlichenko a visit and refuses to
attend a program in honor of her arrival in the Soviet. As Roosevelt gives the address
of Lyudmila to the driver, she then introduces Lyudmila to her secretary by telling the story.
Later, the reader begins narrating how Roosevelt met Lyudmila in an International
Students Antifascist Assembly in 1942. Lyudmila is a student who passed the entrance exams
for Kiev State University, and eventually, the Red Army contacts her to be part of the group.
As Roosevelt politely greets the pilots and army of the Soviet Union in the White House,
she begins interrogating Nikolai, a party worker, about his achievements in killing the enemies.
Afterward, she proceeds to Vladimir Pchelintsev, who introduces himself as a sniper. As Roosevelt
enjoys knowing the pilot students, Lyudmila suddenly introduces herself as Lyuda Pavlichenko,
a second lieutenant whose position is a sniper. To Roosevelt’s surprise, she asks Lyuda about the
number of men she killed, yet, Lyuda corrects Roosevelt that those are fascists she killed,
not men. Lyuda’s military record makes her a vital propaganda tool for the Soviets,
who parade her worldwide to collect funds for the fight against fascism.
Eventually, Lyuda reveals that she killed three hundred and nine fascists during the war,
making Roosevelt and the reporters suddenly surround her for countless interviews. And while
everyone tries to ask Lyuda about the war, Lyuda suddenly gets a flashback about her experience.
In 1937, Marsha excitedly ran towards the school board to check the passing
students on the examination of Kyiv University.
Fortunately, Marsha sees Lyuda’s name on the paper and happily announces her victory.
As they cheer, Lyuda, unfortunately, chooses to go home instead of celebrating.
However, Lyuda’s friends tell her that they will be waiting for her to come right after the class.
Later, Lyuda asks for her mother’s permission to borrow her dress. Meanwhile, Lyuda’s father,
Misha, suddenly gets home, so Lyuda approaches him to tell the good news, yet her father seems
not proud of Lyuda’s achievement. Afterward, Lyuda sees Misha almost
walking out the door and so she immediately asks when he will be back. Unfortunately,
Misha says not to wait for him for dinner. To Lyuda’s dismay, she interrupts her father. She
says that they already invited their neighbors to celebrate her admission, but then Misha excuses
himself to leave and asks what kind of celebration they need to do that Lyuda gives importance to it.
The following day, Lyuda meets her friends, including her female classmate named Masha.
While talking, Lyuda’s friends plan to celebrate her admission by going to a shooting range.
Fortunately, the rest of them agreed and spent their time shooting in the field.
While Lyuda’s female friends watch the boys compete, Lyuda suddenly joins them and asks for
a bullet from the shooting instructor. At first, the boys mock Lyuda about her decision to join,
but later on, they get shocked after watching Lyuda shoot the holes ideally.
Later, while Lyuda’s listening to her professor during their class,
a school faculty member suddenly enters the room and calls for Lyuda’s presence. In a twist of
events, Lyuda’s almost perfect shooting results at the range eventually result in the good news.
After getting her satchel, Lyuda proceeds to the office to talk with the headmaster.
Afterward, Lyuda receives a piece of information about the Red Army that contacts her to enter
a sharpshooting program within six months. After a while, Lyuda prepares her things in their
house for her training and ignores her father’s questions about her school program promotion.
Later, Lyuda gets busy answering her school tasks
while Masha spends her time mesmerizing over the sailormen that she wants to get.
While writing, a librarian suddenly interrupts her and commands that they go to the beach,
yet Lyuda refuses to follow his order and remains taking notes. So, the librarian asks
for Sonia’s help to convince Lyuda to go to the beach as he needs to close the library early.
After a while, Masha meets Kolya and Grisha at the beach after getting hit by a ball. Kolya tries
introducing himself to Lyuda, but Lyuda chooses to ignore him. Afterward, Masha tells Lyuda to
take a sight of the men playing volleyball on the beach when suddenly he sees Boris,
a Jewish doctor, coming their way. Sonia then leaves her brother Boris and Lyuda alone to talk.
Suddenly, Boris tells Lyuda that Sonia wants him to propose to her after seeing Lyuda’s
wearing a swimsuit. At first, Lyuda accepts Sonia’s offer to go to their house for dinner
to meet their parents, but when she hears the German attack, she decides to leave Boris’ house
and thinks about joining the battle. Afterward, Lyuda attends an opera together with
Boris. However, after hearing Boris saying that she’s not fit for war, she suddenly walks out.
To Lyuda’s dismay, she rejects Boris and leaves to fight on the
Eastern Front following the German invasion. Going back to 1942, Lyuda suddenly receives a
message from Roosevelt that she wants Lyuda to live in the White House during her stay.
Afterward, the reader continues narrating and says that the journalists called her
“Lady Death” after knowing that she killed a hundred men in the war. Because of her
braveness and intelligence, Roosevelt gets her attention and helps her to have a place to stay.
Eventually, Lyuda joins the army to fight against the German. Unfortunately, Lyuda faces tough
training as their Comrade Major feels eager to win the war and rescue the other soldiers from getting
captured. While training, the Comrade Major suddenly chooses Lyuda to partner with a grizzled
veteran sniper named Makarov after watching her performance on sniping the target hole.
Later, in 1941, the battle against the German began.
Lyuda follows the captain’s order by throwing the grenade first from a short-range,
then arrow slit the tank with armor-piercing rounds, and third, killing the driver. Afterward,
Lyuda favors the captain to give her a forward flank position to shoot wisely.
After a while, the attack begins, and Lyuda finally makes her move to follow the order despite
being outnumbered. As she snipes, Makarov suddenly witnesses Lyuda’s successful shoot to snipe the
driver’s eyes. Eventually, Lyuda passes out after wiping out the Vrazhites troops in the field.
Later, a soldier announces Lyuda’s destroying tanks,
Major General Petroc and Commander 25 Chapaevsk division. Because of that,
Lyuda receives a semi-automatic SVT rifle given by the General.
Afterward, the captain teaches Lyuda how to use a rifle. While talking, Lyuda asks him if
he has a wife when suddenly she hears Masha’s voice outside, calling her name. Fortunately,
Lyuda gets reunited with her old classmate, Masha, who becomes a nurse and gets engaged with a young
pilot named Grisha. Afterward, Masha sees Makarov in the tent and asks if that’s her boyfriend.
Lyuda then tells her that he will be soon. While defending the city of Odessa,
Lyuda gets injured after saving her comrade on the battlefield. Unfortunately, Lyuda refuses to
follow his order to stay in the position and continues sniping the enemy, the reason why
she gets into trouble and gets shot by the German troops. Luckily, there’s Masha to cure her wounds.
Later at night, Lyuda spends his dinner with Masha and Grisha when suddenly the two of them excuses
themselves, leaving Lyuda alone. Afterward, a man suddenly enters the tent and kisses Lyuda.
Lyuda beats him out while Makarov sees them. Lyuda then follows Makarov outside, only to know that he
can’t return her affection. Makarov then explains that he lost his family when the Germans invaded.
The following day, Lyuda prepares herself for war as the German attacks again in Odessa.
Unfortunately, Odessa gets injured due to the explosion and passes out. Makarov then quickly
drags her to safety to a local hospital, where Boris has volunteered as a military doctor.
Going back to the present time in 1942, Roosevelt teaches Lyuda to cook Borscht for their meal as
they stay in the White House. While cooking, Lyuda teaches Roosevelt to pronounce the word “Borscht”
correctly when suddenly Roosevelt drops the pan and makes Lyuda panic. Roosevelt then tries to
calm her down and asks Lyuda what made her panic. In 1941, at Sevastopol Evacuation, Lyuda recovered
herself from the explosion in Odessa city, while Boris, on the other hand, is taking care of her.
While staying on the ship, a sudden attack from German troops shoots every person
in the boat using an aircraft. Boris then immediately finds Lyuda to save her. However,
it is Masha who finds Lyuda and calms her down. Afterward, Boris approaches them and says that
it’s not safe for her to get back on the front. Meanwhile, at the headquarters of Sevastopol,
Lyuda approaches Ivan to sign her papers and proves that she’s already healthy. Ivan then
agrees and offers to get her some tea. Lyuda finds out that Makarov has died in battle, and the
Soviets are retreating to Sevastopol as they walk inside. Afterward, Lyuda talks to Boris to help
her, and fortunately, she manages to get Boris to sign her papers to return to the front lines.
Once back on the front, the captain pairs Lyuda with a male sniper named Leonid.
Because of her desire to revenge Makarov’s death, Leonid suddenly feels the horror after seeing
Lyuda wounding enemy soldiers while watching them suffer. It seems like Lyuda’s enjoying killing
people after her numerous shoots at the enemy. So, Leonid warns her that they are not fascists
and should prevent herself from killing the man. Despite a rough start to the relationship, Lyuda
and Leonid eventually develop a close romance as they do their mission to kill the enemies.
The following day, Lyuda celebrates their success from surviving in Sevastopol. While celebrating,
Lyuda and Leonid get into trouble. Afterward, Leonid suddenly kisses him after beating the man.
Suddenly, Leonid and Lyuda confess their love for each other.
The following day, Masha, a nurse on the frontline, calls Leonid and Lyuda to witness
her wedding. Then, afterward, she reveals the death of her fiancé. Lyuda and Leonid then
mourn Grisha’s death as they toast with Masha. And because of the development of their relationship,
Lyuda tells Leonid privately that she wants a son, but Leonid remains quiet, not answering her favor.
Later, while Lyuda and Leonid patrol in a field, Leonid suddenly steps on a mine
that triggers a flare. To their surprise, it signals artillery fire onto the pair’s position.
So, Lyuda and Leonid run faster to save themselves, but then they fail to escape the
field and, unfortunately, kill Leonid. Afterward, Lyuda carries Leonid and calls for help.
Lyuda again wakes up in a field hospital, where Boris tells her that Leonid dies in the ambush.
For the second time, Lyuda lost another precious man from her life. As Boris tries to calm her
down, the Commander suddenly enters and orders his men to take Lyuda as they need her for the front.
At first, Boris threatens him to complain to the General about what he’s doing to Lyuda,
but later on, he leaves no choice but to follow after hearing that it is an order that Lyuda
stands on her feet. So, despite getting wounded and exhausted, Lyuda is ordered to
kill a top enemy sniper for Soviet propaganda. The following day, Lyuda starts practicing her
sniping skills for her duel against the enemy sniper. But before she leaves for the battle,
she goes first to the Commander to see the photo of the mission she’s ordered to kill.
As the Commander talks, Lyuda suddenly tells him that she’s not the best sniper anymore.
Lyuda then says that the report from the military doctor says she’s not fit for military service any
longer. Yet, the Commander continues convincing her and even says that it’s also for Leonid.
Without hesitation, Lyuda agrees and accepts the order.
Afterward, Lyuda goes to the location where the enemy sniper is hiding.
The duel lasts for an entire day; eventually, Lyuda gets tired of waiting, so she steps
out of cover, exposing herself completely. Unfortunately, Lyuda gets shot by the enemy.
However, she manages to pinpoint the sniper’s location and kill him.
Afterward, Lyuda walks toward the enemy and finds the pictures of him and his wife. Later,
Lyuda suddenly cries as she remembers Leonid and their almost wedding as she looks at the photo.
Meanwhile, Boris goes to the office of the General to report the wounded and traumatized Lyuda that
she needs to evacuate the city immediately. At the same time, Sevastopol is being evacuated
under siege, making the civilians panic as they attempt to get on the board. Convinced,
the General allows Lyuda to evacuate the city. Later at night, Boris and Lyuda get to the board
with the civilians. Lyuda realizes that Boris gave her his papers to leave the city as they
successfully step inside the boat. Unfortunately, only Lyuda will escape the Sevastopol,
leaving Boris behind to take the next steamer. Afterward, the reader continuously narrates,
saying that the defense of Sevastopol lasted over two hundred and fifty days, yet the enemy
is still there. Unfortunately, there is no evacuation organized for troops and citizens.
Only the General and officers from the command were safely evacuated by boats. Then, suddenly,
a voiceover reveals that Boris, Masha, and countless civilians and soldiers died defending
the city from the Germans. Unfortunately, the Germans kill about eighty thousand civilians
and soldiers after battling against them. Meanwhile, in 1942, Lyuda finally made her
speech in Chicago, Illinois. At first, Lyuda attempts to embrace her femininity by wearing
a dress for her address in New York. But unfortunately, the Soviet propaganda minister
refuses to allow her favor as he tells her that she’s a soviet soldier and not a woman.
He then forces Lyuda to change back into a Red Army uniform. Then, as she begins her address,
Lyuda introduces herself by telling them the number of fascists she killed during the war.
To everyone’s astonishment, Lyuda makes a vital impression on the predominantly male crowd as
she finishes her speech by asking, “Don’t you think, gentlemen, that you have been hiding behind
my back for too long?”. Because of that, Lyuda receives a round of applause from the audience,
resulting in her successful speech. The movie ends with Lyuda finishing her studies
in the university and luckily receiving a Hero of the Soviet Union award in the highest rank.
Then, after fifteen years, Roosevelt plans on visiting Lyuda while spending her time
on a trip to Moscow, USSR. There, Roosevelt finishes Lyuda’s story
by telling her secretary that Lyuda won as a diplomat, a soldier, and a woman. Afterward,
Roosevelt attends the opera with Lyuda and her son, assuming that the boy is Leonid’s child.