"Corner Work" Studio in partnership with "Art Pictures Studio" with the support of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, the Russian Military-Historical Society, the Russian Geographical Society and the Organizing Committee of the activities related with the centenary of the First World War, present the military-historical picture:
"BATTALION"
A feature film about the events of the First World War.
The film tells us about the heroism of the Women's "Death Battalion", the women's squad under the command of Maria Bochkareva, created in Petrograd under the orders of the Provisional Government in 1917. At the front line, they set an example of courage for men, while remaining women - full of dreams and hopes. The unique fate of these women is woven into a fascinating dramatic picture, allowing viewers to put themselves into the characters shoes and experience how difficult their choice was to sacrifice their lives for the motherland. Despite the troubled times, political contradictions tearing apart the country, the unfamiliar role of warriors, as these women were the first in the history of the country to be organized to bear arms, they held on to their ideals of high honor and deep faith in God and sacrificed their lives for the sake of the Fatherland, all in the name of freedom.
For the creators of "Battalion" these important words were spoken by the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin at the Federation Council on June 27, 2012; by allowing Russia's defeat in World War I, "the Bolsheviks committed an act of national betrayal. Our country had lost against the losing side - this is a unique situation. The responsibility for this lies with the leadership, who were the Bolshevik leaders ... Later, Soviet Russia learned from this defeat. The country's leadership had to atone in World War II. " That defeat in the First World War, the president believes, was the cause of this war becoming "taboo". It eventually resulted in "major casualties and territorial losses", but it was ignored in favor of "party interests".
Now it's time to pay the debts to those who died fighting for Russia in the First World War. We would also like younger viewers to realize how today's realities are linked back to the events of the past. The uniqueness of our chosen images of female soldiers will ensure a high degree of interest and sympathy of the audience, the pride of our people, of our past - and thus the growth of genuine, deep patriotism.
The First World War was referred to as the "Great" around the world until September of 1939, as its casualties and consequences had no match in the entire history of mankind.
The war lasted 4 years 3 months and 10 days, covering 38 countries, where three quarters of the world's population lived.
Up until this war, mankind had never witnessed such catastrophic casualties. More than 10 million soldiers and officers did not return home from the battlefield, another 20 million were wounded, gassed and crippled, powerful artillery wiped blossoming towns and villages, destroying entire countries.
More than seven million civilians were killed during the war.
This war had redefined global evolution, it gave an unprecedented impetus to the economy, social system and scientific progress, but it has also caused a major fall in humanity; the nation turned out to be capable of this downfall despite the achievements of civilization.
It actually destroyed European culture, making violence a legitimate weapon of solving international disputes and a tool for social change.
It left the nation full of anger causing revolution, civil war and, ultimately, led to the bloody drama of the Second World War.
Whose side are we on as the creators of the film? On the side of those who believed that the war should continue whatever the cost would be, or on the side of those who wanted to stop it?
And both had a hard-won truth - and they can not be good or bad.
Let's try to put ourselves in the place of those people - our ancestors, and try to make a decision - as if we lived then, and perhaps think about how to live and what to do now.
The feat of "Women's Battalion" was discounted by historians in the Soviet era - and only now modern politics and art allow viewers to learn the truth - about those days, those people, the deep and genuine patriotism of our people.