Rent Behind Enemy Lines (2016)

Convincing WWII encounter between villagers and a lost patrol - Behind Enemy Lines review by DR

The events take place in what seems to be a Ukrainian village, really a hamlet, during World War 2. A German patrol has been cut off behind Russian lines and takes refuge with the villagers who are as it turns out ethnic Germans. As such the latter are liable to resettlement far to the east but the trucks to take them away do not arrive until the drama with the soldiers has played out. There are no able bodied men in the village, probably because they have been recruited by the Russian army. The fears and conflicts within the patrol and among the villagers and the relationships that develop are engagingly portrayed. The common language and culture of the two groups must be set against the conflicted identity of the villagers. Are they German or Russian, and where do their loyalties lie? Ultimately it is a question of survival, and it must be pursued by the women of the village on the one hand, and the desperate soldiers on the other.

Interesting 1941-set WWII Film with Nazi soldiers stranded in an Ethnic German Soviet village - Behind Enemy Lines review by PV

OK so this film was original in its depiction of German soldiers in WWII who find themselves in a village of ethnic Germans within the Russian borders. There used to be a lot of such colonies of Germans in various countries eg Turkey - now just the graveyards remain. Ditto for the British in many African and Asian lanes and the Caribbean too. The German colonies tend to be in eastern Europe as far as Turkey (And of course lands neighbouring Germany like the Czech Sudetenland from which German-speaking ethnic Germans were expelled at the end of WWII.

I enjoyed this film despite the rather clunking deus ex machina which kicks everything off. No explanation or reason behind it.

Anyway, it all flows from there and is interesting - though not sure how true the story was. A clip at the end (no spoilers) would seem to suggest truth here.

One BIG issue I had was that all the pretty young women (very unrealistic for Russian peasants who in real life would be toothless and sunbeaten so prematurely aged) all looked so similar, I wanted them to wear name tags at times. It was really confusing.

Sometimes I had the same issue with the German soldiers too.

But fascinating as well as tense and watchable. It's a bit like a WWII Agatha Christie wondering who'll be done in next...

I would compare it to excellent Russian/German films like The Occupation and Occupied, also set in such Russian/Ukrainian villages caught in the middle between the Nazis and the Soviet Army in the Second World War. Or the wonderful 5 star GENERATION WAR TV series.

SO 3.5 stars rounded up