The feat is stronger than emotions: how the film about Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya turned out

On Thursday, January 28, the historical drama "Zoya", dedicated to the feat of the partisan Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya, is released on large screens.

The project was initiated by the Russian Military Historical Society (RVIO), and the script was based on historical documents and eyewitness accounts of tragic events.

The director of the film is Maksim Brius, who previously worked on the series Alien District and High Stakes.

Andrey Nazarov ("Sobibor", "Tanks") and Andrey Tumarkin ("Lonely", "Alien District") were involved in the script.

Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya was played by the theatrical actress Anastasia Mishina.

Previously, she played small roles in the series "Conclusion" and "Wolf", but both projects have not yet been released.

The action of the film "Zoya" covers several months of the life of the main character.

The events originate in the summer of 1941 at the school graduation, where a girl, who has not yet imagined what awaits her in the future, dances, has fun with friends and reflects on happiness, being in the arms of her lover.

The idyll collapses immediately after Vyacheslav Molotov's historic speech on the radio, and a colorful and positive scene is replaced by dark, dramatic episodes.

The filmmakers tell about the next months of Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya's life somewhat superficially, focusing on key points, including the farewell to her beloved before he leaves for the war, the news of his death, after which the girl decides to go to the front, the heroine enters the partisan unit and the first task of the saboteurs ...

• © kinopoisk.ru

The episode in which the young saboteurs go on their first mission turned out to be extremely emotional.

Not long before that, they were told in almost plain text that they would most likely die in captivity from torture.

At the moment of parting, the curator of the group gathers the wards as his children: he straightens his clothes, gives the last instructions and rushes to go with them, just to help.

All these scenes, smoothly leading the viewer to the events that unfolded in the last days of Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya's life, convey the horrors of war that the viewer sees through the eyes of the main character.

Zoya herself appears on the screen as a strong and decisive, but at the same time a very lively and sensitive girl who has fallen into dire circumstances.

Almost from the first shot, she proudly declares that she is not afraid of anything and is ready to die for the Motherland and loved ones, but she cannot hold back her tears.

Anastasia Mishina managed to create a vivid image and convey the storm of emotions that her heroine experiences.

Most likely, the audience will not be left indifferent by the play of the other actors who performed key roles.

All of them on the part of their characters convincingly demonstrated fear and willingness to make sacrifices no matter what.

I was especially surprised by Daria Yurgens, familiar to a wide audience mainly for the roles of strong and daring women.

Here she appeared in the form of a soft, loving and caring mother, seeing her children off to the war.

The film also features Alexander Vontov, Anna Ukolova, Karina Razumovskaya, Nikita Kologrivy, Evgeny Romantsov and other artists.

The culmination of the film is the capture of Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya and subsequent torture.

The filmmakers demonstrate them as discreetly as possible (after all, the picture is released with a rating of "12+").

However, what hit the screen is enough to understand the horror that the main character had to face.

The gloomy atmosphere enhances the sensations: the events unfold in cramped houses occupied by dozens of German soldiers, almost all servicemen are shown as beasts and sadists.

The heavy video sequence is completed by the meager lighting from a fire in the stove and kerosene lamps and dramatic music.

• © kinopoisk.ru

The final scenes of the film have obvious references to biblical stories (it was originally assumed that the film would be called "The Passion for Zoe").

So, after all the torment and manifestation of Zoe's incredible self-sacrifice, right before the execution, a resident of a Nazi-occupied village washes the heroine's feet, just as a sinner washed the feet of Jesus.

At the end of the film, a tragic song to the verses of the poet Dmitry Donskoy "Zoya" sounds, in which we are talking about "Russian Golgotha".

Soviet Jeanne d'Arc

Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya was born on September 13, 1923 in the village of Osino-Gai, Tambov province.

Her grandfather was a priest and died during the Civil War.

Zoe's parents were teachers.

In 1929, the Kosmodemyanskiy family moved to Siberia.

According to one version, they were expelled for criticizing the authorities, according to another, they voluntarily moved to the Irkutsk region.

The Kosmodemyanskys did not live long in Siberia.

A year later, Zoya's mother's sister, who worked at the People's Commissariat of Education, helped them move to Moscow.

In the capital, Zoya entered school # 201.

She studied well and dreamed of becoming a student at the Literary Institute.

The girl had a heightened sense of justice and responsibility.

As a Komsomol grouporg, she invited the class to help the illiterate learn.

The guys agreed at first, but then did not find time for the social burden.

Because of this, Zoe had a conflict with her comrades, which provoked her severe depression.

In the fall of 1941, Zoya volunteered for the Red Army.

After a short training, she was enrolled in the partisan unit 9903 of the headquarters of the Western Front.

During the battle for Moscow, Zoya, as part of a reconnaissance and sabotage group, destroyed the communications of the Nazi troops in the Volokolamsk region.

In November, according to the order of the Headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, she participated in the destruction of settlements that the Nazis used as strongholds.

In the village of Petrishchevo, the Nazis captured Zoya.

Despite the cruel torture, the girl did not say anything about her assignment and did not betray her comrades.

On November 29, 1941, the Nazis executed Zoya.

Before her death, she called on Soviet citizens to fight the invaders.

The military commander Pyotr Lidov learned about the girl's feat from local residents.

He wrote an article about this in the newspaper Pravda.

Soon the identity of the heroine was established.

In February 1942, Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

She became the first woman to receive this award during the Great Patriotic War.

Zoe's heroism caused a huge resonance.

Some began to call the Soviet girl Jeanne d'Arc.

The Red Army men were eager to take revenge on the enemy for her death.

Zoya's younger brother Alexander also volunteered for the front, graduated from a military school and rose to the rank of ISU-152 battery commander of a heavy self-propelled artillery regiment.

Alexander Kosmodemyansky died heroically in April 1945 in the Königsberg area.

Like his sister, he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.