“Only "Old Men" Are Going Into Battle” - Russian Movie Review

 

“Only "Old Men" Are Going Into Battle”

 

Russian Movie Review

 

 

Leonid Bykov, who also played the main part of the squadron leader, wrote and directed the legendary 1973 Soviet military drama film Only "Old Men" Are Going Into Battle, which is about World military II fighter pilots. Leonid Bykov, Yevgeny Onopriyenko, and Alexander Satsky wrote the screenplay. Vladimir Voytenko shot the movie, while Viktor Shevchenko composed the original soundtrack.The primary combat drama scenario of the movie is intercut with a lively artistic performance, in which the fighter squadron doubles as a community band during downtime, under the direction of its ardent captain turned conductor.

In two parts in the movie, when the squadron is engaged in extremely challenging dogfights with German fighter planes, only "old men" are sent aloft, leaving those who have just graduated from flight school to wait on the ground with the mechanics. Naturally, the majority of those veterans were soon replaced by the newbies, who quickly aged into "old men" before ascending to the sky while another group of newcomers waited with the mechanics on the ground.

The Battle of the Dnieper is when the film opens in the late summer of 1943.

The 2nd Squadron of the Fighter Aircraft Guard Regiment's pilots are on their way home after the operation. Captain Titarenko, widely known as "Maestro," the superior officer, is not present. Since he didn't even have enough fuel, nobody even dared to believe he would make it, but then all of a sudden a German Messerschmitt Bf 109 appears and makes an emergency landing on the airstrip. However, the advancing USSR soldiers spared him, and he was given a war trophy aircraft on an advance airstrip. It turns out that Maestro was shot down beyond enemy lines.

The following day, the regiment receives reinforcements, who are then divided among the squadrons. Several recruits seek to join the 2nd Squadron, including Second Lieutenant Aleksandrov and Third Lieutenants Shchedronov and Sagdullayev. Titarenko asks how well-versed they are in music: The 2nd Squadron is also known as the "Singing Squadron," as during downtime the commander conducts an amateur symphony that performs. Shchedronov performs "Darkie," receiving the eponymous moniker. The "old men" merely exchange a few words with the reinforcements before they go to stop a squadron of German bombers. The more seasoned pilots refuse to let the newbies join them, just stating, "You'll have your share of fighting sooner or later" since they are aware that the new pilots have only undergone basic training as a result of a condensed curriculum and are not prepared for combat.

They all make it back to the airport without incident, but Maestro is enraged because his wingman, First Lieutenant Skvortzov, fled the fight without a license, apparently not for the first time. After a serious debate, it is revealed that Skvortzov has subconsciously feared dogfights ever since he narrowly avoided a collision with a German ace pilot during the Battle of Kursk. Skvortzov, who is depressed, requests to be discharged from active service and instead joins in an infantry unit, but Titarenko destroys the report because he wants to give his comrade another chance.

The 2nd Squadron practices shows between flights. Despite his dislike of music, even Aleksandrov picks up the tambourine and quickly takes over leading the rehearsals from the captain.

The newcomers are eventually given permission to fly. Aleksandrov crashes-land his plane, totaling it in the process, and the captain gives him a severe reprimand. He doesn't take it seriously, though, and jokingly walks out into the field to collect some grasshoppers. Titarenko becomes furious and bans the lieutenant from flying and assigns him to "eternal airfield duty," while the other officers nick call Aleksandrov "Grasshopper."

Titarenko takes off in a prized Messerschmitt on a reconnaissance mission. In his absence, two female officers, Zoya and Masha, flying a Polikarpov Po-2 light bomber, make a forced landing on the airstrip. Immediately after meeting Masha, Sagdullayev falls in love, gaining the moniker "Romeo."

 

After finishing his recon operation, Titarenko verifies the presence of many German tanks in the area. He does another reconnaissance trip after he determines the additional forces are prepared for combat. On his way back, he is shot down after learning that the Germans covered their tanks with hay bales and sheds for cover. A member of the allied troops saves Maestro, but they mistake him for a German pilot. Despite wearing a Soviet uniform and speaking Russian well, they try to lynch him. When an infantryman slaps Titarenko in the face, he responds by punching the man, knocking him to the ground, and answering in a matter-of-fact way. This reassures the other troops, who are certain that a German wouldn't be able to speak German so well.

The captain receives a horse from the infantrymen, which he uses to return to the airfield. Upon his return, he hears from Makarych that Darkie has passed away; when he and his partner were practicing cooperative actions, a Focke-Wulf Fw 190 ace shot them both down. Romeo tells Masha he loves her in the interim. When Titarenko joins the CPSU, he is given the responsibility of setting an example for the new recruits and showing them how vulnerable Goring's top pilots are. Maestro challenges the Germans to a "joust," but before the combat even gets started, he determines that this is his wingman's final chance to prove himself. Skvortzov overcame his dread and came to the rescue, shooting down one of the enemy planes. Titarenko fakes a weapon breakdown, placing himself in terrible danger.

The airstrip is raided the next day by German air force aircraft. Grasshopper, who is still barred from flying, steals the commander's fighter, takes off, and guns down an adversary plane to defend the base. Female pilots from a neighboring regiment attend the squadron's performance, which is also attended by others. Song performed by Skvortzov is Moonlight Night. He launches a suicide ramming strike the following day, targeting an enemy railroad with his burning aircraft.

More hours pass. German occupation of USSR territory has almost entirely been ended. The "old men" are getting ready for combat, but now they now include Romeo, Maestro's wingman, and Grasshopper, leader of the 2nd Squadron, while Maestro is now a major and a regimental commander. Romeo requests Maestro's approval to get married fifteen minutes prior to flight because he and Masha may both be shot down at any moment. Maestro immediately grants Romeo's request. The newbies from the reinforcements are left on the airstrip as the "old men" take off once more.

Romeo was severely injured when the troop returned from the mission. He makes it to the airstrip and successfully lands there, but soon after, he passes away from his injuries. To break the bad news to Masha, Maestro, Makarych, and Grasshopper travel to the female regiment, where they discover that Masha and Zoya were also slain that day. The graves of the ladies are found by Makarych and Titarenko, who make a commitment to come back and sing "Darkie" once again "from the beginning to the end" once the war is done.

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