On the Nameless Height

On The Nameless Height is also a title of the Soviet song.

On the Nameless Height
Directed by	Vyacheslav Nikiforov
Written by	Yuriy Chernyakov
Starring	Viktoriya Tolstoganova Alexey Chadov Vladimir Yaglych Alexander Pashutin
Distributed by	Central Partnership, BelPartner TV
Release date(s)	8 March 2004 (Russian TV)
Running time	196 min. (4x49 min)
Country	Russia, Belarus
Language	Russian

On The Nameless Height (Russian: На безымянной высоте; Na bezymyannoy vysote), also known in English as On an Unnamed Hill^[1] and Unidentified Heights^[2], is a Russian-Belarusian TV film from 2004 in four parts, set in 1944 in the Second World War.

Plot

The location is the Belarusian forests, close to the Polish border, during Operation Bagration in the summer of 1944. After a short pause, the Red Army is preparing to advance, but on one segment of the front there are two serious obstacles: an unnamed hill with unknown German strength, and a highly skilled German sniper, who is killing off not only Russian officers, but also all captured German officers before they can be interrogated. Because of this, the local commander, Major Inozemtsev, suspects that the hill is a trap, which the Germans are very eager to keep a secret.

So, a female specialist sniper, Olga Pozdneyeva (Viktoriya Tolstoganova) arrives to eliminate the German sniper. On the same lorry with reinforcements are the carefree ex-convict soldier Kolya Malakhov, the new lieutenant for the unit's reconnaissance platoon, Alexey Malyutin, and the platoon's very experienced staff sergeant, Ivan Bessonov, who is returning after a spell in hospital.

On arrival, Kolya is assigned to be Olga's assistant, and he immediately falls in love with her although she tries to keep a professional distance, while Lieutenant Malyutin and the unit's telephone operator, Katya Solovyov, are quickly attracted to each other.

While the deadline for the offensive is drawing closer, the reconnaissance platoon continues to try to kidnap German officers for interrogation, Olga plays a cat and mouse game with the German sniper, and everyone is trying to avoid the fanatical SMERSH officer, Captain Shulgin, who suspects everyone of being a German spy or saboteur. Although Olga finally succeeds in killing the German sniper, they still don't know if the hill is a trap, so on the day of the offensive, the small reconnaissance platoon is ordered to take the hill before more troops are committed. They all know it's a suicide mission where all or most are going to die.

Main cast

• Viktoriya Tolstoganova - Olga, a sniper
• Alexey Chadov - Kolya Malakhov, private
• Vladimir Yaglych - Alexey Malyutin, lieutenant
• Andrey Golubev - Major Inozemtsev
• Anatoly Kot - Captain Shulgin, SMERSH
• Alexander Pashutin - Ivan Bessonov, staff sergeant
• Anna Kazyuchits - Katya Solovyov, telephone operator

See also

• The Star is a Russian film from 2002 which also describes the activities of the Red Army scouts during Operation Bagration

References

1. ^ IMDb release info for "Na bezymyannoy vysote" Retrieved 2011-09-25
2. ^ Unidentified Heights on YouTube Retrieved 2011-09-25

External links

• On the Nameless Height at the Internet Movie Database
• Facts about the series on Russian site Kino-Teatr Retrieved 2011-11-04
• All four parts subtitled in English on YouTube, as Unidetified Heights Retrieved 2011-11-04