Genre: War
Duration: 96 mins
Format: 35mm
Director: Aleksei German
Cast: Rolan Bykov, Anatoly Solonitsyn, Vladimir Zamansky, Oleg Borisov
Censorship Rating: (PG) Parental Guidance Recommended (Occasional low level violence)

Based on a story by German's father, Trial on the Road is a gritty World War II drama about a former Red Army lieutenant who defects to the Nazis on ideological grounds, then decides to switch sides again to defend his homeland. The partisan brigade who capture him are suspicious and in order for him to prove that he was originally Russian, he is subjected to a series of operations behind enemy lines. The film was banned for over 14 years because the Soviet State claimed the film undermines the War-ideals of heroism and loyalty. Trial on the Road is a realistic and unheroic account of war and its effect on the human spirit.truly mesmerizing example of award-winning, new Russian cinema.



Print courtesy of the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia