I cannot recommend this series highly enough. At the time of writing, it is available free-of-charge on the 'Epic Media English' channel on YouTube with decent English sub-titles.
Georgy Zhukov is right up there with the giants of history but unfortunately most of us in the West are none the wiser about the exploits of this great hero of the Russian people and his treatment at the hands of Stalin, Khrushchev and Brezhnev who felt threatened by his popularity.
This epic series takes up Zhukov's life at the end of the 'Great Patriotic War'. Known as the Second World War to the rest of us, we can barely grasp the sacrifices the Russian people made in defeating Nazi Tyranny both on theirs and our behalf only to fall back under the heel of Stalin & Beria as they tried to re-build their beloved country devastated by the brutality of war like no other.
Real footage is seamlessly interspersed throughout thanks to the uncanny resemblances of the main actors to the real protagonists. But looks alone would not have been sufficient to carry this great story and those larger-than-life personalities. The performances are worthy of many Oscars, yet these accomplished performers are virtually unknown outside of Russia.
There is a poignant musical influence centred around popular Russian folk singer, Lidia Andreyevna Ruslanova, a close friend of the Zhukov's and also a victim of Stalin's purges. Ruslanova aside, we are also witness to a four-sided love triangle which is no less poignant in spite of its glib undertones.
The final episode tugs at the heartstrings and took me back to the 'Last Days of Patton' if not in specifics then in the broad strokes that marked the final days of these two giants of the military.
Georgy Zhukov is right up there with the giants of history but unfortunately most of us in the West are none the wiser about the exploits of this great hero of the Russian people and his treatment at the hands of Stalin, Khrushchev and Brezhnev who felt threatened by his popularity.
This epic series takes up Zhukov's life at the end of the 'Great Patriotic War'. Known as the Second World War to the rest of us, we can barely grasp the sacrifices the Russian people made in defeating Nazi Tyranny both on theirs and our behalf only to fall back under the heel of Stalin & Beria as they tried to re-build their beloved country devastated by the brutality of war like no other.
Real footage is seamlessly interspersed throughout thanks to the uncanny resemblances of the main actors to the real protagonists. But looks alone would not have been sufficient to carry this great story and those larger-than-life personalities. The performances are worthy of many Oscars, yet these accomplished performers are virtually unknown outside of Russia.
There is a poignant musical influence centred around popular Russian folk singer, Lidia Andreyevna Ruslanova, a close friend of the Zhukov's and also a victim of Stalin's purges. Ruslanova aside, we are also witness to a four-sided love triangle which is no less poignant in spite of its glib undertones.
The final episode tugs at the heartstrings and took me back to the 'Last Days of Patton' if not in specifics then in the broad strokes that marked the final days of these two giants of the military.
