A POW plays 4D chess with Nazi intelligence while they think they're training him.
Second world war. In one of the German intelligence schools are preparing sabotage groups of Russian prisoners of war for casting in the USSR. Among them — Nikolai Verezhnikov, who, not being a professional scout, was able to impose their own game and interfere with the plans of the enemy…
Acting
Bortnikov's eyes do more work than the dialogue.
Direction
Lukinsky squeezes claustrophobia from every barracks frame.
Writing
Tight script where silence speaks louder than speeches.
Director
Ivan Lukinsky
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Made during the Khrushchev Thaw, this rare Soviet spy film humanizes enemies rather than painting cartoon Nazis — controversial for its moral ambiguity.
Imedo Kakhiani, playing Georgian prisoner Tatishvili, was actually Georgian — rare authentic casting in 1960s Soviet cinema. The real Abwehr school this depicts? Still classified when filmed.
SU
