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Encounter at the Elbe
Directed by	Grigori Aleksandrov
Written by	Lev Sheynin Leonid Tur Pyotr Tur
Starring	Vladlen Davydov Konstantin Nassonov Boris Andreyev Lyubov Orlova Mikhail Nazvanov
Cinematography	Eduard Tisse
Music by	Dmitri Shostakovich
Production company	Mosfilm
Release date	1949 (1949)
Running time	104 min.
Country	Soviet Union
Language	Russian

Encounter at the Elbe (in Russian: Встреча на Эльбе, romanized: Vstrecha na Elbe) is a Soviet war film released in 1949 from Mosfilm, describing the conflict, spying, and collaboration between the Soviet Army advancing from the east and the U.S. Army advancing from the west. The two allied forces met each other for the first time on the River Elbe near the end of the World War II. This meeting occurred on April 25, 1945, which was usually remembered as “Elbe Day” in Western Bloc nations and as the "Encounter at the Elbe” in Eastern Bloc nations.

The film was directed by Grigori Aleksandrov, with music by Dmitri Shostakovich, which included “Yearning for the Homeland” (in Russian: Тоска по родине, the words by Yevgeny Dolmatovsky), that became popular at that time in the Eastern Bloc nations and among the leftists in the Western Bloc nations, including Japan.

Plot

In April 1945, in the German town of Altenstadt, divided by the Elbe River, the advancing Soviet forces meet the U.S. troops. The eastern part of the town becomes the Soviet occupation zone, while the western part is occupied by the Americans. The commanders of the Soviet and American sectors, Major Kuzmin and Major James Hill (a former schoolteacher before the war), maintain cordial relations as good neighbors. However, tensions rise as the Cold War begins to unfold.

General-businessman MacDermott organizes a systematic plundering of the territory occupied by the Allies, while in the Soviet sector, efforts are made to alleviate the suffering of the war-torn German civilians.

The town's mayor, distrustful of the Russians, flees from the eastern part to the western sector. However, outraged by the social and racial injustices in the American zone, he returns.

Meanwhile, in the Soviet occupation zone, a Nazi conspiracy organized by the Americans is uncovered. James Hill attempts to thwart the Nazis, remembering that they share a common enemy, but encounters a CIA emissary — a woman posing as a journalist. After the failure of the operation, she leaves Germany, promising Hill she will make him "a real American."

In the finale, Hill, now demoted, meets Kuzmin on a bridge over the Elbe; however, the bridge is symbolically raised.

Cast

• Vladlen Davydov – Major (later Colonel) Kuzmin, Soviet military commander
• Konstantin Nassonov – Maslov, military council member
• Boris Andreyev – Sergeant Yegorkin
• Lyubov Orlova – Journalist Janet Sherwood, an American agent
• Mikhail Nazvanov – Gen. James Hill
• Ivan Lyubeznov – Sergeant Harry Perebeynoga
• Vladimir Vladislavsky – General McDermot
• Faina Ranevskaya – Mrs. McDermot
• Andrei Petrov – Soviet officer
• Andrei Fajt – Nazi Schrank, hiding under the name of anti-fascist Krause
• Yuri Yurovsky – Professor Otto Dietrich
• Gennady Yudin – Kurt Dietrich
• Erast Garin – Captain Tommy
• Sergei Tsenin – Senator Woody
• Viktor Kulakov – Ernst Shmetau
• Lidiya Sukharevskaya – Elsa Shmetau
• Nikolai Nikitich – Schultz
• Rina Zelyonaya – female German with a bicycle
• Harijs Avens – American
• Yevgeny Kaluzhsky – General at the Embassy (uncredited)
• Mikhail Vorobyov – episode (uncredited)

See also

• Second World War
• Eastern Front (World War II)
• Elbe Day

References

1. The 40th Anniversary of "Elbe Day" Remembered (Time on line)
2. Encounter at the Elbe (IMDB)
3. Elbe-gawa (Yearning for the Homeland (in Japanese)

External links

• Encounter at the Elbe at IMDb

v t e Dmitri Shostakovich
List of compositions
Operas and operettas	The Nose Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District/Katerina Izmailova The Big Lightning (unfinished) Orango (unfinished) The Twelve Chairs (unfinished) Katyusha Maslova (unfinished) The Gamblers (unfinished) Moscow, Cheryomushki
Ballets	The Golden Age The Bolt The Limpid Stream
Symphonies	No. 1 in F minor No. 2 in B major (To October) No. 3 in E♭ major (The First of May) No. 4 in C minor No. 5 in D minor No. 6 in B minor No. 7 in C major (Leningrad) Leningrad première American premieres No. 8 in C minor No. 9 in E♭ major No. 10 in E minor No. 11 in G minor (The Year 1905) No. 12 in D minor (The Year 1917) No. 13 in B♭ minor (Babi Yar) No. 14 in G minor No. 15 in A major
Concertos	Piano No. 1 in C minor No. 2 in F major Violin No. 1 in A minor No. 2 in C♯ minor Cello No. 1 in E♭ major No. 2 in G major
Orchestral works	Tahiti Trot Suite from The Golden Age Suite from The Bolt Suite from The Limpid Stream Five Fragments Scherzo (1922) Suite for Jazz Orchestra No. 1 Suite for Jazz Orchestra No. 2 (orch. McBurney) Suite for Variety Orchestra No. 1 (arr. Atovmyan) Festive Overture Suite from Encounter at the Elbe Suite from The Gadfly (arr. Atovmyan) Novorossiisk Chimes, the Flame of Eternal Glory October "Intervision"
Concert/brass band	"March of the Soviet Militia"
Film music	The New Babylon Alone Golden Mountains Counterplan The Tale of the Priest and of His Workman Balda The Youth of Maxim Girl Friends The Return of Maxim The Vyborg Side Friends The Great Citizen Zoya Simple People The Young Guard Pirogov Michurin Meeting on the Elbe The Fall of Berlin Belinsky The Unforgettable Year 1919 The Gadfly Five Days, Five Nights Sofiya Perovskaya Hamlet King Lear Gogoliad (unfinished)
Vocal music	Suite on Finnish Themes Song of the Forests The Sun Shines Over Our Motherland Antiformalist Rayok From Jewish Folk Poetry The Execution of Stepan Razin Seven Romances on Poems by Alexander Blok Loyalty Six Poems by Marina Tsvetayeva Suite on Verses of Michelangelo Buonarroti Four Verses of Captain Lebyadkin
Chamber music	String quartets No. 1 in C major No. 2 in A major No. 3 in F major No. 4 in D major No. 5 in B♭ major No. 6 in G major No. 7 in F♯ minor No. 8 in C minor No. 9 in E♭ major No. 10 in A♭ major No. 11 in F minor No. 12 in D♭ major No. 13 in B♭ minor No. 14 in F♯ major No. 15 in E♭ minor No. 16 in B major (unrealized) Other Cello Sonata in D minor Piano Quintet in G minor Piano Trio No. 1 in C minor Piano Trio No. 2 in E minor Quartet Movement in E♭ major (c. 1960s) Violin Sonata Viola Sonata
Piano music	Three Fantastic Dances 24 Preludes Piano Sonata No. 2 in B minor Children's Notebook 24 Preludes and Fugues
Family	Galina Shostakovich (daughter) Maxim Shostakovich (son)
Named for Shostakovich	Dmitri Shostakovich-class ferry Saint Petersburg Academic Philharmonia Named After D. D. Shostakovich 2669 Shostakovich International Shostakovich Chamber Music Competition London Shostakovich Orchestra Shostakovich (1969–1981) Shostakovich Peninsula Shostakovich Quartet
Related articles	Concerto DSCH DSCH motif Europe Central Ian MacDonald Muddle Instead of Music The Noise of Time Shostakovich v. Twentieth Century-Fox Solomon Volkov Testimony: book film The War Symphonies: Shostakovich Against Stalin Wihuri Sibelius Prize
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• 1949 films
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• 1940s Russian-language films
• Films directed by Grigori Aleksandrov
• Aftermath of World War II
• Films scored by Dmitri Shostakovich
• Soviet black-and-white films
• Soviet war films
• Soviet propaganda films
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