At War as at War

At War as at War (1969) is a Soviet war drama you can watch online on iFILM, directed by Viktor Tregubovich. Based on Viktor Kurochkin's 1965 novella, the film puts a freshly commissioned junior lieutenant in command of a battle-hardened self-propelled gun crew in the last months of World War II.

Maleshkin (Mikhail Kononov) has the rank but not the trust. His men have years of combat behind them and make no secret of their scepticism. Every skirmish is also a test: will he hold his nerve, earn the crew's respect, or get someone killed?

Oleg Borisov and Viktor Pavlov as veterans give the film its texture — the boredom between firefights, the dark jokes, the small cruelties of hierarchy. Made in 1969, when Soviet war cinema was letting itself be more candid about fear and improvisation, it sits closer to a coming-of-age story than a battle epic. Stream At War as at War online on iFILM.