PHJ № 1 (49) 2026 — I. N. Strekalov. THE EPIC FILM “LIBERATION”: A CONTINUATION OF THE EPIC POST-WAR TRADITIONSOR A NEW STAGE IN THE SOVIET WAR CINEMA?
The article deals with the significance and role of the epic film “Liberation” (directed by Yuri Ozerov, 1970–1971) in the development of the Soviet film epic genre. Learning the archival documents of the Committee for Cinematography under the USSR Council of Ministers, the USSR Union of Cinematography Workers, and the Mosfilm Studios, the researcher concludes that the Soviet filmmakers came to the conclusion it was impossible to return to the traditions of the late Stalinist epics (“The Third Strike”, “The Battle of Stalingrad”, and “The Fall of Berlin”) when creating a new epic film about the Great Patriotic War, and they found possible to retain the epic form created in these films only. The film “Liberation” became an independent stage in the development of the Soviet military-patriotic cinema.