They Fought for Their Motherland

Overview

In July 1942, in the Second World War, the rearguard of the Russian army protects the bridgehead of the Don River against the German army while the retreating Russian troops cross the bridge. While they move back to the Russian territory through the countryside, the soldiers show their companionship, sentiments, fears and heroism to defend their motherland.

Details

Cast

Vasiliy Shukshin

Pyotr Lopakhin

Vyacheslav Tikhonov

pvt. Nikolay Strel'tsov

Sergey Bondarchuk

pvt. Ivan Zvyagintsev

Georgi Burkov

pvt. Alexander Kopytovsky

Yuriy Nikulin

pvt. Nekrasov

Ivan Lapikov

sergeant Poprischenko

Nikolai Gubenko

lieutenant Goloschyokov

Andrei Rostotsky

corporal Kochetygov

Nikolay Volkov

pvt. Nikiforov

Mykola Shutko

cook lisichenko

Evgeniy Samoylov

Colonel Marchenko

Nonna Mordyukova

Natalya Stepanovna

Innokentiy Smoktunovskiy

surgeon

Angelina Stepanova

old Cossack woman

Irina Skobtseva

head nurse

Tatyana Bozhok

nurse

Lidiya Fedoseyeva-Shukshina

Glasha

Danylo Ilchenko

Luka Mikhalych

Aleksey Vanin

soldier Akim Borzykh

Nikolay Gorlov