They Fought for Their Motherland
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.
Vasiliy Shukshin
Piotr Lopakhin
Vyacheslav Tikhonov
pvt. Nikolay Strel'tsov
Sergey Bondarchuk
pvt. Ivan Zvyagintsev
Yuriy Nikulin
pvt. Nekrasov
Georgi Burkov
pvt. Alexander Kopytovsky
Ivan Lapikov
sergeant Poprischenko
Nikolai Gubenko
lieutenant Goloschyokov
Nikolay Volkov
pvt. Nikiforov
Nonna Mordyukova
Natalya Stepanovna
Innokentiy Smoktunovskiy
surgeon
Lidiya Fedoseyeva-Shukshina
Glasha
Andrei Rostotsky
corporal Kochetygov
Tatyana Bozhok
nurse
Mykola Shutko
cook lisichenko
Andrei Popov
author's narration
Evgeniy Samoylov
Colonel Marchenko
Irina Skobtseva
head nurse
Angelina Stepanova
old Cossack woman
Danylo Ilchenko
Luka Mikhalych
Aleksey Vanin
soldier Akim Borzykh
Gennady Safronov
the chairman
Boris Nikiforov
captain Sumskov
Anatoli Pereverzev
Khmiz
Vitaliy Leonov
soldier
Mikhail Chigaryov
soldier
Stanislav Borodokin
soldier
Leonid Trutnev
soldier
Pyotr Merkuryev
soldier
Yermakhmad Aralev
Aleksandr Konyashin
Ryadovoy
Igor E. Kuznetsov
Vladimir Myshkin
Gennadi Nenashev
Lev Pavlov
Nikolay Petrenko
Khoshim Rakhimov
Viktor Volkov
Nemets
Kolya Yefremov
Malchik
Yunus Yusupov
Igor Efimov
Pyotr Lopakhin (voice)
Natalya Gundareva
Glikeriya (voice)
Nikolay Gorlov
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