Osvobozhdenie, German: Befreiung, Polish: Wyzwolenie) is a film series released in 1970 and 1971, directed by Yuri Ozerov and shot in wide-format NIKFI process (70 mm).

After concluding that the Belarus marshes are passable, Rokossovsky demands that the main effort be directed towards Bobruisk and insists until Stalin approves.

[1] In the 1960s, both the Soviet government and military command were dismayed and disgruntled by several Western films about World War II which made no reference to the Red Army's participation in it, most prominently The Longest Day, though in 1967 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer was planning an American-Russian international co-production of Cornelius Ryan's The Last Battle about the fall of Berlin.

German film scholar Ralf Schenk noted that "virtually all means were made available... for Ozerov";[4] Lars Karl estimated the project's budget was equivalent to US$40 million.

[2] From the very beginning, it was made clear that the films should not deal with the darker chapters of World War II, such as the defense of Moscow and Stalingrad, but only with the Red Army's unbroken string of victories from the Battle of Kursk onwards.

[13] The script introduced many little-known details about the Soviet-German War's history, that were rarely discussed publicly: notably, General Andrey Vlasov was presented for the first time in Soviet cinema.

[19] A major obstacle facing the producers was that most of the Soviet leadership took part in the war; Many high-ranking officers and politicians were portrayed in the films with their wartime ranks, and the actors depicting them had to receive the models' blessing.

Vasily Shukshin recounted that upon seeing Zaqariadze in the Stalin costume – that was made by the dead premier's own personal tailor, who was contacted by the studio for this purpose[1] – General Shtemenko instinctively stood to attention and saluted.

[24] 3,000 troops, 100 tanks, 18 military aircraft and hundreds of artillery pieces were used to recreate the Battle of Kursk;[4] 30 kilometers of trenches were dug to resemble the wartime fortifications.

[14] The outdoor photography for Main Blow took place in Lithuania, near Pabradė, since the marshes in Belarus – the location of the 1944 battles depicted in the film – were being drained.

Indoor fighting was filmed in Mosfilm's studios, and the U-Bahn scene took place in Moscow's metro – where Myaghkov rebuilt the Kaiserhof station.

[31] Denise J. Youngblood wrote that, considering the "unprecedented" public relations campaign the film received and the forced attendance of viewers, the last part's success of drawing only 28 million moviegoers was "almost pitiable".

The Fire Bulge/Breakthrough was screened outside the competition in the 1970 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, and Yuri Ozerov received a special prize of the Czechoslovak-Soviet Friendship Society.

[35] The readers of the journal Sovietsky Ekran, the State Committee for Cinematography's official publication, chose The Direction of the Main Blow as the best film of 1971.

[12][36] Ozerov, Bondarev, Cinematographer Igor Slabnevich and Art Director Alexander Myaghkov were all awarded the Lenin Prize in 1972 for their work on Liberation.

[38] In accordance with government endorsement, the Soviet press excessively promoted the Liberation, and war veterans published columns praising its authenticity.

Ozerov declared in the February 1971 issue of the Soviet magazine Art of Cinema that his film should be considered as one of the best dealing with the theme of the Great Patriotic War, along the likes of the 1964 The Alive and the Dead.

[12] Eventually, the series was never selected to appear on the official lists of the greatest World War II films, which were compiled on every fifth Victory anniversary.

[8] Lazar Lazarev wrote in his memoirs that Liberation was a return to the style of the propagandistic films before the Thaw, "a modern version of The Fall of Berlin".

Immediately after the war, propaganda epics like The Fall of Berlin presented it as an heroic, collective effort of the people that was brilliantly led by Stalin.

After his death, the Khrushchev Thaw enabled filmmakers to depict the war as a personal, inglorious experience of the individual participants – with films as Ivan's Childhood or Ballad of a Soldier.

[9][40][41] In an essay on the series, Dr. Lars Karl wrote: "In this context, Liberation held special importance": he regarded it as ushering the Brezhnev Stagnation into Soviet cinema, during which "a new conservatism and sharpened censure molded the cinematic image of the war into conventional patterns.

"[9] Mira and Antonin Liehm also noted that with its focus on the politicians and generals rather than ordinary people, it was "almost reminiscent of the 'Artistic Documentary' period" – the era of the Stalinist epics.

Even the splitting of the plot to three lines – leaders' meetings, "huge battle scenes" and parts featuring common people – was a return to that style.

[47] Liberation presented Stalin as the Supreme Commander, his first major appearance on screen since the Secret Speech[48] – a token to the Brezhnev Era softer view of him,[2][12] Still, his character did not occupy a central role as it had done in the films produced during his reign.

And chiefly, the 20 July Plot conspirators were presented as heroes, providing positive Germans to identify with beside the communist resistance; in East Germany they were always depicted as aristocratic opportunists who turned on Hitler only when their own status was in peril.

[8] German author Christoph Dieckmann wrote that "Despite of all the propaganda, Liberation is an anti-war film, a memento mori to the uncountable lives sacrificed for victory.

He noted that Roosevelt and Churchill are depicted as "paper tigers" who are keen to reach a settlement with Hitler; in the Battle of Berlin, Stalin informs both that he knows of the covert Dulles-Wolff dealings when they assemble in the Yalta Conference, a month before the actual negotiations took place; in reality, the Soviets were notified about them beforehand.

[51] Russian historian Boris Sokolov wrote that the film's depiction of Battle of Kursk was "completely false" and the German casualties were exaggerated.

"[53] Grigory Filaev called the films an "encyclopedia of myths", and claimed that they spread the falsehood according to which Stalin ordered Kiev to be captured before the eve of the 26th Anniversary of the October Revolution.