hte-trasme Well, I thought this was a fantastic production - very engrossing, with excellent performances, artistic direction, and intelligent scripts. It's a great example of how a television mini-series, as a format, can bring a novelistic type of depth of story and character to the screen. And it's easy to see why it's still so iconic in Russia. By any technical definition, this particular series is propaganda -- it was ordered specifically by the Soviet government in order to interest more young people in the spy service. Any maybe it did. But "Seventeen Moments of Spring" acts in a way that's completely opposite to the propaganda usually works. Instead of simplifying issues and making them into easy black-and-white decisions, this series complicates them -- dwelling on the difficulty of the heroes' decisions, and taking care to imbue the Geramans with more humanity rather than less. It's notable and, I think, key to the series' success that the centerpiece of each episode consists of one or two long, tense, subtle dialogue-heavy scenes. The contrast of the action-oriented expectations from the subject of spies and war with the tense character drama that we see is excellent. The integration of real footage from the war and cameos from other major players are really well-apportioned, and give the character scenes that we're watching more importance to us for our having been reminded of their contextual importance. The music is about perfect as well, helping to set the tone. In all, it's a spy drama who main modes are subtle, thoughtful melancholy in the foreground, with the element of constant danger tinging it from the background. In that, it's tone is unexpected and very successful. More than worth watching, even for those who don't normally go in for war or spy films.

South62 Reading comments I am glad to see that 90 percent of them are speaking about this serial in superlatives. Nothing better could be done in Brezhnev Era but in this context I am not underlining that fact like an obstacle. Russian creativity was always able to overrun political circumstances. I am posting this comment to point out one of the most touching and best acted scenes in entire motion-picture history. Character acted by Tikhonov is Soviet spy enduring 17 years in Nazi-surroundings. Bosses from Moscow Centre know in what kind of psychological pressure he was and want to help him in in some way. NKVD arranges meeting between Stierlitz and his real Soviet wife. They met in one restaurant somewhere in Third Reich. They did not see each other for years but due to security reasons and keeping Stierlitz's under cover job, man and woman must not talk, must not show that they even know each other. They are permitted just to look each other for couple of minutes. Tikhonov made acting bravura: extremely high emotional suffering suppressed by duty. He did not show he knows the lady. Nobody in German restaurant noticed nothing but TV audience understood his pain.

sunlion This series are far greater than anything that has been filmed about war ever. It shows closely characters of German Nazi top during the last weeks of the war, when they understand that the war is lost. A Russian spy is working among them speeding up the war's end.The pace of the film is slow and thorough, the movie is meant for people with ability to analyze, reflect. Characters of the people involved are depicted are so lively that the film fuses with the documentary pieces. Acting is extremely raw and natural, it actually in't acting, it's living. Tihonov in a role of Stirlitz portrays a real spy - brilliantly talented, sharp, calm, cold, patient - everything that areal spy has to be. At the same time he is not a greedy adventurous coat-turner, he works for his country, his people, his family. And the last - this film works as a litmus test on people. If you don't understand it you simply haven't matured for it. The film itself is flawless.

Maksik In the history of Soviet movie there are only two examples of transformation of screen heroes in folk story ('anecdote') heroes. The first was famous "Chapayev" (1934) and the heroes were Chapayev and Petka. The second is "Semnadtsat mgnoveniy vesny" and the heroes are Stirlitz and Muller. Despite of thousands of anecdotes, "Semnadtsat mgnoveniy.." is a very nostalgic, humane, sincere movie and it delivers to us moments of truth. I like it very much.