a great movie, little known outside USSR, and ??Japan?? i watched the a version based on the Japanese subtitled DVD, apparently it had only been released in Japan(?) the story is touching, heroic, and as follows the poetic filming of that era (eg ballad of a soldier, crane flying south). one of the most under-rated soviet B&W movies, and one where Germans are not stereotypically bad (when a German soldier did something terrible the rest showed faces which looked like disapproval)line 1 line 2 line... line 9 line freaking 10!!

I don't know why there's only few films about tank drivers or leaders, although tanks are among the most cinematic of all vehicles: frightening, attractive, impulsive... These symbols of war are loaded with the kind of emotion that is the essence of cinema. Unfortunately they are mainly seen as external effects, and war is only rarely seen through tank crew's eyes. Luckily we have "Zhavoronok", a Soviet masterpiece that almost makes any other tank film seem unnecessary.The story is about four POW's who escape from Nazi testing ground driving a T-34, and are chased through Germany while the tank itself proves to be nearly invincible when handled the right way. The tone is heroic, but not without ironic touches. The story has been handled with even more appealing sense of action than the American WW2 films of the time, although it's makers never forget to add exciting (and deeply Soviet/Russian) sequences with nightmares and absurd visions."Zhavoronok" is a quite rare film. I myself have seen it only on VHS-tape I bought from Moscow. It didn't have even subtitles, although it didn't need them. I sincerely hope that now, on the era of DVD's, "Zhavoronok" will make it's way to foreign markets, so that western viewers could also find this astonishing chase movie.

It was during World War II, in the territory of Germany.The Germans decided to test the combat abilities of a few brand new anti-tank guns against a real moving Soviet T-34 tank.So they took some prisoners (including a Soviet POW - T-34 driver) from the nearest concentration camp, said them to sit inside of a T-34 (without ammo but with a little fuel) and to move along the road.But the Germans didn't suppose that the prisoners didn't want to be a moving target only...It is based on real events.I saw it many years ago and do not remember all the details of the movie.