'Seventeen Moments of Spring' is a 1973 Soviet twelve-part television mini-series, based on the novel of the same title by Yulian Semyonov.The series was immensely popular in the Soviet Union, and during its first showing, city streets would empty. It attracted greater audiences than hockey matches and crime rates dropped significantly during the broadcasts. Leonid Brezhnev was a devoted fan. The character of Stirlitz became the Soviet James Bond.In early 1945, while Adolf Hitler (Fritz Diez) is determined to continue the war, Walter Schellenberg (Oleg Tabakov), his head of foreign intelligence, has convinced Heinrich Himmler (Nikolai Propkovich) to conduct secret negotiations with the Americans, aimed at forging a separate peace between Germany and the Western Allies, which would allow the Germans to concentrate all their forces on the Eastern Front. Maksim Isaev (Vyacheslav Tikhonov), a Soviet spy who has infiltrated the Nazi Party in Germany under the name Stirlitz, is tasked with disrupting the negotiations between the German general Karl Wolff (Vasily Lanovoy) and the American diplomat Allen Dulles (Vyacheslav Shalevich) taking place in Switzerland. He is ordered by Moscow to ascertain whether the Americans and the Germans have a secret channel of communication, and if so - to obstruct it.He recruits two aides - Professor Pleischner (Yevgeniy Yevstigneyev), a former member of the German Resistance, and Pastor Schlag, (Rostislav Plyatt) a clergyman who disapproves of the regime.Stirlitz succeeds in leaking the details of the negotiations both to Hitler and to Stalin (Andro Kobaladze). The Soviets, now possessing evidence, demand an end to those contacts and President Roosevelt obliges them. Himmler narrowly convinces Hitler it was all merely an attempt to sow distrust between the Allies.

Soviet films about WWII may be tedious, long or pathetic, but not this one, which is done by the great filmmaker Tatiana Lioznova and since she is a woman the movie has that deep, thoughtful, sweetly painful feeling of heroism, tragedy and bravery. Sure, some things are exaggerated and of course there could never be such an ideal spy as Stirlitz, played here by awesome Vyacheslav Tikhonov. What is very important here is to show what crafty and smart enemy as Nazi were we managed to win over at a cost of 30,000,000 lives. The film is about people who stay human in the fire of war, and about humans who become beasts and cruel monsters. This is the fine example of a great war movie without propaganda or sickly patriotism.

What make this movie unique, is how Germans are shown. They are villains, but unlike in many modern movies these villains are not ugly, stupid or emotionless. They have personalities, they are clever, cunning and often charming. Just like one would assume many Nazis were in real life.There is no much shooting or killing in this film. No special effects. What it has is a great story (loosely based on actual events, I think), great acting, dialogues, and cinematography. Although there are 12 episodes of the film, you will wish there have been more.Great film. I should watch it again...

Made in black-white as most TV receivers in Soviet block in the 1970's were black and white.The story covers last weeks of existence of Hitler's Reich and some attempts of SS generals to conclude a separate armistice with USA and UK. The SS colonel Stirlitz is a Russian spy trying to prevent it. Some front combat scenes are shown as intermezzos. Although the war was finished more than 60 years ago, we still do not know all its details and secrets. Maybe, some German leaders tried to break the coalition between Anglo-Saxon powers and Russia. But the range of Soviet infiltration of central entities of 3rd Reich (like RSHA, General Staff or NSDAP Chancellory) has not been fully explained so far. Anyway, this is a very interesting film to watch.