The Fall of Berlin () is a 1950 Soviet war and propaganda film, in two parts separated in the manner of a serial. It was produced by Mosfilm Studio and directed by Mikheil Chiaureli, with a script written by Pyotr Pavlenko and a musical score composed by Dmitri Shostakovich. Portraying the history of the Second World War with a focus on a highly positive depiction of the role Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin (played by Mikheil Gelovani) played in the events, it is considered one of the most important manifestations of Stalin's cult of personality, and a noted example of Soviet realism. After De-Stalinization, the film was banned in the Eastern Bloc for several decades.
Plot
Part 1
Aleksei Ivanov, a shy steel factory worker, greatly surpasses his production quota and is chosen to receive the Order of Lenin and to have a personal interview with Joseph Stalin. Aleksei falls in love with the idealist teacher Natasha but has difficulties approaching her. When he meets Stalin, who tends his garden, the leader helps him to understand his emotions and tells him to recite poetry to her. Then, they both have a luncheon with the rest of the Soviet leadership in Stalin's home. After returning from Moscow, Aleksei confesses his love to Natasha. While they are both having a stroll in a wheat field, their town is attacked by the Germans, who invade the Soviet Union.
Aleksei loses his consciousness and sinks into a coma. When he awakes, he is told that Natasha is missing and that the Germans are at the gates of Moscow. In the capital, Stalin plans the defense of the city, explaining to the demoralized Georgy Zhukov how to deploy his forces. Aleksei volunteers for the Red Army and takes part in the 1941 October Revolution Parade and in the Battle of Moscow. At Berlin, after receiving the blessings of his allies – Spain, Turkey, the Vatican, Romania and Japan – and watching a long column of Soviet slaves-laborers, Natasha among them, Adolf Hitler is furious to hear that Moscow has not fallen. He dismisses Walther von Brauchitsch from his office and offers the command of the army to Gerd von Rundstedt; the latter refuses, saying that Stalin is a great captain and Germany's defeat is certain. Hitler orders to attack Stalingrad. In the meanwhile, Hermann Göring negotiates with British capitalist Charles Bedstone, who supplies Germany with needed materials. After the Soviet victory in Stalingrad, Vasily Chuikov tells Ivanov that Stalin is always with the Red Army. The storyline leaps to the Yalta Conference, where Stalin and his Western Allies debate the future of the war.
Part 2
Stalin asks his generals who will take Berlin, they or the Western Allies. The generals answer that they will capture the city. Aleksei's Guards unit advances towards Berlin, while Hitler has a nervous breakdown and demands that his soldiers fight to the end. The Germans plan to execute the inmates of the concentration camp in which Natasha is held before the arrival of the Red Army, but Aleksei's unit liberates the prisoners before they carry through their design. Natasha faints, and he does not find her. Hitler and the German leadership fall into despair and lose their grip on reality the closer the Soviets get to Berlin. Hitler orders to flood the subway stations as the Soviets approach, drowning thousands of civilians. He then marries Eva Braun and commits suicide via poisoning. Gen. Hans Krebs carries the news of Hitler's death to the Red Army and begs for a ceasefire. Stalin orders to accept only an unconditional surrender. Aleksei is chosen to carry the Victory Banner, alongside Mikhail Yegorov and Meliton Kantaria. Their division storms the Reichstag and the three hoist the banner atop of it. The Germans surrender and Red Army soldiers from throughout the USSR celebrate victory. Stalin's plane lands in Berlin, and he is greeted by an enthusiastic crowd of peoples of "all the nations", holding posters with his picture and waving various nations' flags. Stalin carries a speech in which he calls for world peace. Standing in the crowd, Aleksei and Natasha recognize each other and are reunited. Natasha asks Stalin to let her kiss him on the cheek, and they hug while prisoners praise Stalin in numerous languages. The film ends with Stalin wishing all peace and happiness.