Local Skirmish is a 2017 film from Russia directed by Aleksey Kozlov.
World War II, December 31, 1943. A quartermaster squad of five Russian soldiers, trailing the front line by 20km or so, march into a tiny, mostly abandoned village on the road to Pskov. The soldiers are: Pvt. Stryapukhin, a cheerful, boisterous type; Tyrymov, who suffered brain damage from wounds earlier in the war and probably shouldn't still be in the army; Voskoboinkov, The Big Guy; and Sgt. Mokhov, considerably older than the others with two grown children back home. The four men are veterans of 2 1/2 years of savage war. They are led by a lieutenant named Alexei, who apparently is fresh out of officer training, has been with them only three days, and looks like he should be in high school somewhere.
They are met by a farmer named Schulkin, who greets them cheerfully and tells them that the village isn't in a strategic location and he hasn't seen one German the whole war, despite having been behind enemy lines until very recently. Schulkin is accompanied by his niece Nastonya, a voluptuous blonde who attracts the attentions of all the men but especially Stryapukhin. Alexei, a by-the-book type who is trying to assert authority over the men despite having no combat experience, insists that they refrain from drinking and set a proper watch. But it's New Year's and they're well behind the front line, so the men ignore him.
Much vodka is consumed until the whole group celebrates the new year at midnight. Stryapukhin succeeds in taking Nastonya into the sauna room for sex, while the rest sleep off the booze in the farmer's house. As it turns out, Alexei should have listened to his better instincts and kept a watch, because early on the morning of New Years' Day a platoon of some 20 SS men arrive at the village.
Tropes:
- Binocular Shot: How we meet the Germans, as the SS commander of the demolition platoon looks through his binoculars at the convent and debates stopping there.
- Bittersweet Ending: Four of the five soldiers are killed, as is the farmer. But Alexei survives and is reunited with Masha, and by annihilating the German demolition squad the Russians managed to save the bridge for use by the Red Army.
- But for Me, It Was Tuesday: The film ends with an ironic chyron saying that on Jan. 1, 1944, the Red Army liberated 28 towns and villages from the Germans, and elsewhere the front was quiet, and "Only local skirmishes were registered."
- Buxom Beauty Standard: Stryapukhin goggles when he sees Nastonya, saying "Dig those luscious curves!"
- Distracted by the Sexy: Stryapukhin has Nastonya leave the sauna and get firewood, and he specifically instructs her to wiggle her butt at the Germans. When one comes into the sauna after her, Stryapukhin kills him.
- Dramatic Sit-Down: Schukin the farmer does this when he steps outside his door in the morning and sees twenty Germans milling around.
- Farmer's Daughter: Well, the farmer's niece. Nastonya is blonde-haired and voluptuous and, when she sees a squad of Red Army soldiers, she does her hair up and puts on makeup. She is clearly lonely for a man.
- Fatal Family Photo: Mokhov takes out a photo of him and his family, and writes them a New Years' letter. He dies at the end, of course.
- I Surrender, Suckers: Stryapukhin runs out of ammunition—but he still has a grenade. He hooks a watch chain on the grenade and comes out of the sauna with his hands up. Once he's close enough he pulls the chain, killing himself but taking a few Germans with him.
- Neutral Female: Averted. Nastonya has spent the firefight shaking and crying in the sauna. But when the last German is pointing a pistol at the defenseless Alexei, she comes rushing out and stabs him In the Back.
- New Year Has Come: The Squad celebrates New Year's 1944 with a farmer and his buxom niece. Then on the morning of Jan. 1 everything goes to hell.
- Shaking the Rump: Played for Drama. In an extraordinarily tense situation, with the Russian soldiers hiding as the Germans mill around the farm, Stryapukhin tells Nastonya to leave the sauna and wiggle her butt at the Germans. She then goes back into the sauna, followed by a horny German, whom Stryapukhin kills.
- Snow Means Death: The first shot of the movie shows frozen corpses scattered across a snowy field. This effect is then undercut when The Squad shows up and starts searching the corpses for loot.
- The Squad: A five-man Red Army squad.
- Ensign Newbie: Alexei, who is brave but is also wet behind the ears and has never so much as seen a German in the flesh.
- The Face: Stryapukhin, a boisterous fellow who is very pleased to get a watch off the frozen corpse of a German, and who gets very excited when he sees the farmer's curvy niece.
- The Big Guy: Tall, burly Voskoboinkov, probably the most intimidating fighter of the bunch.
- The Quiet One: Tyrymov, who suffered a brain injury earlier in the war. He doesn't talk much and when he does it's with a stammer.
- Old Soldier: Mokhov, who wears glasses and has gray hair and notes ruefully that this is his third war, after World War I and the Russian Civil War. He tries to get Alexei to loosen up and relax about the New Years' party, but he also tries, unsuccessfully, to stop Stryapukhin from pissing Alexei off.
- Taking the Veil: Masha, now Sister Maria, who has taken the veil and is passing through the village with a bunch of nuns on the way to a convent down the road. It turns out that Masha is Alexei's old girlfriend.
- Title Drop: The film ends with a title card saying that "Only local skirmishes were registered" on New Year's Day 1944.
