The Dawns Here Are Quiet

The Dawns Here Are Quiet (А зори здесь тихие)
Directed by	Stanislav Rostotsky
Written by	Stanislav Rostotsky, Boris Vasilyev
Starring	Andrey Martynov Yelena Drapeko Yekaterina Markova Olga Ostroumova Irina Shevchuk Irina Dolganova Lyudmila Zajtseva
Production company	Gorky Film Studio
Release date	1972 (1972)
Running time	188 minutes
Country	Soviet Union
Language	Russian

The Dawns Here Are Quiet (Russian: А зори здесь тихие, translit. A zori zdes tikhie) is a 1972 Soviet war drama directed by Stanislav Rostotsky based on Boris Vasilyev's novel of the same name. The film deals with antiwar themes and focuses on a garrison of Russian female soldiers in World War II. It was nominated for an Oscar in the Best Foreign Language Film category. The film is set in Karelia (near Finland) and was filmed near Ruskeala.

The film opens in color, with a girl taking off her motorcycle helmet—she is camping with her friends. It then shifts to summer 1942, in the same area, in the midst of World War II some ways behind the Soviet frontlines on the Eastern Front.

Having asked for soldiers who don't drink alcohol and fraternize with women, Senior Sergeant Vaskov is unexpectedly assigned a group of young female anti-aircraft gunners in a railway station far from the front line. Vaskov is not used to commanding women, and therefore clashes with them over daily issues. During an air raid, one of the girls, Rita Osyanina, shoots down an enemy aircraft and is decorated for her deeds. Dialogue and flashbacks in color begin to reveal the backstories of the women. It is also shown that Rita regularly sneaks food back to her mother and baby, who are not far from the front.

One day, Rita, having secretly carried rations to her family during the night, comes across two German paratroopers while on her way back to her garrison. Vaskov chooses five volunteers: Rita, Zhenya, Lisa, Galya, and Sonia, to embark with him on a mission to eliminate them. They decide to cross the marshland in order to intercept the Germans, but going is slow and treacherous, causing Galya to lose a boot. When they finally reach the location that Vaskov knows that the German paratroopers will have to cross through, they lie in wait—only to find that there are sixteen German paratroopers instead of two. His soldiers come up with the idea to make the paratroopers think that there are a lot of civilians in their path by cutting down trees and lighting fires, which will cause the Germans to change direction. Though the plan almost fails, Zhenya's last-minute audacity by jumping into the river convinces the paratroopers to take a longer route through the forest. Vaskov sends Lisa back to base for reinforcements.