Mama, I’m Alive 1977

In a Soviet prisoner‑of‑war camp, four German soldiers — Becker [Peter Prager], Pankonin, Koralewski [Eberhard Kirchberg], and Kuschke [Detlef Gieß] — decide to work with the Red Army against German troops. The Baltic‑Soviet Major Mauris [Donatas Banionis] accompanies the new comrades, now wearing Soviet uniforms, to the front.

On a long journey by train, which is surprisingly comfortable by wartime standards, they begin to learn about the people and the living conditions of the country they once fought against, and they reflect on their own situations. The film gradually reveals the backstory of each man and traces their inner development as their choices weigh on them.

When they reach the front, three of them resolve to take up arms against their fellow countrymen, but at the decisive moment they hesitate to shoot at them, and this hesitation leads to the death of their Soviet comrade and friend Kolja. Meanwhile, the fourth of them, Pankonin, has taken on the task of listening in on German radio transmissions together with the Red Army woman Svetlana [Margarita Terekhova], and the two slowly fall in love.

Ultimately, three of the four are dropped behind enemy lines for a commando operation in German uniforms and are killed while trying to return to the Soviet side. Among the dead is Svetlana’s lover Pankonin.

The only survivor is Becker, who carries a note from a fellow German prisoner in the camp with his address and the line “Mama, I’m alive.” This fragile thread of life contrasts with the heavy cost of shifting loyalties and the human costs of war, leaving a quiet, haunting impression about courage, fear, love, and the price of choosing sides in a conflict that blurs the boundaries between duty and humanity.