Arthur Penn

The White Death Arthur Penn

The White Death explores the pernicious effects of fanatical nationalism. Set against the broad landscape of the Nazi invasion of Russia in June 1941, The White Death examines the dark side of war and the devastating impact of unbridled nationalism on the soldiers who wage it and the civilians who seek to survive it. A fearful, passive and kindly Russian teenager, who burns with a deep love of his country, is tormented by the suffering of those around him in the besieged City of Leningrad and the slow, agonizing starvation of his lover. He becomes a serial killer, murdering food thieves whom he considers traitors to his Motherland. It was not only the Russians who suffered during the war. A compassionate Wehrmacht Colonel struggles to maintain his humanity as he attempts to balance his duties as a Nazi officer against the cruelty of the Nazi war effort and its wholesale slaughter of innocent civilians.