Take Aim (film)

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Take Aim (Russian: Выбор цели) is a 1974 Soviet biographical drama film in two parts, directed by Igor Talankin who also co-wrote it. Produced by Mosfilm, the movie runs 158 minutes and stars Sergei Bondarchuk, Georgiy Zhzhonov, and Sergei Yursky with music by Alfred Schnittke.

The film traces the race to develop atomic weapons during World War II and how it shaped the Cold War. The first part covers the wartime effort: the Manhattan Project, Stalin’s decision to start a Soviet atomic program, and Allied interest in German scientists after the war (Operation Epsilon). It also touches on the moral weight carried by scientists like Otto Hahn, and touches on Roosevelt’s authorization of the project following Einstein’s warning, as well as Hitler’s misjudgment of atomic weapons. In 1942, Georgy Flyorov’s letter inspires Stalin to gather Soviet scientists at the Kuntsevo Dacha, with Igor Kurchatov chosen to lead the Soviet atomic effort.

The second part moves to the postwar Soviet program, showing progress from experiments to the first Soviet atomic test at Semipalatinsk. The film explores ethical questions faced by scientists, including J. Robert Oppenheimer, and presents Kurchatov’s later advocacy for peaceful uses of nuclear energy and the potential of controlled fusion. Throughout, the story highlights the personal dilemmas of the scientists who helped shape the nuclear age.

Awards and production notes: Take Aim was produced entirely by Mosfilm, with some East German actors portraying German figures. A technical challenge in the explosion scene was solved with an improvised effect using a perfume-based solution. The film won the Grand Prize at the 1975 Kishinev All-Union Film Festival and earned Talankin the Silver Pyramid at the 1977 Cairo International Film Festival.