From 1941 to 1944 the German Army laid siege to Leningrad, causing inconceivable destitution and loss of life. Composed entirely of rarely seen footage from Moscow archives and an impeccably recreated soundtrack, Blockade presents a riveting chronicle of the siege. Rather than employ voice over or music, filmmaker Sergei Loznitsa painstakingly reconstructs the diegetic soundtrack we might have heard had original sound been recorded. The stark footage alone is astonishing: ghostlike figures trudging through the snow-covered wreckage seem all the more vulnerable juxtaposed to the tanks that plow through the hellish site. With the addition of muffled sounds—explosions, sirens, sobs—the harrowing scenes are more than preserved; they are eerily brought back to life. Through brilliant synthesis of archival image and new sound, Blockade gives viewers a haunting, imperative experience of the tragedy of World War II.  ST