This movie is the proof that the world is becoming a sick and dumb place

Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

I saw this movie right after the war. I was than 14 and it made a great impression on me especially because the German invasion of our village was not so brutal as shown here. Nevertheless I always remembered the the story even after 60 years (!). As I see it now and after having read a lot about WWII the story seems to be biased by portraying only Germans as heartless killers and war loving people. Wars happen and bring about atrocities from both sides. But wars can bring about much compassion from both the attackers as the attacked. From this viewpoint the rating by the Commission is correct. All nations have committed crimes against humanity in the past yet those perpetrated by the 'own' people are considered less fearful. The movie is wrong in that Germany considered the Ukraine as a possible ally. Rather, the Russians themselves were seen as enemies owing to the immense sufferings (hunger and millions of deaths owing to the famine caused by the forced collectivization of agriculture by the communists. So the brutal attack can have happened in Russia when the invasion started on 06/22/1941. This is not a plea for the Nazi atrocities committed during the War but just a reminder that a nation should beware of using armed forces against other nations. And if so, show compassion to the losers, who mostly did only their duty.

Skip the first half of rural fun and games. Substitute Hungarians v Russians, or Armenians v Turks, or any other convenient pair of victims and aggressors for Ukrainians v Germans. Then settle down to enjoy a well-acted, well-directed, gripping and moving 100% fictional story. The narrative unwinds in a manner far superior to patriotic junk like Saving Private Ryan. The trajectory of the one is curiously the reverse of the other. SPR starts dramatically, but slowly stutters to a bathetic finale. NS starts boringly, but accelerates towards a most compelling end. On balance, SPR is pure and painful garbage. Making allowances for its date, this isn't.I didn't pick up what North Star stands for.. Was that the name of the village ? Odd name, if so. Nevertheless I was well entertained by this film. It stands the test.

In discussing Communist influences in Hollywood and HUAC you must also remember the time in which this film was made. The Soviet Union was our ally during WWII and why would we want to portray our ally poorly? While I do not disagree with you that this film is slippery with the truth in terms of life on collective farms you also have to remember that there were movie theaters all over the world. You wouldn't want an enemy like Germany to see that the Soviet Union was in such poor condition when they were attacking Soviet land. I think one thing we forget when watching old films especially those that came out of this time is that we must put ourselves in the context of what was happening in the world at the time.

I am amazed by the intensity of some of the comments.The 1943 movie North Star celebrated Stalin's dictatorship over Ukrania, presenting the joys of colectivisation on the humble peasants among whom was the veteran actor Walter Brennan who otherwise played stereotyped American personages. Where the joys of collectivization were simply leftist rot and John Wayne is said to have hated this movie, the movie correctly presents the intensity with which the Russians fought to expel the German invaders. Most German veterans of the Great Patriotic War note that Russians fought on when British or French would have stacked arms and sat by the roadside watching panzers drive by.The movie of course does not present the other side of the coin. Ukrania was a province where Stalin had his greatest problem. Resentment flared intensely against the Soviet regime particularly in the rural areas which retained their allegiance to the Church and which resented collectivization. Many Ukranians defected to the German cause.This film of course was shot in 1942 in the heat of the war. I hardly would have deemed it sane to have made a movie about citizens of an allied country who had defected to the enemy.I do recall that this film went to TV's Million Dollar Movie in the 1950s substantially edited and presented as a German invasion of Hungary and ended with a voice over reference to the Hungarian revolt in 1956.