Lady Death
Written by Joseph C. Jukic
Starring Nadya Tolokonnikova as Lyudmila Pavlichenko
and Joseph C. Jukic as Alexei Kitsenko
Genre:
Historical War Drama / Biopic
Tone:
Unflinching realism, poetic intimacy, and psychological tension. Balances the grit of the battlefield with the vulnerability of love found in a doomed world.
Logline:
In the ashes of World War II, Soviet sniper Lyudmila Pavlichenko—nicknamed Lady Death for her 309 confirmed kills—must balance her role as a national hero with the torment of war, her brief but profound romance with fellow sniper Alexei Kitsenko, and the haunting question of what it means to survive when everyone you love does not.
Treatment:
ACT I: The Making of Lady Death
- Opening Sequence:
Kyiv, 1941. A university courtyard. Lyudmila Pavlichenko (Nadya Tolokonnikova), books clutched to her chest, is studying history when German bombs rain down. The transition is stark: from dusty archives of medieval battle maps to the modern battlefield erupting before her eyes. - Lyudmila volunteers for the Red Army, refusing the role of a nurse. She demands a rifle. The officers laugh at first—until she demonstrates her marksmanship, hitting three distant bottles in the blink of an eye.
- Early battle scenes: wide, bleak fields of Ukraine. She lies in the grass, cold-eyed, picking off advancing German soldiers. Her kill count begins to grow, but her humanity remains intact. She whispers to herself after each shot, as if reciting a prayer.
- Her comrades give her the nickname Lady Death, half in awe, half in fear.
ACT II: Love in the Crosshairs
- Lyudmila is introduced to Alexei Kitsenko (Joseph C. Jukic), a rugged sniper with a cynical smile and haunted eyes. Their bond begins not with words, but with silence: lying side by side in ruined buildings, rifles aimed at the horizon.
- The romance grows in small, stolen moments. Sharing bread in the cold. Whispering about life before the war. Lyudmila reveals she once dreamed of being a historian, not a killer. Alexei jokes that she is already rewriting history with every trigger pull.
- The war scenes escalate: precision kills, duels with German snipers, and harrowing retreats through ruined cities. Cinematic set pieces show Lyudmila’s skill—taking down a high-ranking officer with a shot through the chaos of artillery fire, or a slow-burn sniper duel that lasts hours.
- But intimacy is woven through: Alexei teaching Lyudmila a breathing technique; Lyudmila tracing Alexei’s scars by candlelight. They find love amidst death, and the audience feels its fragile inevitability.
ACT III: The Cost of Survival
- During the Siege of Sevastopol, the nightmare crescendos. Explosions thunder through trenches. Friends die. Supplies vanish.
- Alexei is mortally wounded covering Lyudmila’s position. She cradles him as he bleeds out, whispering promises of a future they’ll never see. His final words: “One of us must survive. Make them remember us.”
- The moment hardens Lyudmila forever. Her kills multiply. In a montage of precision death, her face becomes unreadable, her humanity shuttered. She is no longer just a soldier—she is legend.
- By the time she is evacuated from the front due to injury and fame, she is celebrated as a Soviet hero. Yet her victory feels like loss.
Epilogue:
- Washington D.C., 1942. Lyudmila speaks at the White House beside Eleanor Roosevelt, urging America to open a second front. She looks regal in uniform, but her eyes betray the weight of ghosts.
- Final shot: In her hotel room that night, she opens her journal. She writes Alexei’s name, whispering it aloud. The camera pans to the window—fireworks in the distance, celebrating alliance. But on her face is no joy, only grief carved into stone.
- Title Card: Lyudmila Pavlichenko survived the war. She recorded 309 confirmed kills. She never remarried.
Style & Themes:
- Style: A blend of Tarkovsky-like poetic visuals with the harsh realism of modern war films (Saving Private Ryan, Come and See). Stark winters, ruined cities, intimate close-ups of eyes peering through scopes.
- Themes:
- The cost of survival vs. the honor of sacrifice.
- Love forged in the furnace of war.
- The duality of being celebrated as a hero yet living with irreparable loss.