This ain't Reds, Hollywood style. This is bare-boned Russian filmmaking. A bit over the top, not quite as good as the Chinese propaganda films (especially the girl soldier one with ballet: The Red Detachment of Women), but still has some good moments.
The acting by the lead is over the top, but then, it is difficult to sometimes discern over the top propaganda dialogue from ham acting. The female lead is very good, but the film is essentially over at the hour and thirty minute mark. The last fifteen minutes are totally unnecessary.
The moral of the film, as I saw it, was that essential drive of man to take care of himself and his family first overrides any political theories or practices. There will always be corruption, greed, selfishness, and other negative aspects to ALL societies, regardless of political theory. Communism and Capitalism have all these things in common. It is usually about money and power, and as Mao once said "Justice comes from the barrel of a gun". Now, in Russia, the country is ruled by Russian banking systems, the value of the Ruble, and international foreign trade balances; everything else is secondary. It really doesn't sound like communism or socialism to me; it sounds more like capitalism.
