O Comunista

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.

Distinguished filmmaker Yuli Raizman's career stretched from the early days of silent film, the Stalin years , "the thaw" continuing to the generation of perestroika of the 1980s. Stalin's death in 1953 opened new opportunities to further develop films with a probing social conscience, "The Communist," was inspired by and made to mark the 40th anniversary of the October Revolution. Yuli Raizman's multi layered revisionist treatment of the traditional subject gives a fabulous historical insight of the tumultuous era. The story tells of the formation of large scale work parties assigned to build power infrastructure to generate progress and move the Motherland forward. It is a touching human drama, a rousing embrace of the values & ideals of those early revolutionists. The tremendous scale of this excellent production is evident from the opening moments, it is a beautifully composed dynamic work of Soviet cinematic art. Excellent performances portray with great feeling the struggles, ambitions and dreams of the common folk. There are also some wonderfully touching romantic moments just as in his earlier film Mashenka (42). Having a much broader dimension than for example the frivolity of "Tractor Drivers" from the late 30s, the altruistic heroes here are to be admired. Socialist propaganda? ...work hard contribute to your community, your country . A must see for anyone interested in Classic Soviet era filmmaking Highly Recommended !!