Song of Heroes

A fascinating, powerful and stirring ode to Industrialization as an entity, a living wave driven by enthusiasm and will of the Komsomol (youth organization).

Of course, there were other sides to the building of Magnitogorsk industrial area. After all, a good deal of workers there were forced labor, convicts, many of whom were tried as generally unfit for society, using the broad-defined 58-1 article of the Criminal Code.

But Ivers looked for the force, the wave, the vibe of the ultra-fast and ultra-fierce Industrialization. And he managed to show it here.

The images are straightforward yet powerful, and do not feel outdated. Mind you, it's 1932, so torch processions weren't a Nazi trademark yet, and the expressions "storm troops" who "storm" the obstacles were associated only with the bold heroes of WWI and Civil war.

It's a pity that English subs in the rip I found on internet are lacking. For most of the film text is optional... But the intense song that ends the film, subs are way off (lyrics are way better and there's more of them). And they say that the multi-national crew of this film (including avant-garde poet Tratyakov who composed the lyrics) sometimes got drunk in their shack - they lived alongside simple workers - and sang this song all night long.

So this is a must-see for anyone who watches Russian and Soviet early cinema; if you've seen Stachka, Man with a Movie Camera or Battleship Potyomkin, you better see this film (it's known in Russia as An Ode for the Heroes) and Old And New (General Line) by Eisenstein.

ps:i watched this in VGIK, the main movie school of Russia. therefore a big disappointment with lyrics.