This is a propaganda comedy from Aleksandr Medvedkin. It is an allegory of a poor peasant named Khmyr and it's a silent film. However, the lack of sound is not what will strike you when the film begins. What you'll notice is that the film looks like a live version of a cartoon--with ridiculously cartoony action, characters and story.
It all begins with Khmyr and his wife bemoaning their lot in life. They are hungry and their farm is barren and awful. You assume this is meant to be pre-Revolution Russia. Rich neighbors, the military, thieves and the church all conspire to keep Khmyr miserable. Even when Khmyr discovers a wallet stuffed with money, he STILL is miserable because once his farm is successful, these forces all arrive to take everything. And the only thing that saves him and gives him happiness at the end is the miracle of collectivization. Then, suddenly, he has nice clothes and things to eat.
While some of the film (particularly the first portion) is rather funny, the overriding message is pure propaganda--so much so that it's hard to take the film seriously. The people from the church are all evil as are the rich--all tenants of Stalinist communism. And, according to the film, a collective system is the only solution--though the answer, in reality, cost millions and millions of lives during the early years of Stalin's reign. But, these losses, according to what you'd gather in the film were those who had it coming--greedy farmers who were counter-revolutionaries. And, in the film, these folks are apprehended by the good farmers and punished.
To me, the film is way too preachy to be much fun to watch other than as a curio or perhaps to be used by a history class to discuss Stalinist Russia or collectivization. While reasonably well made, it's message is put across with sledgehammer symbolism--very obvious and very heavy-handed.
It all begins with Khmyr and his wife bemoaning their lot in life. They are hungry and their farm is barren and awful. You assume this is meant to be pre-Revolution Russia. Rich neighbors, the military, thieves and the church all conspire to keep Khmyr miserable. Even when Khmyr discovers a wallet stuffed with money, he STILL is miserable because once his farm is successful, these forces all arrive to take everything. And the only thing that saves him and gives him happiness at the end is the miracle of collectivization. Then, suddenly, he has nice clothes and things to eat.
While some of the film (particularly the first portion) is rather funny, the overriding message is pure propaganda--so much so that it's hard to take the film seriously. The people from the church are all evil as are the rich--all tenants of Stalinist communism. And, according to the film, a collective system is the only solution--though the answer, in reality, cost millions and millions of lives during the early years of Stalin's reign. But, these losses, according to what you'd gather in the film were those who had it coming--greedy farmers who were counter-revolutionaries. And, in the film, these folks are apprehended by the good farmers and punished.
To me, the film is way too preachy to be much fun to watch other than as a curio or perhaps to be used by a history class to discuss Stalinist Russia or collectivization. While reasonably well made, it's message is put across with sledgehammer symbolism--very obvious and very heavy-handed.