Cinema Circus, 1942,
L. Amalrik and O. Khodataeva, 3’36’’
Shooting Range , 1979, V. Tarasov, 19’18’’
Britain ’s
foreign secretary, Lord Curzon, tries to sabotage development of the fledgling Soviet Union with a trade embargo. Defiant Soviets buy government
bonds (obligazia) and a new industrial nation is born. Soviets were regularly
forced to “save” the economy from ruin, or fight the war, by buying
“obligazia.” Throughout the years, the State promised to redeem the bonds, but
rarely did until the Gorbachev era, but even that government did not honor
many. The obligatzia were printed on good paper and so beautiful some people
used them as wallpaper.
One of a handful of
animated short “political posters” that survived World War II, this one
ridicules Hitler and his cronies. The master of ceremonies is a caricature of
the USSR ’s
most famous clown, Karandash, whose name means pencil in Russian.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6yoP-NQN5Y
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6yoP-NQN5Y
Someone Else’s Voice, 1949, I. Ivanov-Vano, 9’25’’
Written by Sergei
Mihalkov, a popular children’s poet who also wrote the lyrics to the Soviet
National Anthem. Jazz was an early victim of the Cold War, condemned as “an
enemy of the people.” Still, whatever the official policy, jazz was popular in
the USSR
and was used in the score of many later propaganda shorts.
Ave Maria, 1972, I.
Ivanov-Vano, 9’36’’
Also known as “Against
American Aggression in Vietnam ,”
this film is as anti-war as anti-American and portrays the Church as an
actively malignant social influence.
Interplanetary Revolution , 1924. N.
Khodataev Z. Komisarenko and Y. Merkulov, 7’49’’
Fervent Bolsheviks export
the Revolution to Mars. When capitalists escaping Earth arrive on Mars, they
find the comrades already there, having a party congress beneath a banner of
Lenin.
The Millionaire, 1963, V.
Bordzilovsky and Y. Prytkov, 9’54’’
Based on a poem for
children by Sergei Mihalkov.
Tarasov, a fan of J.D.
Salinger’s “The Catcher in the Rye ,”
modeled the film’s hero on Holden Caulfield. An artist as well as an animation
director, Tarasov combed through back issues of “America,” a magazine published
by the U.S. government during the Cold War, and American comic books, to
lovingly create the film’s fabulous New York City back drop. Based on a play by
V. Slatkin.
( intermezzo )
We’ll Keep Our Eyes Peeled , 1927,
N. Khodataev Group, 2’45’’
Mister Twister, 1963, A.
Karanovitch, 15’37’’
Based
on the popular children’s poem written in 1933 by Samuel Marshak who is also
credited with writing the script. During the USSR school children regularly
memorized the Marshak poem. In 1920 he founded, one of the first children’s
theaters in the Soviet Union , and wrote plays
for it. Highly effective in persuading gifted writers and artists to write for
children, he also headed the Children’s Section of the State Publishing house.
During the years of the Stalin terror, the Section came under attack for its
alleged bourgeois leanings. Members the group were accused of being associated
with “Samuel Marshak, Enemy of the People.” They were interrogated, killed,
and sent to labor camps in Siberia and
the Arctic .
To You Moscow , 1947, G. Lomidze,
17’39’’
An animated history of the
city of Moscow ,
including the Nazi invasion, made to honor of the city’s 800th
anniversary.
Samoyed Boy, 1928, V. and Z.
Brumberg N. Khodataev and O. Khodataeva, 07’05’’
A classic Soviet animation
and the first film for children. It was done in the tradition of the primitive
paintings of the USSR ’s
Northern peoples (like Chukcha and Eskimos). It was the first Soviet film based
on the culture of the Northern people.
Log Jam, 2008, Alexei
Alexeev, 0’58’’
Not
exactly Russian propaganda, more like Nickelodeon. Just to end on a light note.
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