Reviews

A visually experimental film (even by today's standard) and a fine example of propaganda from that period. One has to remember that at the time, collective farms in Russia were still a bold social experiment (as was propaganda as a phenomenon for that matter), and it was not at all clear that it will end in failure. So the film's authors were not necessarily insincere or somehow oppressed by "Stalinist forces" to show it in a positive light. This may seem unusual for the westerners not accustomed to hearing of communism other than as a swear word. I hope that somebody undertakes to restore this film using modern digital technique, to remove all the flicker and uneven brightness, imagine how much more beautiful it could be. I have to mention also that English translation of the inter-titles is not accurate, at some points distorting their meaning. For example, when the arriving tractor stalls, the women shout "It stopped" and not "It's here"; later the party boss says "A tractor cannot stop" translated as "the tractor can't arrive" (or something), depriving the English-speaking audience of a subtle moment of satire in the film.

I saw this movie by accident in a Moscow theater and did not regret it one bit. It's funny, subtle, and well-acted, a rarity among the modern Russian films. Only later did I find out that Sorokin the co-writer of the movie is the famous controversial writer (whose books I happen to like as well), which really shows in the form of the good script and humor (none of his usual gross-out stuff, those who know what I mean need not worry. Well, almost.) Unfortunately for the non-Russian viewers, the most enjoyable moments are probably going to be lost in translation, because one has to have lived in the USSR to get the numerous inside jokes in the movie (think "South Park" shown to any non-American audience).

Halfway through the movie I thought I had enough of Brad Pitt playing philosopher, but fortunately, events took an interesting turn. The movie would be far better it it were pure fights and psychiatry without pretense of deep thoughts.