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Kino-Eye/ Three Songs Of Lenin (1934) Review
Though often slow-going, these Soviet propaganda films are of extreme historical interest. They should be seen by anyone intrigued by Lenin, the history of the USSR, or the Communist movement in general.Kino-Eye is probably one of the earliest Soviet documentaries still available. Made in 1924, this silent (obviously) film tracks the adventures of a troop of Young Pioneers as they travel from village to village, set up camp, farm, and teach Communism. It also includes shots of a Chinese magician, an elephant, and various collective enterprises. At this early date, the director was clearly having fun with the new film technology: as the film rolls backwards, we see bread returning to wheat, a diver emerging from the water and back to the board, and meat going back to a cow. What we really see, however, is just how poor this country was in 1924. There is perhaps one car and one ambulance in the whole film; children walk around barefoot, and the villagers obviously had little access to dentistry. Contrast this film with "Berlin: Symphony of a Great City," to show how advanced Germany was only three years later. (Yes, perhaps I'm comparing apples and oranges, but some of the shots in Kino-Eye take place in a big city too, with streetcars visible.)
By the time the second film, "Three Songs About Lenin," was made, Communist rule had crystallized. This film is Lenin hagiography at its best. The first "song," "My face was in a dark prison," shows us a Muslim girl from Turkmenistan who wears one of the most restrictive face coverings outside Afghanistan. Thanks to Lenin, she learns to read, works on a collective farm, and learns to shoot a gun. This topic would never be presented this way today, but it certainly is timely.
The second "song," "We all loved him," is about Lenin's death. Streams of people pass by his coffin, including (naturally) Stalin. (I think I saw a shot of Trotsky at the coffin, as well -- I'm surprised that Vertov was not forced to airbrush this out, frame by frame.) There is footage of Lenin at a rally, with actual audio of Lenin making a speech. The speech does not match the footage, but remember, there were no sound films prior to Lenin's death.
The third "song" is pure Soviet boosterism. Lenin is in his tomb "In a Stone City." Airplanes fly above. Parachutists jump from planes. Irrigation ditches fill with water. Machines operate. Workers are interviewed about their heroic efforts to keep things operating. Tractors are driven. Hydroelectric dams generate power. The film brags about new canals. "If only Lenin could see our country now!" Well, yes, but what the film doesn't tell you is that the new White Sea Canal was built with Gulag labor: tens of thousands perished in frigid weather, sometimes digging only with their bare hands. The canal, Stalin's brainchild, is ice-bound and unusable half the year. It is somehow fitting that Lenin's corpse was given no rest until after the country he created fell apart.
I wish the DVD contained some extras, like a brief introduction to Soviet film, or a bit about the director. A brief biography of Lenin, even a written one, would have been helpful. But the films are still worth watching to see a time that is quickly and mercifully fading into the past. At the end of the third song, it is prophesied that centuries from now, people will not remember the names of the countries where their ancestors lived, but everyone will remember the name of Lenin. Well, ancient countries, from Israel to Macedonia to Zimbabwe to Russia, are alive. But Vladimir Ilyich WHO??
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