There are certainly some communist sentiments with the playback of official communist newsreels, it could certainly be seen as being pro-communist but also its the history of the country in the 20th century which would most likely be impossible with some communist footage.
The film covered two families obviously from different classes , the scene where the young child held the gun to the head of the anti-communist may have been political or just a scene from history…
The director did move to America after this film, which a pro-communist director would not have done.
I do agree it was a powerful poetic film, i think the duration of the film was a compromise as a few decades were left out.
But what of the ending, where they bulldozed the cemetery for the common good? Was that history, or was that symbolic? Its hard to create irony, when most all of the characters in the film accept it after it being explained to them that its for the common good.
dope fiend willy
I would love to hear what people thought of it. Was it explicitly pro or anti communist, or do you think it was just a representation of what those people in that siberian village experienced?
A wonderfully poetic film, that flows really well despite its 4 1/2 hour running time.