Revue (2009)

Synopsis: As he did with his critically-acclaimed Blockade, a documentary re-creation of the WWII siege of Leningrad, Loznitsa has once again selected excerpts from newsreels, propaganda films, TV shows, and... As he did with his critically-acclaimed Blockade, a documentary re-creation of the WWII siege of Leningrad, Loznitsa has once again selected excerpts from newsreels, propaganda films, TV shows, and feature films that present an evocative portrait of Soviet life during the 1950s and 60s. With scenes taken from the length and breadth of the Soviet Motherland, REVUE illustrates industry and agriculture (dam construction, steel plants, farmland seeded by hand and plowed with horse), political life (local elections, abundant Lenin iconography, speeches by Khrushchev), popular culture (a village choir, a traveling cinema, a propagandistic stage play), and technology (space exploration, astronaut Yuri Gargarin, new industrial development).

The film’s fascinating flow of disparate scenes representing typical Soviet life of the period is, seen from today’s perspective, alternately poignant, funny, and tragic. The cumulative impact reveals a life of hardship, deprivation, and seemingly absurd social rituals, but one always inspired by the vision, or illusion, of a communist future. Seen from these dual historical and contemporary perspectives, REVUE is both a nostalgic and instructive look back at a communist past that represents social engineering on a grand, and frightening, scale. --© Anthology Archives [More]

Director: Sergei Loznitsa

Director: Sergei Loznitsa
Screenwriter: Sergei Loznitsa
Producer: Heino Deckert
Studio: Icarus Films