Ermler's "Peasants," like the earlier Dovzhenko classic "Earth" or Barnet's "The Thaw," deals with the conflict during the Soviet period of collectivization of agriculture between the poorer farm folk and the more well off property owners, dubbed "kulaks" by the Stalinists. The film is dedicated to Kirov,the Leningrad party leader, potential rival to Stalin, who had recently been assassinated. It opens with a woman sleeping, followed by cute images of pigs nearby in their farm stalls, she is at peace with her surroundings. We will later learn this is Varvara Nechayeva Platinovich, the heroine.(She is also called Varya for short)Her husband,Gerasim, joins her, we learn that he is a kulak, whose family has been dispossessed,some of them executed, he will later worry about what more might happen to them, such as deportation to Siberia. Then we see her brother, Egor Nechayev.There is talk of how the collective's animals may need to be sold to others with money, as there is not enough land to raise fodder to feed them with.A meeting of the village council, with some argument, ensues,people are waiting for Nikolai Mironovich, the district commissar, to arrive and help. There is a nice scene of the husband and wife resting by the water, he plays on the flute. Then we see the leader driving into the farm, there will be a big sequence where he and others enjoy home made pelmeni (dumplings)around a table. It is recommended that the villagers weed shrubs to clear land for pig fodder. (We also see on the farm a cow and some ducks.) Meanwhile Gerasim drives a mare-drawn cart, his mother in the back, furiously by night to a nearby town to learn more about what may happen to his family. In an amusing animated sequence, Varya dreams in bed about walking through a town with none other than Stalin, and a little child that Stalin is holding up! Her husband returns to their bed, they argue, he strikes her down dead, then paces about, He drags her body to the barn where he hangs her up from the rafters, there is a letter she's written about how if the collective, which we learn she had applied to join in 1929, fails, she has no other option but the noose; so Gerasim makes it look like she killed herself, and later throws the weapon he slew her with into a well. The leader reads her letter aloud to the members, then we see them clearing and burning shrubs. Nikolai has taken sick, and as he lies in a bed with a picture of Lenin above, Egor visits him and plays flute music to him. This is followed by a picturesque scene of Nikolai recovering in an old fashioned Russian bath house, all of the men and boys completely nude, one man beating Nikolai with some leaves. Gerasim is discovered after some questioning and a young Komsomol boy taking an oath to be guilty, and is apprehended. The collective is renamed for Varvara, with a plaque we see at the end, in honor of this victim of the kulaks. Ermler's film is propagandistic and melodramatic, but realized with some visual flair. It was apparently a favorite of the more modern Russian director Tarkovsky.
2 Reviews
Passionate and Raw, Beautiful and Authentic
ilpohirvonen22 October 2011
Words can't praise this film, directed by Friedrich Ermler, enough, which includes powerful scenes of love and hate, hope and despair. The naive exaggeration, typical for the time, is left behind in the film, and reality is relayed to the viewer in the most authentic manner. It exceeds the limitations of naturalism; of excessive; conventional realism. Some people look at these films, made during the Stalinist era, extremely simply but Peasants (1935) is a bold film and not propaganda, by any means, even if it was partly made in the sense of agitation. Above all, it is a sensually beautiful piece of work.
The film deals with the problems of peasants at collective farms; and its basis is their battles for the Kolkhozes; and the director shows great hatred towards the upper-class -- the Kulaks -- through many brilliant, but obnoxious, scenes. From this perspective, the main topic of Peasants is the class struggle between the Kulaks (a term developed by Stalin; meaning affluent peasants) and the poor peasants. Furthermore, as a social film, Peasants offers an insightful vision of the ruthlessness of capitalism; of a world, where cruelty wins over solidarity. However, even though the film is communist; Leninism has been left behind and it also attains an ethical aspect by highlighting communitarianism, in this particular Kolkhoz.
Sure the film has aged a lot, and how magnificently it has, but; for its description of poverty, class struggle and the Russian reality, it is also timeless. Although, the film depicts miserable conditions, it ends in strong belief in its own ideology. The film was one of Andrei Tarkovsky's great favorites and an observant viewer might find a few shots that include Tarkovskyan poetry. Nonetheless, whether it was or wasn't his inspiration, Peasants is a passionate work of art and, therefore, must be seen. I would recommend it, not only to film fanatics or fans of Soviet cinema, but to all interested in humane history of man.
The film deals with the problems of peasants at collective farms; and its basis is their battles for the Kolkhozes; and the director shows great hatred towards the upper-class -- the Kulaks -- through many brilliant, but obnoxious, scenes. From this perspective, the main topic of Peasants is the class struggle between the Kulaks (a term developed by Stalin; meaning affluent peasants) and the poor peasants. Furthermore, as a social film, Peasants offers an insightful vision of the ruthlessness of capitalism; of a world, where cruelty wins over solidarity. However, even though the film is communist; Leninism has been left behind and it also attains an ethical aspect by highlighting communitarianism, in this particular Kolkhoz.
Sure the film has aged a lot, and how magnificently it has, but; for its description of poverty, class struggle and the Russian reality, it is also timeless. Although, the film depicts miserable conditions, it ends in strong belief in its own ideology. The film was one of Andrei Tarkovsky's great favorites and an observant viewer might find a few shots that include Tarkovskyan poetry. Nonetheless, whether it was or wasn't his inspiration, Peasants is a passionate work of art and, therefore, must be seen. I would recommend it, not only to film fanatics or fans of Soviet cinema, but to all interested in humane history of man.
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