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La Fille De L'eau
FRANCE (Directed by Jean Renoir) - The film revolves around a young girl who falls to poverty after the death of her father and resorts to petty crimes to stay alive. The film is representative of the era of France after WWI when France was struggling to reover from the devastation of WWI. -
Mother
RUSSIA (Directed by Vsevolod Pudovkin-Developer of Soviet Montage Movement) - A Russian film/propoganda piece that depicts the Russian Revolution of 1905 where a Mother is pulled into the Revolution. Although the film depicts the Mother and her Son being killed in the suppression of the Revolution, the main focus of the film is to demonstrate the oppression fo rulers and motivate the people of Russia. -
Metropolis
GERMANY (Directed by Fritz Lang) - Classic German film directly related to the German Expressionism Movement. It represents the growing divide between the rich and the poor and the growing powers of the workin class. -
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Jean Renoir
FRANCE (Jean Renoir) - France was caught between the far left and far right turmoil of Germany and the U.S.S.R. As an escape, they turned to Poetic Realism style with characters, and themes that spoke to their struggles. Jean Renoir was one of the most influencial directors and pioneers of the genre. He created several films that contained very strong political messages about the pointlessness of war and the shifts of power between social classes. -
Camicia nera
ITALY (Directed by Giovacchino Forzano) - Italy was under the Fascist rule of Mussolini at this time and while the government took control of public life, it left cinema in private hands. Still, cinema that gained funding from the government contained bits of propoganda. This film is about a blacksmith who fought in the war. He looses his memory and returns to a new modern and well-functioning Italy thanks to the Fascist ruling. -
Hitlerjunge Quex
GERMANY (Directed by Hans Steinhoff) - The Nazi party took complete control of the cinema nationalizing it by 1933. This propoganda film is about a young boy who rejects a Communist youth camp that treats the kids poorly. He stumbles upon a Hitler Youth camp and is taken in by the positive atmosphere. In the end, he is murdered by the Communist members. It contains subtle anti-semitism in its depiction of Jewish characters and is a direct attack on the German Communist party. -
Chapayev
U.S.S.R (Directed by Sergei and Georgy Vasiliey) - Another example of Socialist Realism. This was based on a fictional account of an actual civil war officer who falls in love with a subordinate woman soldier. This follows one of the key patterns of Socialist Realist narratives which is the protagonist sacrificing to subordinates for the greater good of the people. -
Happiness
U.S.S.R (Directed by Alexander Marchere) - This film was an example of Socialist Realism which became the official policy of the Soviet Union in 1935. It is about a peasant who resists the Russian Revolution and searches for contentment through achieving personal wealth. His wife joins a collective farm and encourages him to join with her. It served the communist party goals. The initial poverty of the couple is very much exaggerated. -
Triumph of the Will
GERMANY (Directed by Leni Riefenstahl) - Riefenstahl was a documentarist who was asked by Hitler to make propoganda films that flattered the Nazi party. She produced this film about the Nuremberg event with grand scale cameras and equipment. She captured visuals that depicted HItler's power and control as well as the German people's unified and spirited support in the two hour documentary. -
Circus
This Grigori Aleksandrov film was a Soviet melodramatic comedy musical film. It starred the Soviet's first recognized star, Lyubov Orlova. She was glamorous and a very talented singer, This film is important to European Cinema because many of the songs that Orlova sang in this film later became classics. Not only that but she also starrred in many other films of this time. -
Alexander Nevsky
Alexander Nevsky was made during the Stalin era, when the Soviet Union was not on good terms with Nazi Germany. There is an apparent obvious allegory in the film that shows the political state of the two conturies, according to Wikipedia. -
Shchors
Shchors is a biography that was commissioned by Joseph Stalin about a Soviet Partisan leader. It is significant, because the partisans were part of a resistance movemen fighting a guerilla war against the Axis. -
Aleksandr Ptushko
Aleksandr Ptushko is often times referred to as the Soviet's Walt Disney.This is a bit misleading, because the only thing they really had in common was early success in animation. He started his career as a director for stop motion films and worked his way up to the top. -
Der Ewige Jude (The Eternal Jew)
GERMANY (Directed by Fritz Hippler) - The narratives of German films during the Nazi era became attack films that would visually criticize Germany's enemies such as Great Britain, Russia, and the Jews. This documentary depicted the Jewish people as rats by claiming that they caused disease and corruption. TO convey this message, Hippler used film from the Warsaw Ghetto. -
Front-Line Girl Friends (Abroad Title: The Girl from Leningrad)
U.S.S.R - About two years after the U.S.S.R invaded Finland in the winter of 1939, this was released as the first fiction film on the war. It follows a group of Red Army nurses who mirror American character personalities such as an underage volunteer bent on proving herself. The film was a success both at home and abroad. -
The Fighting Film Albums
U.S.S.R - As a result of the disorganization of the film industry caused by the German invasion, feature filmmaking was not possible. The film studios began producing these series of shorts, reports, sketches, and fiction episodes about the war. Famous directors suchas Vsevolod Pudovkin made films for the series that included Nazi's committing atrocities against women and children. The series was popular, but was often criticized for being made far from real figh -
Zoya
U.S.S.R (Directed by Lev Arnshtam) - Many stories were based on true events like this film. The Russian name Zoay means "life", and the film's plot is based on that of an 18-year-old Russian girl who was captured and tortured while fighting the Germans. Despite this, she never gave up her comrades. -
Svadba
U.S.S.R (Directed by Isidor Annensky) - After the great Russian victory over Germany in the Battle of Stalingrad, Russia saw a small appearance of comedies. This was based on a play that ridiculed the middle class guests at a wedding party with over the top acting. The director used an "eccentric" style of acting that reflected that of the Soviet Montage Movement. -
Ivan the Terrible
U.S.S.R (Directed by Sergei Eisenstein) - Inspiration and the glorification of the Soviet Union and its leaders was needed to boost morale of the soldiers and its citizens. This two part biographical film compared the infamous Tsar to Stalin who personally identified with Ivan. The film shows Ivan conquering invaders while unifying Russia despite pressures from the nobility. The second part of the film was not released until 1958 due to censorship by the regime. -
Kolberg
GERMANY (Directed by Veit Harlan and Wolfgang Liebeneiner) - This was Joseph Goebbel's personal obsession, and what would be the last film of the Third Reich. It glorified death in combat in service of the fatherland. The historical epic focused on a group of citizens in a small Prussian village who resisted the French valiantly, only to be defeated in the end. Goebbels hopes were that German citizens would do the same, but his hopes were dahsed in May when the Allies won the war in Europe.