Arsenal (1929 film)

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Arsenal
VUFKU
Release date
  • February 25, 1929 (February 25, 1929)
Running time
92 min.
CountrySoviet Union
LanguagesSilent film
Russian intertitles

Arsenal (

VUFKU by cameraman Danyl Demutskyi and used original sets made by Volodymyr Muller. The expressionist imagery, camera work and original drama were said to take the film far beyond the usual propaganda and made it one of the most important pieces of Ukrainian avant-garde cinema.[3][4] The film was made in 1928 and released early in 1929.[1][5] It is the second film in Dovzhenko's "Ukraine Trilogy", the first being Zvenigora (1928) and the third being Earth
(1930).

The film concerns an episode in the Russian Civil War in 1918 in which the Kiev Arsenal January Uprising of workers aided the besieging Bolshevik army against the Ukrainian People's Republic’s Central Rada council who held legal power in Ukraine at the time. Regarded by film scholar Vance Kepley, Jr. as "one of the few Soviet political films which seems even to cast doubt on the morality of violent retribution",[citation needed] Dovzhenko's eye for wartime absurdities (for example, an attack on an empty trench) anticipates later pacifist sentiments in films by Jean Renoir and Stanley Kubrick.[original research?]

Plot

First part of Arsenal (1929)

The central figure is a young worker named Timosh, who returns to his hometown of Kyiv after serving in the

Bolshevik
movement.

Timosh and his comrades organize the workers and peasants in Kyiv, preparing for an uprising against the ruling bourgeoisie. The film showcases the escalating tensions, political intrigues, and class struggles during the revolution, the January uprising of workers in Kyiv, their confrontation with gangs of

haidamak
paramilitaries serving the bourgeois Central Rada of the Ukrainian People's Republic, and the massacre of the rebels.

A series of vignettes portray the struggles, sacrifices, and heroism of the common people. The collective power of the proletariat and their fight for liberation from oppressive forces are showcased. The film also explores the contrast between the working class and the bourgeoisie, highlighting the brutality and corruption of the ruling class.

The narrative of Arsenal is non-linear, employing poetic and metaphorical imagery to convey its message. The film includes symbolic scenes that represent the spirit of the revolution, such as a statue of a Cossack warrior coming to life and an allegorical figure of death. It also incorporates documentary footage to further emphasize the historical context and the real-life events that inspired the story.

Cast

  • Semyon Svashenko — Timosha
  • Georgiy Kharkiv — Red Army
  • Amvrosy Buchma — German soldier in glasses
  • Dmitri Erdman — a German officer
  • Sergey Petrov — a German soldier
  • K. Mikhailovsky — nationalist
  • Alexander Evdakov —
    Nicholas II
  • Andrei Mikhailovsky — nationalist

References

  1. ^ a b Арсенал - информация о фильме (in Russian). Kino-teatr.ru. Retrieved 2012-12-19.
  2. ISBN 978-1442268425
    .
  3. ^ Jay Leyda (1960). Kino: A History of the Russian and Soviet Film. George Allen & Unwin. pp. 252–255.
  4. ^ "Oleksandr Dovzhenko National Centre". Archived from the original on 2016-11-23. Retrieved 2016-11-22.
  5. ISBN 0-89356-239-4
    )

External links
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