[Pen-l] The Last Bolshevik

[Louis Proyect <lnp3@xxxxxxxxx>]

Regular readers of my movie reviews must know by now that I can’t stand
hype, particularly when it involves the latest Hollywood blockbuster.
But I would be loath not to describe the two DVD package released under
the title “The Last Bolshevik” as the event of the decade, at least for
the small sector of the universe that still takes the idea of socialism
seriously. Who knows? With Wall Street’s continuing collapse, that
sector might begin to experience some bullish growth.

Chris Marker directed the documentary “The Last Bolshevik” in 1993 as an
introduction to the life and career of Soviet film-maker Alexander
Medvedkin who lived from 1900 to 1989, but more generally it is a
meditation on the problems of artists under Stalinism and the collapse
of the USSR. The package also includes Medvekin’s 64 minute silent movie
“Happiness” that was made in 1934, as well as a number of shorter
documentaries that he made on behalf of the Soviet government’s usually
misguided efforts to drag the country into the modern age. Marker’s
interest in Medvekin is clearly as a symbol of the contradictions of the
Soviet Union. The director was passionately dedicated to the ideals of
1917, so much so that he could not bear to openly oppose the government
that was crushing those ideals under foot in the name of defending them.

full: http://louisproyect.wordpress.com/2008/10/29/the-last-bolshevik/
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