Хроника Октября. English.

Chronicle of October 1917.

Moscow : Central Documentary Film Studios, [between 1980 and 1987]

1 online resource (1 video file (29 minutes, 26 seconds)) : sound, black and white.

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Soviet film detailing the events leading up to and on the night of the October Revolution in 1917. The story is principally told through the movements and ideas of Lenin, although the point throughout is that the February Revolution was left incomplete, and that the good of the Soviets and workers was bound up with the ideas being pursued by Lenin.The film begins with footage and photographs of the tsar juxtaposed with those of the "mercilessly exploited" peasants and miners. Throughout the documentary images of the First World War, hard labour and hungry refugees are used to show the misery of the people, first under the monarchy and then under the provisional government.The documentary includes film of the February Revolution, photographs of Lenin and groups of armed Soviets plus colour-footage of contemporary Leningrad. The story of Lenin's itinerancy in Finland and Petrograd during the months of the Provisional Government is used to discuss the political ideas of the time, with the ongoing World War used to demonstrate the government's rejection of the revolution. The camera frequently moves through apartments and Bolshevik Party buildings while attempts to capture Lenin are described.As the Central Committee of Bolsheviks prepared for armed uprising, images are used of soldiers and armed workers who joined the new revolution. There is a charcoal drawing of Lenin, supposedly from the night of the uprising. Finally, the revolution breaks and as the narrator describes the flight and collapse of the Provisional Government, the film shows cheering crowds receiving the news in the streets. The happy workers now become the focus of the footage, which ends with a film of Lenin delivering a speech to crowds of people.

Images / Online / Video & Film

English

October 21, 2024

Director, Igor Bessarabov ; script, Igor Bessarabov ; camera, Valeriy Lovkov

Documentary films.