EARTH (ZEMLYA) (1930) B/W "silent" 72m dir: Alexander Dovzhenko

w/Semyon Svashenko, Stepan Shkurat, Mikola Nademsky, Yelena Maximova, V. Mikhailov, Pyotr Masokha, Yulia Solntseva

From Variety's review of the film, written in 1962, at the time of a retrospective screening at the Montreal Film Festival: "Earth was the sixth of Aleksandr Dovzhenko's eleven productions, and it embodies the quintessence of his philosophy of life: that the tenets of the Marxist are related to the attachment of simple men to the land of their forefathers.

"Showing how the machines come to help the collectivization of farms in the Ukraine, Earth is well known for its simplicity, lyricism and deep feeling for humanity and nature. It remains one of the finest examples of the poetic cinema of the silent period."

From Georges Sadoul's Dictionary of Films: "In a Ukraine village, a rich kulak refuses to divide his land up for a collective farm. Vasili (Svashenko), the young village chairman who is betrothed to a village girl (Maximova), buys a tractor, takes the land by force and makes the collective a success. One day, Vasili is killed. The Kulak's son (Masokha) is accused but denies the charge. Vasili's father (Shkurat) asks that his son have a 'modern' burial by the young people, not the priest, and that they sing songs of the new life. As a comrade preaches peace, rain begins to fall on the new crops.

"Main sequences: the prologue, with the old man biting joyfully into an apple and dying in peace; a family looking depressed that in fact turns out to be kulaks upset because a meeting is taking place to found the collective; the arrival of the tractor whose radiator boils over but when filled with urine starts again; the harvesting and the beautiful harvesters; the love scene between Vasili and the village girl; he leaves and dances out of sheer joy and suddenly falls, killed by the kulak's son; the family, mourning Vasili, drive away the priest (Mikhailov); the funeral with the young singing with joy as the branches of fruit trees brush the face of the dead Vasili, the priest praying alone in his church, the fiancée's naked agony, a woman so moved by sorrow as the coffin passes that she goes into labor (these four scenes are intercut); the speech over the grave; the kulak son's mad dance and confession among the graves; the rain falls on the crops, then the clouds pass and there is sunshine and peace again.

"Dovzhenko wrote in 1930 of his aims and methods: 'I wanted to show the state of a Ukrainian village in 1929, that is to say, at the time it was going through an economic transformation and a mental change in the masses. My principles are: 1. Stories in themselves do not interest me; I choose them in order to get the greatest expression of essential social forms. 2. I work with typical material and apply synthetic methods; my heroes and their behavior are representative of their classes. 3. The material of my films is extremely concentrated temporally and, at the same time, I make it pass through the prism of the emotions, which gives it life and eloquence. I never remain indifferent in the face of this material. It is necessary to both love and hate deeply and in great measure if one's art is not to be dogmatic and dry. I work with actors, but above all with people taken from the crowd. My material demands it. One should not be afraid of using nonprofessional actors because one should remember that everyone at least once can act out his own role on the screen.' Dovzhenko also said: 'I decided from the beginning to use no effects, no tricks, no acrobatic techniques, but only simple methods. I took as a theme the earth. On this earth, an isba; in this isba, men, simple people; events in themselves commonplace. My film was screened 32 times for various organizations before being released to the public.'

"The central sequence is dominated by what Dovzhenko called a 'biological, pantheistic conception.' Under the moonlight of a warm, peaceful summer's night, groups of loving couples lie in ecstasy, the hands of the boys in the bodices of the girls. Among them are Vasili and his betrothed. They leave. Alone on a dusty road, he begins to dance, to express all his joy, all his spiritual and physical happiness. He falls. Horses start up from their grazing. He hasn't merely stumbled; he is dead, shot by the murderer hiding in the hedge.

"[Three sequences at least were cut by Soviet censors before release abroad: the replenishment of the tractor's radiator with urine; the fiancée tearing off her clothes in grief; the woman in labor during the funeral.]

"Though its basic story (collectivization in the Ukraine and kulak defiance) is very much set in its own time, Earth has universal themes that transcend this: the fruitfulness of the earth, its annual rebirth, life, love, and death. It is Dovzhenko's portrayal of these themes that gives Earth its moving lyrical power and that has twice justifiably led to its inclusion by a panel of critics as one of the Twelve Best Films of All Time. The deceptively simple photography, reducing every element to its essential meaning, has incredible beauty and brilliantly captures the sense of vast plains, fruit trees, and enormous sunflowers under an overpowering sky. And over everything lies Dovzhenko's love for his native Ukraine."