Yesli zavtra vojna

original title:
Yesli zavtra vojna
other titles:
If War Comes Tomorrow, If There Is a War Tomorrow, Wenn morgen der Krieg
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original length:
60 min. , black/white
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plot synopsis:
This patriotic Soviet docudrama assures its audience that, should war break out, Russia is eminently prepared. Using newsreel footage, shots from maneuvers of the Red Army and dramatized sequences, the producers conjure up a "war of the future" against an unnamed but decidedly Germanic enemy. Once the threat has been established, the film segues into traditional (and somewhat dull) shots of soldiers and sailors in training. The war is waged with the help of poison gas, while at the rear of the invaders rebellious elements of the proletariat break out. The tertiary plotline concludes with the triumph of "the people" over their despotic foes.
literature:
J. Hoberman. The Red Atlantis: Communist Culture in the Abscence of Communism. Temple University Press. 1998. 304 pp.
remarks:
Stalin commented the preview of the movie with the words: "Not much different from what actually happened, only there was no poison gas and the German proletariat did not rebel".
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