East Side Story (documentary)
Encyclopedia
East Side Story is a 1997 documentary directed by Dana Ranga
. The film documents the Soviet musical genre, which flourished during Stalin and enjoyed another short life after World War II but quickly died by the 1960s. The story features interviews with actors, film historians, and audience members who reminisce on these unlikely films and their impact in USSR life.
, and the personal approval of Stalin. Alexandrov went on to create other propagandistic musicals, including Volga, Volga (1938), which details the story of peasants who boat to Moscow on the River Volga to become singers. These musicals starred his wife, Lyubov Orlova
.
Next, the film examines East German musical films, including the wildly successful My Wife Wants to Sing (1958), which earned a great deal of money but its Western message of personal ambition may not have gelled with critics. Ultimately, the freezing that came with the creation of the Berlin Wall and the end of Prague Spring doomed these musicals to the dustbin of history.
Dana Ranga
Dana Ranga is a Romanian writer and film director, currently living and working in Berlin.- Life :Dana Ranga was born in 1964 in Bucharest. Initially, she studied medicine at the Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy. After she left for Berlin, she studied journalism, art history and...
. The film documents the Soviet musical genre, which flourished during Stalin and enjoyed another short life after World War II but quickly died by the 1960s. The story features interviews with actors, film historians, and audience members who reminisce on these unlikely films and their impact in USSR life.
Synopsis
The film first looks at Grigori Alexandrov, a director who made his career in 1930s musicals. He directed the unlikely hit, Jolly Fellows (1934) which, with the backing of Maxim GorkyMaxim Gorky
Alexei Maximovich Peshkov , primarily known as Maxim Gorky , was a Russian and Soviet author, a founder of the Socialist Realism literary method and a political activist.-Early years:...
, and the personal approval of Stalin. Alexandrov went on to create other propagandistic musicals, including Volga, Volga (1938), which details the story of peasants who boat to Moscow on the River Volga to become singers. These musicals starred his wife, Lyubov Orlova
Lyubov Orlova
Lyubov Petrovna Orlova, was the first recognized star of Soviet cinema, famous theatre actress and a gifted singer.She was born to a middle class family in Zvenigorod near Moscow and grew up in Yaroslavl...
.
Next, the film examines East German musical films, including the wildly successful My Wife Wants to Sing (1958), which earned a great deal of money but its Western message of personal ambition may not have gelled with critics. Ultimately, the freezing that came with the creation of the Berlin Wall and the end of Prague Spring doomed these musicals to the dustbin of history.