The Great Dawn
Encyclopedia
The Great Dawn is a 1938 Soviet Georgian film directed by Mikhail Chiaureli. It is considered a representation of Joseph Stalin
's cult of personality
.
is unwilling to defy its imperialist allies and stop the war. Only Vladimir Lenin
's Bolshevik Party is resolute in calling for peace. In the front, the soldiers of one battalion elect three delegates to travel to St. Petersburg with donations the troops collected for the Pravda
newspaper: Gudushauri, Panasiuk and Ershov. The three arrive in the capital and describe the horrendous conditions in which the soldiers live to Joseph Stalin
, Lenin's trusted aid and colleague. They join the Bolsheviks and take part in the storming of the Winter Palace, led by Stalin and Lenin. Stalin announces that the great dawn of revolution has broken.
, which also included Lenin in October and The Vyborg Side
; since Sergei Eisenstein
's October, it became customary to release pictures about the revolution with each decade anniversary to it. The film was the first in a series of four which director Chiaureli directed with Joseph Stalin as their main theme, and the marked Mikheil Gelovani
's first appearance as Stalin on screen - a role he since played in thirteen other productions.
The Great Dawn was released in the United States in 1940. New York Times' critic interpreted its distribution there as being influenced by the signing of the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact, writing: "conforming with the pact and the new party line, Soviet filmmakers now tell the world that the Russian and the German comrades would have reconciled back in 1917 if it hadn't been for the Anglo-French "imperialists"... The rest of it is in the familiar vein of Soviet lily-gilding."
Historian Peter Kenez
viewed the film as the one "best anticipating the future of Stalin's image" in cinema, noting that Chiaureli allowed him to "escape Lenin's shadow" and turned him to the one the revolutionaries looked up to for leadership. Cinema scholar Nikolas Hülbusch regarded The Great Dawn as "the first contribution of the Tbilisi Studio to Stalin's cult of personality
", noting that the premier's character began to exhibit the traits that would define it in later propaganda films, like the ability to mellow out the romantic relationships of his followers. Antonin and Mira Liehm commented that the picture was the first to clearly portray Stalin in the forefront of the Revolution and as Lenin's "closest collaborator and successor". Olga Romanova saw the film as the beginning of a long process, during which Lenin's image in cinema would slowly fade away and allow Stalin to take precedence.
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
's cult of personality
Cult of personality
A cult of personality arises when an individual uses mass media, propaganda, or other methods, to create an idealized and heroic public image, often through unquestioning flattery and praise. Cults of personality are usually associated with dictatorships...
.
Plot
In 1917, the people of the Russian Empire are no longer willing to fight Germany, but the bourgeois government of Alexander KerenskyAlexander Kerensky
Alexander Fyodorovich Kerensky was a major political leader before and during the Russian Revolutions of 1917.Kerensky served as the second Prime Minister of the Russian Provisional Government until Vladimir Lenin was elected by the All-Russian Congress of Soviets following the October Revolution...
is unwilling to defy its imperialist allies and stop the war. Only Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Ilyich Lenin was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and communist politician who led the October Revolution of 1917. As leader of the Bolsheviks, he headed the Soviet state during its initial years , as it fought to establish control of Russia in the Russian Civil War and worked to create a...
's Bolshevik Party is resolute in calling for peace. In the front, the soldiers of one battalion elect three delegates to travel to St. Petersburg with donations the troops collected for the Pravda
Pravda
Pravda was a leading newspaper of the Soviet Union and an official organ of the Central Committee of the Communist Party between 1912 and 1991....
newspaper: Gudushauri, Panasiuk and Ershov. The three arrive in the capital and describe the horrendous conditions in which the soldiers live to Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
, Lenin's trusted aid and colleague. They join the Bolsheviks and take part in the storming of the Winter Palace, led by Stalin and Lenin. Stalin announces that the great dawn of revolution has broken.
Cast
- Konstantin Myuffke as Vladimir LeninVladimir LeninVladimir Ilyich Lenin was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and communist politician who led the October Revolution of 1917. As leader of the Bolsheviks, he headed the Soviet state during its initial years , as it fought to establish control of Russia in the Russian Civil War and worked to create a...
- Mikheil GelovaniMikheil GelovaniMikheil Gelovani was a Georgian-Soviet actor, known for his many portrayals of Joseph Stalin in cinema.-Early life:Mikheil Gelovani was a descendant of the old Georgian princely house of Gelovani. He made his stage debut in a theater in Batumi during 1913. From 1919 to 1920, he attended the Drama...
as Joseph StalinJoseph StalinJoseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee... - Spartak Bagashvili as Georgi Gudushauri
- Tamara MakarovaTamara MakarovaTamara Makarova was a Soviet actress. She appeared in 31 films between 1927 and 1984. She was married to the Soviet film director Sergei Gerasimov.-Selected filmography:* Somebody Else's Coat * The Deserter * The Stone Flower...
as Svetlana - Nutsa Chkheidze as Gudushauri's mother
- Anna Smirnova as Svetlana's mother
- Basil Matov as Ershov
- Dmitry Ivanov as Panasyuk
- Georgi Sagaradze as Tsereteli
- Michael Chikhladze as Colonel Mikeladze
- Ivan Perestiani as general
- Alexander Zhorzholiani as surgeon
- Shalva Gambashidze as Karkumidze
- Georgi Shavgulidze as Paul Gudushauri
- Piotr Morskoi as Deryugin
- Boris Poltavtsev as Yakov SverdlovYakov SverdlovYakov Mikhaylovich Sverdlov ; known under pseudonyms "Andrei", "Mikhalych", "Max", "Smirnov", "Permyakov" — 16 March 1919) was a Bolshevik party leader and an official of the Russian Soviet Republic.-Early life:...
Production
The Great Dawn was part of a group of films made in honor of the twentieth anniversary of the October RevolutionOctober Revolution
The October Revolution , also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution , Red October, the October Uprising or the Bolshevik Revolution, was a political revolution and a part of the Russian Revolution of 1917...
, which also included Lenin in October and The Vyborg Side
The Vyborg Side
The Vyborg Side is a 1939 Soviet film directed by Grigori Kozintsev and Leonid Trauberg, the final part of trilogy about the life of a young factory worker, Maxim. The film was also released in the United States under the title New Horizons....
; since Sergei Eisenstein
Sergei Eisenstein
Sergei Mikhailovich Eisenstein , né Eizenshtein, was a pioneering Soviet Russian film director and film theorist, often considered to be the "Father of Montage"...
's October, it became customary to release pictures about the revolution with each decade anniversary to it. The film was the first in a series of four which director Chiaureli directed with Joseph Stalin as their main theme, and the marked Mikheil Gelovani
Mikheil Gelovani
Mikheil Gelovani was a Georgian-Soviet actor, known for his many portrayals of Joseph Stalin in cinema.-Early life:Mikheil Gelovani was a descendant of the old Georgian princely house of Gelovani. He made his stage debut in a theater in Batumi during 1913. From 1919 to 1920, he attended the Drama...
's first appearance as Stalin on screen - a role he since played in thirteen other productions.
Reception
In 1941, Chiaureli and Gelovani both won the Stalin Prize, 1st class, for their work on the film.The Great Dawn was released in the United States in 1940. New York Times' critic interpreted its distribution there as being influenced by the signing of the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact, writing: "conforming with the pact and the new party line, Soviet filmmakers now tell the world that the Russian and the German comrades would have reconciled back in 1917 if it hadn't been for the Anglo-French "imperialists"... The rest of it is in the familiar vein of Soviet lily-gilding."
Historian Peter Kenez
Peter Kenez
Peter Kenez is a historian specializing in Russian history and Eastern Europe. He also teaches courses on Soviet cinema and an interdisciplinary course on the Holocaust with literature professor Murray Baumgarten...
viewed the film as the one "best anticipating the future of Stalin's image" in cinema, noting that Chiaureli allowed him to "escape Lenin's shadow" and turned him to the one the revolutionaries looked up to for leadership. Cinema scholar Nikolas Hülbusch regarded The Great Dawn as "the first contribution of the Tbilisi Studio to Stalin's cult of personality
Cult of personality
A cult of personality arises when an individual uses mass media, propaganda, or other methods, to create an idealized and heroic public image, often through unquestioning flattery and praise. Cults of personality are usually associated with dictatorships...
", noting that the premier's character began to exhibit the traits that would define it in later propaganda films, like the ability to mellow out the romantic relationships of his followers. Antonin and Mira Liehm commented that the picture was the first to clearly portray Stalin in the forefront of the Revolution and as Lenin's "closest collaborator and successor". Olga Romanova saw the film as the beginning of a long process, during which Lenin's image in cinema would slowly fade away and allow Stalin to take precedence.
External links
- They Wanted Peace on the IMDb.
- The Great Dawn on kino-teatr.ru.
- The Great Dawn on geocinema.ge.