Arsenal
Live Piano Accompaniment by Yakov Gubanov
Screening on Film
Screening on Film
Directed by Alexander Dovzhenko.
With Semyon Svashenko, A. Buchma, Mikola Nademsky.
USSR, 1929, 35mm, black & white, silent, 99 min.
Print source: HFA
With Semyon Svashenko, A. Buchma, Mikola Nademsky.
USSR, 1929, 35mm, black & white, silent, 99 min.
Print source: HFA
H is for Historical Revision
Based on an actual historical incident, Arsenal focuses on the failed January 1918 Bolshevik uprising and the struggles of a group of pro-Bolshevik workers to defend a munitions plant in Kiev against Ukrainian national forces. Dovzhenko uses the historical context to construct a parable about the assimilation of Ukraine into modern Soviet society. Although the film’s overt focus is on the struggle between the warring groups, Dovzhenko artfully employs an array of visuals from Ukrainian folklore to chronicle the transition from the traditional to the modern. Despite the film’s oblique narrative structure, it stands as one of the finest and most lyrical works of the Soviet silent cinema.
Part of film series
Screenings from this program
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Directed by F.W. Murnau, 1924
Live Piano Accompaniment by Yakov GubanovScreening on Film
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The Last Command
Directed by Josef von Sternberg, 1928
Live Piano Accompaniment by Yakov GubanovScreening on Film
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Cinema A–Z: Treasures from the Harvard ...
Trailers, Trailers, Trailers
Introduction by HFA Conservator Julie BuckScreening on Film
