Chapaev

This film was one of the first Soviet blockbuster movies. This film was probably so popular because it was based on real life events. Chapaev was a legendary commander of the Red Army in the civil war against the White Army. This movie is different from Battleship Potemkin in that it was a lot more realistic. It was much more believable, that this was truly how it all happened. The sound of the film also makes it much more popular in my eyes, because it creates more entertainment, to hear their voices, and read all of what they are saying. I think that the sound made a huge impact on this film, so I think that without it, it wouldn't have survived or it would have at least not been as popular as it was.

It was easy to see that Chapaev was the big hero of this film. He was brave, and showed a lot of honor on the battlefield, yet he wasn't full of himself, he saw himself as equal to all of the other men. He said something like, on the battlefield I will command you, but off the battlefield, treat me just like you would anyone else. Even though Chapaev was the ultimate hero of the film, there were a couple other heroes that shined forth at different times. One of these was the Commissar Furmanov, who seemed to be very influential on Chapaev in the movie. When the movie starts out however, they don't seem to be on that good of terms, but that all changes. By the end of the movie, when he is assigned a new Commisar, you can see how Chapaev and Fumanov have grown together when they embrace each other before Furmanov leaves. Another hero of this film was Petka, Chapaev's protege who is shot and killed while trying to give Chapaev enough time to escape. These two have much different of a relationship. Chapaev is definitely like a father figure to Petka, like when he talks to him about him going off and getting married to Anka and being so happy together. It is just like how a father would talk to his son. Also, when he protects him when the Whites have come in the night, and he tells Petka to leave with Anka, to save themselves. This brings me directly to my next hero. During the first attack on the Reds, Anka used the machine gun to force the Whites to defeat. All by herself she held of the entire army, that is something truly heroic to me.

One of the characteristics that I noticed to distinguish the Reds from the Whites is that the Reds seemed to be alot more Proletarian, where as the Whites seemed to be more bourgeoisie. Or in other words the Reds seemed to be more like peasants, while the Whites were much wealthier and dressed more lavishly.