Shchedroye Leto (1950)
Directed by Boris Barnet
Genres - Musical, Historical Film |
Sub-Genres - Musical Comedy, Propaganda Film |
Run Time - 87 min. |
MPAA Rating - NR
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Synopsis by Hal Erickson
Russian filmmaker Boris Barnet's Schedroe Leto was released variously in the U.S. as Beautiful Summer and Bountiful Summer. The film was Barnet's first color effort, and a beautiful job it was indeed. Essentially a musical comedy with lightly propagandistic underpinnings, the film offers a rosy-hued look at life in a "typical" Ukrainian collective farm. The largely female cast seemingly can't go for an hour at a time without bursting into song. Somehow, the film finds time for a plot concerning the friendly rivalry between Oksana (M. Bebutova) and Vera (N. Arkhipova), who try to outdo each other in raising livestock and harvesting grain. A romantic subplot involves Vera with mild-mannered bookkeeper Peter (M. Kuznetsov).
Characteristics
Keywords
collective, Communism, attack, cattle, death, dwarf, evil, exorcism, killing, livestock, musical [play], propaganda, Russia, slice-of-life, songwriter, stabbing, stripper, Summer, violence