by Hal Erickson
synopsis
Earth (AKA Zemlya) is the third of Soviet director Alexander Dovzhenko's "Ukraine tetralogy" (Zvenigora (1928), Arsenal (1929), and Ivan (1932) are the other films in the series). The story tells of a group of farmers in a Ukrainian village, who unite to purchase a tractor. The leader of the peasants is later killed by a kulak, or landowner, who dislikes any form of united front that might pose a threat to his long-established authority. The events fade into memory, but the long-ranging effects of the peasant "revolt"--like the Earth itself--last forever.
characteristics
- High Historical Importance
- High Artistic Quality
- Down On Their Luck
- Totalitarian States
- Only Human
- Sharecropper
- Landowner
- Sharecropping
- Peasant
- Land-scheme
- Country-life
- Farm
- Collective
- Land-war
- Machine
