Vom Zaren bis zu Stalin

My teacher found a copy of this and previewed it herself before showing it to our class. She then decided we had to watch it because of how hilariously awful it was.

It is so unbelievably awkward. Nothing flows, and the man doing the commentary has this stupid commanding voice. It's like they were trying to match a the history with any random footage they had. There was one shot when they were discussing rioting in the cities and were simultaneously showing the royal family roller skating.

The best part was when they showed the royal family bathing nude and concluded that this was "quite normal." Like I said...It hardly relates to the Russian Revolution at all. I'd only recommend it for a good laugh after thoroughly studying the period.

Disregard the bad reviews from what seem to be high school students. (I won't comment on their validity for a high school audience.) If you are familiar with the history of Russia in the first part of the 20th century you will surely enjoy this documentary. Lots of footage of now-obscure players weaved into a frenetic but understandable narration. Especially if you like really old newsreel-style footage you should try to see this. (MPI Video was the distributor on VHS, but it is also listed on at least one sales site.) The naked men swimming went on for about a minute -- they were Czar Nicholas and his cronies. Trotsky reads a screed denouncing Stalin in English. The Russia Civil War -- the Reds vs. the Whites. Except for a brief passage which seemed to be lifted from a Russian film about the revolution, almost everything looks authentic. I've seen this twice and in a few years will see it again.

Yes it is old; yes the narrator is super intense, and many people were racists in the '60s, but it is a good look at history. The facts of the film are good and it does a good job of overview. I am using it in my classes right now to review the revolution and civil war but also as an exercise in document analysis and Point of View/Bias. It's a good exercise because the bias of the writers is so blatant that it is impossible to miss, and the film was made recently enough that the students can appreciate the goals of the writers. Also, many students have an easier time seeing and hearing POV/Bias than reading it; the nuance is more obvious. Depending on your goals it is good. But I wouldn't leave it for a sub without some very specific work for the students.

My teacher also decided to get this movie without previously viewing and... ugh! This was so boring that when I actually tried as hard as I could to watch it, I would still stare off into space without even noticing. There were parts in this movie that were unintentionally hilarious, this would be the only redeeming factor. They showed about thirty men skinny dipping for about five straight minutes for NO reason! It was amazingly funny because of how serious the narrator's voice was. Also the narrator was a complete joke, his comments wouldn't match the pictures on the screen and at one part he attempted to do a women's voice SERIOUSLY! He wasn't even joking! To make a long long long long story short this mock mockumentary should never be viewed in front of any class unless your just gonna laugh at it.

P.S- There are some nastily racist remarks that the narrator repeats and emphasizes for (once again) no reason!