Chapaev

The appeal of the Vasilev brother's Chapaev takes root in its ability to reconcile the entertainment and propagandist aspects of its own creation. As the readings have stated, most Soviet propaganda project were rejected by the masses in favor of more character driven comic or lighthearted fare. The fundamental problem was of course that by 1934, when Chapaev was released, the government had strict policy involving the propaganda content of film. What this film did was to establish the protagonist as a man of the people, the relatability of Vasily Chapaev must certainly have appealed to the lower classes (the bread and butter of the revolution). When asked about his political persuasions he replies, somewhat flustered, "I am for the right [political party]." surely no one could have exemplified the Russian worker better than Chapaev, and when partnered with his Comissar Furmanov, the audience sees the success of both tactic and character in their now beloved commander. Or to put it into its propagandists formula, the uneducated Russian peasantry will prosper in all ways once the ideals of the socialist Soviet regime are accepted. Propaganda fulfilled. But this does not stop Chapaev from being a character driven war drama, with the admirability of its protagonist, the simple honest love story of the idealized Soviet youth found in Petka and Anka, or the undeniably villainry of white army Colonel Borozdin.
Although this could all be superfluous in the face of the fact that this film had sound. Characters could now talk to each other, and although this may have forsaken the necessary imagery and subtle body language of silent film, dialogue is frankly more relatable.