FAQ

Why a socialist film review?

There are many reasons to be interested in films from the socialist countries. One is that a great deal of important and interesting films have been produced in the socialist countries and neglected in the West. But my main reason for doing this is that I am interested in the distinct kinds of culture that developed in the socialist societies of the 20th century, and those that continue to develop today. I want to learn, through film, about this distinct way of life that has been all too quickly buried and forgotten. That includes the good, the bad, and the ugly aspects.

Shouldn't this be 'communist' film review?

This blog uses the terminology used in the socialist countries themselves. No country has ever called itself 'communist'. Communism describes a theoretical future state toward which 20th century socialist countries claimed to be aiming. Socialism is the correct name for the social system prevailing in these countries.

Why include some countries that are obviously not socialist?

Rather than attempt to draw boundaries around what is socialist based on ideology, I take a fairly broad view of socialism and see it as a living mode of production and social existence; so I don't subscribe to the idea, for example, that when one man dies (Lenin, Stalin, Mao, or whoever), suddenly a whole society ceases to be socialist.

I also subscribe to the idea that any real social formation consists of an admixture of modes of production; so even if e.g. Poland of the 1970s felt itself under occupation and therefore the socialist (i.e. democratic) element of the economy was reduced to a minimum while the bureaucratic element became dominant, I feel that it is important to study the Polish experience in order to understand how this came about and to what extent socialism survived there during those times. The same argument applies e.g. to the DPRK.

How representative is this as a sample of films?

Throughout the history of socialism, socialist countries have produced tens of thousands of films of all genres and all levels of quality. My aim here is to be as general as possible, covering as many time periods, countries, and genres as possible. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to be systematic about this; many films are not easily available, or are not available with subtitles. As a result, the selection of films on this blog is somewhat random, and probably reflects more my happening to stumble across them than anything else.

Please leave any questions as comments on this post and I will do my best to answer them.