The Road to Life (Putyovka v zhizn). 1931. Directed by Nikolai Ekk.

(5/11/00)

This film was also shown in Russian without subtitles. I was unable to follow it. It seemed to be about juvenile delinquents and the first half of the film had the look of a Warner Brothers social problem film of the 1930s.

The juvenile delinquents are taken somewhere to be rehabilitated. There is a harrowing moment when one throws a rock at a dog and kills it. As in a Fritz Lang film we do not actually see the rock hitting the dog. (Lang was famous for saying that you should never actually show the violence.) The same boy later goes beserk and has to be held down by the others.

The boys are engaged in the building of a railroad. Work is celebrated as was traditional in Soviet culture. The scenes of them at work with sledgehammers are uplifting.

One of the delinquents who has been working on the railroad is killed. Someone forces one of the rails out of alignment and the boy is thrown. Then he is killed. It is interesting that as he approaches on a handcar the film cuts away from him, but his approach is suggested by the soundtrack getting louder. This is a creative use of sound in an early sound film.

At the end of the film the body is found and placed on a train and mourned. This scene of mourning for a fallen comrade reminds me of a similar scene in The Battleship Potemkin.
I was very frustrated that this film was shown without subtitles and I could not follow it. I believe I would have been very impressed with it.