General Information

Original Title

Chlen pravitel'stva

Author/Creator

Zarkhy, Aleksandr, director.

Language

Russian.

Published

Soviet Union : LenFilm, 1939.

Physical Description

VHS (99 min.)

Contributors

Contributor

Kheifits, Iosif, (director)

Contents/Summary

Summary

The film is set on a Soviet collective farm in the aftermath of collectivization. Under the wise supervision of the "Great Father and Teacher," the poor and uneducated villagers are given a chance to study, gain professions and rise to social and professional prominence: simple herders study to become vets, local drunkards overcome their addiction and win socialist labor competitions, etc. The main protagonist, Aleksandra, or San'ka (the initial title of the film) a barely literate peasant woman constantly abused by her domineering husband is first appointed the chairperson of the kolkhoz and by the end of the film is even elected a deputy to the Supreme Sovet. Despite the plot's seemingly propagandistic overtones as it weaves the narrative of prosperity, social mobility and endless possibilities open for the broad masses of population by the Soviet regime, the directors manage to give their story a personal and even tragic touch. Against the background of Alexandra's stunning career, they show her personal life disintegrating, as her husband chooses to leave the family unable to cope with his wife's superior status. The choices confronting the heroine reflect the major transformations underway in the Soviet society from the 1920s on that shattered traditional lifestyles and value systems for the sake of new ideals and civic duties proclaimed by the state.

Bibliographic Information

Title Translation

Member of the Government – aka The Great Beginning

Note

Duration: 01:39:00

Holdings

Item Type	Current Location	Call Number	Status	Shelving Location	Public Note
VHS	OSA Film Library	FL Record 0823	Available	-	-