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Take your next vacation in the beautiful USSR! 1930s Soviet travel brochures
02.07.2014
09:22 am
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soviet poster
 
In one of my favorite movies of all time, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, there’s a scene where the titular character has been abandoned by her lover. In order to be with him, she had gone through a brutal, crude sex-change operation, and risked her life by leaving her home in communist East Germany. To add insult to injury, the Berlin Wall has just fallen; had she waited a while longer, she could have very well avoided the hasty decision of removing her penis and leaving her home for a two-timing man.

In a brilliant moment of dark comedy, she is then shown looking at a postcard from her mother that reads something to the effect of, “Greetings, from sunny Yugoslavia”—the joke being that Hedwig’s markedly stern mom had found happiness after the collapse of an oppressive communist state by vacationing in an country notable for its political instability, ethnic and nationalist strife, and eventual relentless war.

There are some places that we just don’t think of as fun vacation spots.

But having been around enough older socialists and communists, I do know that the USSR was actually a hot destination for a while, especially for leftists. I even know a couple people whose parents took their honeymoon there! And this was certainly encouraged by Stalin, himself, who established the government-run tourism board with the express purpose of raising the profile of the USSR.

Below, you see Soviet travel brochures from the 1930s. They advertise advanced industrial development, a commitment to the arts, gorgeous cities, and a diverse array of natural beauty. Some of them touch on Socialist Realism, but what strikes me is the diversity of the art, and the visibly ambitious optimism therein.
 
Soviet travel poster
 
Soviet travel poster
 
Soviet travel poster
 
Soviet travel poster
 
Soviet travel poster
 
Soviet travel poster
 
Soviet travel poster
 
Soviet travel poster
 
Via The Charnel-House

Posted by Amber Frost
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02.07.2014
09:22 am
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‘Aelita, Queen of Mars’: Feed your Soviet sci- fi fixation with this wild 1924 silent film
10.01.2013
04:18 pm
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Aelita poster
German movie poster for Aelita
 
I’m always annoyed at how difficult it is to convince someone to check out a silent film. Why is it like pulling teeth to get folks to experience some of the most dynamic, expressive, and yes, entertaining movies of all time? Case in point, Aelita: Queen of Mars, the first Soviet science fiction film and an absolutely captivating watch from beginning to end.

Based on a novel by Alexei Tolstoy (writer, Nazi apprehender, and distant relative of that other Tolstoy ),Aelita: Queen of Mars is set primarily in post-war Moscow and (you guessed it) Mars. After receiving a mysterious message from outer space, Soviet Engineer Los builds a spaceship. Cut to Mars, where the Emperor Tuskub maintains absolute power, and keeps the Martian proletariat in cold storage when not using their labor. His daughter Aelita has been watching Los through a telescope. She’s fascinated with Earthly ways of life and infatuated with Los, but she’s forbidden from using the telescope, as Tuskub is suspicious of her fascination with the aliens.

When Los comes home one day to catch his wife Natasha friendly with their tenant, a black market criminal, he shoots her in a fit of rage. Disillusioned with his marriage, he sets off for Mars in his ship, taking with him the dynamic revolutionary adventurer, Gusev, who just so happened to be hanging around. When they arrive they’re immediately thrown in prison, along with Aelita as a conspirator. I don’t want to give anything away, but let’s just remember that Soviets were really into revolutionary uprisings. There’s even a scene where a hammer and sickle are smithed, though it’s actually the hammer and sickle being smashed out of shape, shot in reverse for a primitive (but impressive) special effect.
 
Aelita stills
The film boasted groundbreaking sets and costume designs.
 
The acting is beautiful and romantic, the plot is grandiose and ambitious, and visually, it’s completely epic. Far from two-dimensional propaganda, the film is complex and nuanced: Natasha and Los’ tenant actually acknowledges the shortages and rationing of the Soviet Union, which is probably why the film eventually fell out of favor with the Soviet government. I cannot recommend this movie enough, as I re-watch it every few months. It’s available on YouTube in its entirety, below.
 

Posted by Amber Frost
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10.01.2013
04:18 pm
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Soviet Animation: ‘Interplanetary Revolution’, 1924
01.09.2011
08:07 pm
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image
 
Here’s an interesting curiosity of Soviet animation called Interplanetary Revolution. It was written and directed by Zenon Komisarenko, Youry Merkulov and Nikolai Khodataev in 1924, as a piece of propaganda showing how the Soviet revolution drives “blood sucking international capitalists to desperation.” The film’s subtitle is a prediction to an “event very likely to happen in 1929”. Hm. The Wall Street Crash, anyone?

Interplanetary Revolution. A tale about Comrade Cominternov, the Red Army Warrior, who flew to Mars and vanquished all the capitalists on the planet!

Made with stop motion and cell animation, it has been described by one reviewer on imdb as “More a curiosity than a work of art.” I’ll let you be the judge of that.
 

 
Previously on DM

Soviet Jazz Funk from the 1970s


 
With thanks to Zé Manel Pinheiro
 

Posted by Paul Gallagher
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01.09.2011
08:07 pm
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