Ivan (1932 film)

Ivan (Ukrainian: Iвaн, Russian: Иван) is a 1932 Soviet drama film directed by Alexander Dovzhenko. After the critical lambasting of his film Earth by the Soviet authorities, Dovzhenko returned with a more popular iteration of its main motifs. Much like Earth, Ivan concerns itself with the natural rhythms of country life, disrupted by the beat of looming industrialisation.^[1]

Alexander Dovzhenko received a Special Jury Prize for the film at the 2nd Venice International Film Festival.^[2]

Plot[]

Landscapes of calm waters of the Dnieper, which are replaced by dangerous rapids, float in the frame. However, the construction of Dniproges is underway, workers are building a dam to bury the rapids under water and create a power plant. A village boy recounts a speech he heard at a construction site about the fact that the village has accumulated surplus labor, which should be sent to cities. There is a young Ivan in the house, who approves the plan. But Ivan's father, Stepan, denies — “I want to go, I do not want — I will not go.” The future foreman Stepan Vasilyevich has a different opinion, he believes that it is necessary to set an example to other villages and be the first to send aid for construction.

The foreman meets the secretary of the party committee, his friend, with whom he has not seen for 22 years, at the construction site. Ivan is delighted with the landscapes of the Dnieper, as a huge river is tamed. He enthusiastically works on the railway, unlike his father, who works dishonestly, looking to avoid work. Ivan, however, lacks education, and his efforts, though great, are of little use. The foreman remarks: a lot of work, but done sloppily, will lead to trouble.

Embarrassed, Ivan realizes that he lacks education. At night, he studies engineering, which his father despises. Subsequently, an accident occurs at the construction site, a bucket of cement falls on the driver and he dies. The secretary explains to someone on the phone that the worker died as a result of other people's safety violations. A council of Komsomol members is convened to inspect all mechanisms at the construction site. A whole team of high-class specialists arrives at Dniproges to command workers and introduce new methods. Stepan is missing work. The foreman of the "black box office" (where salaries are given to violators) shames Stepan, listing through a loudspeaker how much he eats in vain every day. Then he complains to another foreman that lazy "peasants" were sent to Dniproges and comically sprinkles philosophical terms.

Ivan complains that his efforts have not been properly appreciated, he thinks that he has no place on the Dnieper. At the same time, the secretary is sure that "there will be people" from him. He was soon accepted into the Communist Party as a leader. Ivan speaks on the radio, exposing his father's laziness and absenteeism, demanding to "divorce him." These shots are interspersed with a comic insert with a commoner and his wife: a woman wants to listen to foreign radio, the commoner succumbs, but then hesitates and eventually switches the radio to Soviet propaganda.

Cast[]

• as Young Ivan (as Konstantin Bondarevsky)
• as Secretary
• as Mother of Killed Worker (as Elena Golik)
• as Supervisor (as Alexander Zapolski)
• as Ivan Guba (as Peter Masokha)
• Stepan Shagaida as Stepan Vasiliyevich, the foreman
• as Stepan Iosovich Guba, the idler

References[]

External links[]

• Ivan at IMDb
• Ivan on YouTube (English subtitles)
• Ivan at AllMovie

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