The Soviet Story is a 2008 documentary film about Soviet Communism and Soviet–German collaboration before 1941 written and directed by Edvīns Šnore and sponsored by the UEN Group in the European Parliament. The film features interviews with western and Russian historians such as Norman Davies and Boris Sokolov, Russian writer Viktor Suvorov, Soviet dissident Vladimir Bukovsky, members of the European Parliament and the participants, as well as the victims of Soviet terror. The film argues that there were close philosophical, political and organizational connections between the Nazi and Soviet systems before and during the early stages of World War II.[1] It highlights the Great Purge as well as the Great Famine, Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, Katyn massacre, Gestapo-NKVD collaboration, Soviet mass deportations and medical experiments in the GULAG. Contents 1 Reception 2 Film festivals and awards 3 Criticism 4 See also 5 Bibliography 6 References 7 External links Reception The film has attracted praise and criticism from academic historians[citation needed] and political commentators. The Economist review of The Soviet Story praises the film by saying Soviet Story is the most powerful antidote yet to the sanitisation of the past. The film is gripping, audacious and uncompromising. [...] The main aim of the film is to show the close connections—philosophical, political and organisational—between the Nazi and Soviet systems.[1] It concludes its review by calling the documentary a sharply provocative work.[1] The New York Times in its review of the documentary stated The film is not dispassionate scholarship; Mr. Snore, who is Latvian, and his backers (including some members of the European Parliament) obviously have an agenda, though to the casual American viewer it may not be clear what it is.[2] Various Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) who were interviewed for the film, [3] have expressed views in favour of it. According to the Latvian MEPs Inese Vaidere and Ģirts Valdis Kristovskis writing in Parliament Magazine: The Soviet Story makes a significant contribution to the establishment of a common understanding of history and brings us closer to the truth about the tragic events of the 20th century. A common understanding of history among the member states is crucial for the future of the whole EU.[4] Both Vaidere and Kristovskis represent the UEN group which actively supported the production of the film.[5] After watching the film, Finnish MEP Ari Vatanen gave the following comment: It is a powerful message. Thank you for telling the truth. It will awaken people.[6] ... We cannot build a humanity if we close our eyes to this kind of massacres. Our possibility is to serve justice to those people.[7] British MEP Christopher Beazley commented: This film is very important. Its a very powerful representation of what took place in Poland, in Latvia and the other Central European countries.[8] Vytautas Landsbergis, MEP and the former Head of the Lithuanian Seimas (Parliament), assessed The Soviet Story as a world class film, which should be shown to the world[9] Likewise, Latvias Minister of Justice, Gaidis Bērziņš (For Fatherland and Freedom/LNNK), has said that, because of its important historical message, he would encourage the Ministry of Education to have the film shown in all schools in Latvia.[10] MEP from Latvia Tatjana Ždanoka, who opposed Latvias independence from the Soviet Union and ran as a candidate of the largest Russian political bloc in Latvia,[11] regards the film as a propagandistic odd job, which is given out to be a new word in history.[12] She also thought that the second part of the film is pure political PR: while the first part of the film pictures the point of view of some historians, contemporary politicians criticize modern Russia in the end of the film.[12] Ždanoka also noted that a lot of attention was devoted to the partnership of the German and Russian military. This is followed by a jump forward in time to the 1940s, with a mass-meeting of Vlasovites is shown against a background of swastika.[12] Nazi SS and Soviet officers salute each other, 1940. (screenshot from the film) The film prompted negative reactions from Russian organizations, press, and politicians. According to the European Voice newspaper, Russians are infuriated by the film which reveals the extent of Nazi and Soviet collaboration.[13] On May 17, 2008 the Russian pro-governmental youth organization Young Russia (Russian: Россия Молодая) organized the protest Lets not allow the rewriting of history! (Russian: Не дадим переписать историю!)[14] in front of the Embassy of Latvia in Moscow. An effigy representing Edvīns Šnore was burnt during the protest.[15] Latvian political scientist and cultural commentator Ivars Ījabs offers a mixed review of The Soviet Story. On one hand, it is a well-made and effective piece of cinematic propaganda in the good sense of this word, whose message is clearly presented to the audience. On the other hand, Ījabs does not agree with a number of historical interpretations in the film, asserting that it contains errors. For example, Ījabs states that, In late 1930s Hitler did not yet plan a systematic genocide against the Jews, as it is suggested in the film; Everybody knows that this decision was made in 1942 at the Wannsee Conference in Berlin. Furthermore, Ījabs comments on the notion in the film voiced by the British literary historian, liberal and former political activist George Watson that Friedrich Engels is the ancestor of the modern political genocide.[16] Ījabs says: To present Karl Marx as the progenitor of modern genocide is simply to lie. Ījabs admits, however, the use of the term Völkerabfälle in Marxs newspaper to describe several small European ethnic groups.[17] Although sometimes translated as racial trash, other translations include residual nations or refuse of nations, that is, those left behind (discarded) by the dominant civilizations. Watson views have been also criticized by reviewer Robert Grant as ideologically biased and for citing evidence that seems dubious, arguing that what Marx and Engels are calling for is [...] at the very least a kind of cultural genocide; but it is not obvious, at least from Watsons citations, that actual mass killing, rather than (to use their phraseology) mere absorption or assimilation, is in question.[18] In Finland the film was shown in events organized by the irredentist group ProKarelia.[19][20][20][21] A criminal complaint by Johan Bäckman, member of the Finnish Anti-Fascist Committee[22] against ProKarelia has led to a criminal investigation on suspicion of showing violent scenes to minors, incitement to ethnic or racial hatred and propaganda of violence.[23][24][25] The Finnish Film inspector authority, however, did not find the films content offensive and authorized its showing in Finland.[26] Johan Bäckman also protested against the screening of The Soviet Story on the Estonian National TV. He asked the Estonian police to start a criminal investiagion. The Police, however, turned down Bäckmans request and refused to initiate a criminal investigation due to the lack of crime.[27] A number of critics condemned the film even before its premiere.[28] Boris Tsilevich, a Latvian member of parliament representing Harmony Centre, stated that it was a typical propaganda and its release was timed to coincide with the 2009 Latvian elections for the European Parliament.[28]
Posted on: Wed, 19 Mar 2014 22:48:28 +0000
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