The Way to Life (1931)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The way to life |
| Original title | Путёвка в жизнь |
| Country of production | USSR |
| original language | Russian |
| Publishing year | 1931 |
| length | 104 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Nikolai Ekk |
| script |
Alexander Stolper Nikolai Ekk Regina Januschkewitsch |
| production | Meshrabpom |
| music | Jakow Stolljar |
| camera | Vasily Pronin |
| occupation | |
| |
The way into life (original title: russisch Путёвка в жизнь Putjowka w schisn ) is a Soviet fictional film that was shot in 1931 in the Meschrabpom film studios under the direction of Nikolai Ekk based on designs by Anton Makarenko 's novel of the same name , which was later completed .
action
In Moscow in 1923 there are many groups of neglected people who live from theft and other rip-offs. This is also the case at the train station, where several homeless children and young people have also found themselves under the older Fomka , whose aim is to steal their luggage from travelers. But the citizens and traders living there are not safe from attacks either.
Kolka is celebrating his 15th birthday in an apartment near the train station, which is why his mother still wants to run some errands, including apples that her son wants. While she is buying them from an elderly woman, one of the neglected comes to take several apples from the trader. When he tries to run away, Kolka's mother tries to stop him by force, slips in the snow and unhappily hits his head on a stone. The doctor who is called can only determine her death. Without his wife, Kolka's father can no longer cope with life, begins to get drunk and beat his son all the time, which is the reason for him to flee from his father and also to become a street child.
On December 20, 1923, a new order came into effect that the neglected should be recorded by volunteers and social inspectors with the support of the police. In a cellar, the officers find a large group of homeless people sleeping. Despite strong resistance, the children are arrested and driven to a reception center in cars. Here, after a questionnaire by a commission, several hundred of them are distributed to different homes and, if necessary, also to hospitals, from which they want to flee again immediately. When Mustafa enters the room, he greets almost all employees of the social inspection by their name, as he has already dealt with them often enough. The present Nikolai Ivanovich Sergeyev refuses to send him back to a reformatory with bars because he would run away there too. He suggests a different solution and the commission decides to start a new experiment .
Sergejew wants to set up a commune in a former monastery where the young people can work as carpenters, locksmiths and mechanics. In addition, they should come along voluntarily, even manage themselves and they will be free. He drives away the initial distrust of the neglected people he has chosen with several cigarettes and after he has explained the advantages to them and also mentioned that they could still run away, he can pull them over to his side. The boys originally just wanted to run away and are surprised to be able to leave the barred assembly point without a guard. On the way to the train station, Mustafa gets enough money and the order to get provisions for the trip . After everyone has boarded the train, Sergejew is constantly wondering whether Mustafa will come back too, who can jump on the train at the last moment with the provisions he has procured. None of the eleven passengers with whom the experiment was supposed to begin ran away.
Is far from the railway line the former monastery, the future municipality whose organizer is Sergeyev. The boys look in admiration at the tools that are in the workshops that have already been set up. Experienced craftsmen take on the training. The number of residents is increasing in the municipality, but even here some cannot abandon their old habits and one day all the cutlery that is urgently needed is missing . Nikolai Ivanovich Sergeev announces that the money for the procurement of new cutlery will be deducted from the wages and afterwards everyone will have to eat with their fingers, which turns out to be particularly difficult with the soup. In the evening, knives, forks and spoons are back in their intended place.
In Moscow, the now homeless Kolka fills the void that Mustafa has left and becomes Fomka's new assistant. He is caught stealing a pair of boots and beaten up for it. The demands of the bystanders range from killing to shooting. He can escape arrest by fleeing to the police station. But the situation gives him food for thought and together with many children he reports to the children's commission to apply for admission to the municipality so that they can make boots themselves in the future. So the community grows and gets stronger. The work orders are fulfilled and people change for the better.
But then something unexpected happens. The spring flood has cut the municipality off from the railway station, so there are no raw material deliveries and production stops. The forced inaction leads to a riot. Semenov goes to Moscow to clarify the matter. In his absence, displeasure increases, many get drunk and start rioting , breaking down workshops and houses, and even killing their own dog. But there is one group that does not agree with the rage of destruction. After the rebel leader has been tied up, the rioting can be stopped. When Semyonov returns from Moscow, he finds a destroyed commune, but the boys realize that they have done something wrong. So he can give them the present he has brought with him. It's just a toy train, but it's only meant to serve as a symbol. In fact, the residents of the municipality are supposed to build their own railway line to the next train station and operate it on their own so that delivery problems can no longer occur in the future. Semyonov, however, requires everyone to work actively; if you don't feel like it, you can leave.
The world of thieves in Moscow is slowly becoming restless, because the most famous cronies in the area are disappearing into the commune. While the boys are busy completing the tracks , Fomka has a plan to get them back for his own ends. To do this, he drives with several prostitutes to the vicinity of the commune, sets up a house there, gets alcohol and invites the communards to celebrations. After the word got around and several boys fell victim to the temptation, the community's activists are also forging a plan to prevent something like this in the future. Under the leadership of Mustafa and Kolka, the Aktiv takes part in such a celebration and is happily welcomed. However, the boys only pretend that they really drink the alcohol on offer, faking drunkenness and dancing with the hookers . At Kolka's signal, a big fight begins, as a result of which the house is destroyed, Fomka and his girls are tied up and sent back to Moscow.
After the preparations for the opening of the new railway line, Mustafa drives a hand-operated railroad trolley to the railway station to receive a delegation of workers waiting there and inaugurate the new line with them. On the line, Fomka is busy cutting a rail so that the train crashes there. However, he did not expect Mustafa, who had an accident here due to the manipulation with his handcar. In the course of the subsequent brawl, Mustafa is stabbed to death by Fomka. The next morning the train is supposed to go to the commune. Kolka is doing his job as a conductor here for the first time and after a long time he can hug his father again, with whom he is reconciled. Now everyone is just waiting for Mustafa to meet them. When the train does not arrive, the train drives off until the engine driver sees the trolley standing upright in the distance and can initiate braking in good time. Here they find the dead Mustafa and place him on the front part of the locomotive, surrounded by black flags, while others repair the rails. Here one of the boys finds Fomka's knife, with which Mustafa was murdered. The train is greeted with great joy at its destination, which turns into deep sadness as it approaches.
production
The first Soviet sound film premiered on June 1, 1931 under the title Путёвка в жизнь in the Soviet Union.
The German premiere took place under the title Der Weg ins Leben on September 30, 1931 in Berlin.
criticism
The lexicon of international film sees the film , developed in an epically broad narrative style and with exceptional camera work, as a classic of Soviet film art worth discussing.
Web links
- The way to a life in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- The way to life at kino-teatr.ru
Individual evidence
- ↑ The way to life. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed August 16, 2019 .