''Arsenal'' ( uk, Арсенал, also alternative title ''January Uprising in Kyiv in 1918'') is a 1929 Soviet

war film War film is a film genre concerned with warfare, typically about naval, air, or land battles, with combat scenes central to the drama. It has been strongly associated with the 20th century. The fateful nature of battle scenes means that war fi ...

by Ukrainian director

Oleksandr Dovzhenko Oleksandr Petrovych Dovzhenko or Alexander Petrovich Dovzhenko ( uk, Олександр Петрович Довженко, ''Oleksandr Petrovych Dovzhenko''; russian: Алекса́ндр Петро́вич Довже́нко, ''Aleksandr Petro ...

. The film was shot at Odessa Film Factory of VUFKU with the camera of legendary cameraman Danyl Demutskyi and using the original sets made by Volodymyr Muller. The expressionist imagery, perfect camera work and original drama took the film far beyond the usual propaganda and made it one of the most important pieces of Ukrainian avant-garde cinema. The film was made in 1928 and released early in 1929.Magill's Survey of Silent Films, Vol.1 A-FLA p.152 edited by Frank N. Magill c.1982 (3 book set ) It is the second film in his "Ukraine Trilogy", the first being ''

Zvenigora ''Zvenigora'' (russian: Звeнигopа) is a 1928 Soviet silent film by Ukrainian director Alexander Dovzhenko, first shown on 13 April 1928. This was the fourth film by Dovzhenko, but the first one which was widely reviewed and discussed i ...

'' (1928) and the third being ''

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...

'' (1930). The film concerns an episode in the

Russian Civil War , date = October Revolution, 7 November 1917 – Yakut revolt, 16 June 1923{{Efn, The main phase ended on 25 October 1922. Revolt against the Bolsheviks continued Basmachi movement, in Central Asia and Tungus Republic, the Far East th ...

in 1918 in which the

Kiev Arsenal January Uprising Kyiv Arsenal January Uprising ( uk, Січневе повстання, translit=Sichneve povstannya), sometimes called simply the January Uprising or the January Rebellion, was the Bolshevik-organized workers' armed revolt that started on Ja ...

of workers aided the besieging Bolshevik army against the Ukrainian national Parliament

Central Rada The Central Council of Ukraine ( uk, Українська Центральна Рада, ) (also called the Tsentralna Rada or the Central Rada) was the All-Ukrainian council (soviet) that united deputies of soldiers, workers, and peasants deputie ...

who held legal power in Ukraine at the time. Regarded by film scholar Vance Kepley, Jr. as "one of the few Soviet political films which seems even to cast doubt on the morality of violent retribution", Dovzhenko's eye for wartime absurdities (for example, an attack on an empty trench) anticipates later pacifist sentiments in films by

Jean Renoir Jean Renoir (; 15 September 1894 – 12 February 1979) was a French film director, screenwriter, actor, producer and author. As a film director and actor, he made more than forty films from the silent film, silent era to the end of the 1960s. ...

and

Stanley Kubrick Stanley Kubrick (; July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and photographer. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, his films, almost all of which are adaptations of nove ...

Cast

*Semyon Svashenko - Timosha *Georgiy Kharkiv - Red Army * Amvrosy Buchma - German soldier in glasses *Dmitri Erdman - a German officer *Sergey Petrov - a German soldier *K. Mikhailovsky - nationalist *Alexander Evdakov -

Nicholas II Nicholas II or Nikolai II Alexandrovich Romanov; spelled in pre-revolutionary script. ( 186817 July 1918), known in the Russian Orthodox Church as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer,. was the last Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Pola ...

*Andrei Mikhailovsky - nationalist

References

External links

Arsenal (full version), Odessa Film Studios
* * *Ray Uzwyshyn'

1920s Russian-language films 1920s war drama films Soviet black-and-white films Films directed by Alexander Dovzhenko Films set in Ukraine Films set in Kyiv Odessa Film Studio Russian Civil War films Soviet silent feature films Soviet-era Ukrainian films Soviet war drama films All-Ukrainian Photo Cinema Administration films Ukrainian war drama films Ukrainian black-and-white films Silent drama films Silent war films {{1920s-USSR-film-stub