''The Great Dawn'' (

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

: ''დიადი განთიადი'',

trans Trans- is a Latin prefix meaning "across", "beyond", or "on the other side of". Used alone, trans may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Trans (festival), a former festival in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom * ''Trans'' (film ...

. Diadi Gant’iadi;

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

: ''Великое зарево'', trans. Velikoe Zarevo. English-language title: ''They Wanted Peace''.) is a 1938 Soviet Georgian film directed by

Mikheil Chiaureli Mikheil Chiaureli ( ka, მიხეილ ჭიაურელი, russian: Михаил Эдишерович Чиаурели, 6 February 1894 – 31 October 1974) was a Soviet Georgian actor, film director and screenwriter. He directed 25 ...

. It is considered a representation of

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secreta ...

cult of personality A cult of personality, or a cult of the leader, Mudde, Cas and Kaltwasser, Cristóbal Rovira (2017) ''Populism: A Very Short Introduction''. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 63. is the result of an effort which is made to create an id ...

Plot

In 1917, the people of the Russian Empire are no longer willing to fight Germany, but the bourgeois government of

Alexander Kerensky Alexander Fyodorovich Kerensky, ; Reforms of Russian orthography, original spelling: ( – 11 June 1970) was a Russian lawyer and revolutionary who led the Russian Provisional Government and the short-lived Russian Republic for three months ...

is unwilling to defy its imperialist allies and stop the war. Only

Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 19 ...

Bolshevik Party " Hymn of the Bolshevik Party" , headquarters = 4 Staraya Square, Moscow , general_secretary = Vladimir Lenin (first)Mikhail Gorbachev (last) , founded = , banned = , founder = Vladimir Lenin , newspaper ...

is resolute in calling for peace. In the front, the soldiers of one battalion elect three delegates to travel to

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

with donations the troops collected for the ''

Pravda ''Pravda'' ( rus, Правда, p=ˈpravdə, a=Ru-правда.ogg, "Truth") is a Russian broadsheet newspaper, and was the official newspaper of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, when it was one of the most influential papers in the co ...

'' newspaper: Gudushauri, Panasiuk and Ershov. The three arrive in the capital and describe the horrendous conditions in which the soldiers live to

, Lenin's trusted aide and colleague. They join the Bolsheviks and take part in the

storming of the Winter Palace The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key moment ...

, led by Stalin and Lenin. Stalin announces that the great dawn of revolution has broken.

Cast

* as

Mikheil Gelovani Mikheil Gelovani ( ka, მიხეილ გელოვანი, Russified as Михаи́л Гео́ргиевич Гелова́ни, ''Mikhail Georgievich Gelovani''; – 21 December 1956) was a Soviet and Georgian actor, known for his nu ...

*Spartak Bagashvili as Georgi Gudushauri *

Tamara Makarova Tamara Fyodorovna Makarova (russian: Тама́ра Фёдоровна Мака́рова; 13 August 1907 – 19 January 1997) was a Soviet and Russian film actress and pedagogue. People's Artist of the USSR (1950) and Hero of Socialist Labo ...

as Svetlana *Nutsa Chkheidze as Gudushauri's mother *Anna Smirnova as Svetlana's mother *Basil Matov as Ershov *Dmitry Ivanov as Panasyuk *Georgi Sagaradze as Tsereteli *Michael Chikhladze as Colonel Mikeladze *Ivan Perestiani as general *Alexander Zhorzholiani as surgeon *Shalva Gambashidze as Karkumidze *Georgi Shavgulidze as Paul Gudushauri *Piotr Morskoi as Deryugin *Boris Poltavtsev as

Yakov Sverdlov Yakov Mikhailovich Sverdlov (russian: Яков Михайлович Свердлов; 3 June Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">O._S._22_May.html" ;"title="Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Old Style and New Style dates">O. S ...

Production

''The Great Dawn'' was part of a group of films made in honor of the twentieth anniversary of the

October Revolution The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key moment ...

, which also included ''Lenin in October'' and '' The Vyborg Side''; since

Sergei Eisenstein Sergei Mikhailovich Eisenstein (russian: Сергей Михайлович Эйзенштейн, p=sʲɪrˈɡʲej mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪtɕ ɪjzʲɪnˈʂtʲejn, 2=Sergey Mikhaylovich Eyzenshteyn; 11 February 1948) was a Soviet film director, screenw ...

's ''

October October is the tenth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars and the sixth of seven months to have a length of 31 days. The eighth month in the old calendar of Romulus , October retained its name (from Latin and Greek ''ôct ...

'', it became customary to release pictures about the revolution with each decade anniversary to it. The film was the first in a series of four which director Chiaureli directed with Joseph Stalin as their main theme, and the marked

's first appearance as Stalin on screen - a role he since played in thirteen other productions.

Reception

By April 1939, the picture was already viewed by some 15,000,000 people. In 1941, Chiaureli and Gelovani both won the

Stalin Prize Stalin Prize may refer to: * The State Stalin Prize in science and engineering and in arts, awarded 1941 to 1954, later known as the USSR State Prize The USSR State Prize (russian: links=no, Государственная премия СССР, ...

, 1st class, for their work on the film. ''The Great Dawn'' was released in the United States in 1940. New York Times' critic interpreted its distribution there as being influenced by the signing of the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact, writing: "conforming with the pact and the new party line, Soviet filmmakers now tell the world that the Russian and the German comrades would have reconciled back in 1917 if it hadn't been for the Anglo-French "imperialists"... The rest of it is in the familiar vein of Soviet lily-gilding." Historian

Peter Kenez Peter Kenez (born as Péter Kenéz in 1937) is a historian specializing in Russian and Eastern European history and politics. Life Peter Kenez was born and grew up in Pesterzsébet, Budapest, Kingdom of Hungary . His father was arrested in March ...

viewed the film as the one "best anticipating the future of Stalin's image" in cinema, noting that Chiaureli allowed him to "escape Lenin's shadow" and turned him to the one the revolutionaries looked up to for leadership. Cinema scholar Nikolas Hülbusch regarded ''The Great Dawn'' as "the first contribution of the Tbilisi Studio to Stalin's

", noting that the premier's character began to exhibit the traits that would define it in later propaganda films, like the ability to mellow out the romantic relationships of his followers. Antonin and Mira Liehm commented that the picture was the first to clearly portray Stalin in the forefront of the Revolution and as Lenin's "closest collaborator and successor". Olga Romanova saw the film as the beginning of a long process, during which Lenin's image in cinema would slowly fade away and allow Stalin to take precedence.Olga Romanova.
The Campaign to Mythologize Stalin.
'' urokiistorii.ru.

References

External links

*
They Wanted Peace
' on the IMDb. *
The Great Dawn
' on kino-teatr.ru. *
The Great Dawn
' on geocinema.ge. {{DEFAULTSORT:Great Dawn, The 1938 films 1930s biographical drama films 1930s historical drama films Soviet black-and-white films Films directed by Mikheil Chiaureli Russian Revolution films Soviet-era films from Georgia (country) Soviet revolutionary propaganda films Kartuli Pilmi films Soviet biographical drama films Soviet historical drama films Biographical films about Vladimir Lenin 1938 drama films Black-and-white films from Georgia (country) Films set in Saint Petersburg Cultural depictions of Vladimir Lenin Cultural depictions of Joseph Stalin 1930s Russian-language films