This early Soviet propagandist melodrama was designed to lure hopeful Jewish emigrants to the remote, bug-infested Siberian swampland of Birobidjan, by promising wealth, prosperity, an autonomy which never came to be, and (yes) even romance! The hardy pioneers arrive singing in the Soviet Far East, finding an untamed but idyllic paradise where streams are filled with fish, forests are filled with game, and the air is filled with song! Sure, conditions are rough at first (notice there are no chilly scenes of Siberian winter), but through diligent application of collective methods ("If you want to have a fine life: work!") the plucky settlers soon discover Socialist dreams do come true! It's all totally ridiculous, of course, which at least gives the film a measure of camp entertainment value when seen today. Even less surprising is the fact that no one was fooled: by the time the film was released the truth was out about Birobidjan, and Jews were already leaving the region.
(Note: if you can find it, see the 1989 documentary 'Jews Under the Red Star', directed by Irmgard von zur Muhlen and Vladimir Dwinski, for a more objective view of the same history. I was fortunate to see both films, at the Castro Theater in San Francisco, during the 1990 Jewish International Film Festival.)
(Note: if you can find it, see the 1989 documentary 'Jews Under the Red Star', directed by Irmgard von zur Muhlen and Vladimir Dwinski, for a more objective view of the same history. I was fortunate to see both films, at the Castro Theater in San Francisco, during the 1990 Jewish International Film Festival.)
