Circus is a Socialist Realist musical comedy that is directed by Grigory Alexandrov. The film was made in 1936. The movie serves as a form of entertainment and also as a form of propaganda. As the plot of the movie expands, the propaganda message of Circus becomes apparent and the central focus of the end of the film. The film’s main character is Marion Dixon, who is played by Lyubov Orlova. In the film, Dixon is a circus performer from the United States.
I think this film somewhat adheres to the Socialist Realist ideals as Russia and the USSR are glorified throughout the film. It fulfills the ideals by conveying how other countries are not as good as the USSR. In the beginning of the film, the viewer sees Marion Dixon being chased by dozens of people in the United States due to a scandal she was involved in before the film started. The viewer later learns that scandal is that she had an African American child. The villain in the film is from Germany. This portrayal of foreign countries helps the viewer see the USSR as a better place. Consequently, this makes the viewer believe that the principles and ideals of the USSR are better than the rest of the world due to the barbaric nature of the foreign characters in the film. This excludes Marion Dixon as she becomes loyal to the USSR and wishes to stay in Moscow. Though Circus fulfills Socialist Realist ideals, I also believe that the film goes against Socialist Realist ideals. I feel as if going to the circus would be seen as a bourgeois activity. Going to the circus seems luxurious as people dress up and are entertained by the performers.
The propaganda in Circus is well done. For most of the film, Von Kneishitz is blackmailing Marion Dixon with the fact that she had an African American child. When Von Kneishitz finally reveals this fact to the members of the circus, they are shocked by the fact that Von Kneishitz sees this as a shameful thing. The characters are accepting of the child and tell Marion that her child will be safe in Russia, just as any other child would be. Though the propaganda does go over the top with all the characters marching with the pictures of Soviet leaders, I felt that Circus did an excellent job in vilifying foreign countries. This makes the USSR seem like a great place to live, and I can see how this would be effective in convincing people of the USSR’s greatness in the 1930’s.
I see your point in thinking of the circus as a bourgeois activity. I myself wondered about Mary's class status since she is something of a diva and at first gets payed geneerously in American dollars. I think she is meant to be a dynamic character and changes once she comes back to the circus tent and agrees to work for rubles like everyone else.
ReplyDeleteThough I think the movie tries to go to great lengths distinguishing bourgeois circus entertainment from the "purer" Soviet variety. This is why virtually everything associated with von Kneishitz is cruel, corrupt or (in the case of his Charlie Chaplin-like assistant) buffoonish. And Marion is miserable so long as he is working with him--a mere professional who doesn't have her heart in her work at all.
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