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EARTH (Zemlya)

 

  Written and Directed by Alexander Dovzhenk

USSR-Ukraine 1930 / Drama / Rural / 101 min / B&W / Monaural / 1.33: 1 / NTSC /  Silent with Musical Score and intertitles and English Subtitles

Semen Svashenko, Stepan Shkurat , Mikola Nademsky, Yulia Solntseva, Yelena Maksimova , Ivan Franko

Earth (AKA Zemlya) is the third of Soviet director Alexander Dovzhenko's "Ukraine tetralogy" (Zvenigora (1928), Arsenal (1929), and Ivan (1932) are the other films in the series). The story tells of a group of farmers in a Ukrainian village, who unite to purchase a tractor. The leader of the peasants is later killed by a kulak, or landowner, who dislikes any form of united front that might pose a threat to his long-established authority. The events fade into memory, but the long-ranging effects of the peasant "revolt"--like the Earth itself--last forever.