East Side Story

Rating:
Summary: Socialism with a jingle...
Review: A very entertaining look at the 40 or so musicals that were produced in the Eastern Bloc nations from the 1930's up through the 1970's. Although highly propagandist in nature, (no more so than the "happy" muscials that were being produced in Hollywood,at the same time,)there is this innocent naiveté about the monstrous happenings during the Stalin regime. Where as in the West, musicals made us temporarily forget, depression, war and everyday sacrifices, the musicals in the East in addition, promoted the heroism of the common worker(proletartiat)and the value derived in working for the goals of building socialist nation.

Rating:
Summary: A Great Video!
Review: An East German beach movie? It has to be seen to be believed!!! This and many other wonders await you in East Side Story. I especially liked the use of the "Kommittee" to make comments on films.

Rating:
Summary: Worth a trip uptown!
Review: Enjoyed the satire, footage, and comedy genre surrounding the story. Does anybody know about the other movie called, "EAST SIDE STORY", starring Mark Anthony, produced in the mid-eighties?
Let me know!

Rating:
Summary: Worth a trip uptown!
Review: Enjoyed the satire, footage, and comedy genre surrounding the story. Does anybody know about the other movie called, "EAST SIDE STORY", starring Mark Anthony, produced in the mid-eighties?
Let me know!

Rating:
Summary: Worth a trip uptown!
Review: Enjoyed the satire, footage, and comedy genre surrounding the story. Does anybody know about the other movie called, "EAST SIDE STORY", starring Mark Anthony, produced in the mid-eighties?
Let me know!

Rating:
Summary: You have to be a cold war history buff
Review: I enjoyed the movie, but I am a history buff. I really foundit amusing. A definite "must" for anyone who travelled toEastern Europe before the fall of Communism. $60 is kind of expensive...I'd look at to see if you can rent it. You will probably only watch it once or twice.

Rating:
Summary: You have to be a cold war history buff
Review: I enjoyed the movie, but I am a history buff. I really foundit amusing. A definite "must" for anyone who travelled toEastern Europe before the fall of Communism. $60 is kind of expensive...I'd look at to see if you can rent it. You will probably only watch it once or twice.

Rating:
Summary: More footage, less interviewing....
Review: The footage of Communist musicals were precious, and I won't say that the interviews with directors, actors, and audiences weren't informative, but the sight of these musicals were so unique that I became frustrated when they kept cutting over to lengthy interviews that often became repetitive. Still worth seeing, though probably worth renting and watching once or twice...

Rating:
Summary: Fascinating, tells all you need to know about repression
Review: There were 40 musicals made in the Eastern communist countries. The audiences loved them but the academics, politicians, party leaders and censors barely tolerated them and tried to force them to serve the grim worker mentality of the state. On the one hand, these musicals are oddly entertaining. On the other, they are a grim reminder of how human happiness and the human spirit is so often strangled by political and religious repressive systems. People want to laugh, love, and, yes, sing and dance. Too bad that that is so threatening to so many. This is an interesting documentary that was well worth watching.

Rating:
Summary: A documentary look at the wonders of Communist musicals
Review: This 1997 documentary about movie musicals produced by Communist countries was worthwhile for me as I learned that Stalin's favorite film was "Volga Volga," directed by Grigori Alexandrov. Stalin watched the film over 100 times and sent it to FDR as a gift during World War II. "East Side Story" presents clips from some of the 40 musicals made, mostly in the Soviet Union, Bulgaria and East Germany, with hearty peasants and workers singing and dancing their way through fields and factories. The clips are mixed with interviews with those who made these unorthodox examples of socialist propaganda, nostalgic moviegoers, and the requisite film historian. Certainly it is fascinating to meet the Eastern Bloc versions of Elvis Presley and Doris Day, and some of the musicals are halfway decent. One of them, "Hot Summer," was made the same year as "My Fair Lady" and actually made more money as well as persuading thousands to go have fun at the beach. But then there is the Russian woman who sadly but accurately observes that sometimes people have to hold onto some basic lies just to survive from day to day. Combine that sobering thought with the campiness of some of these musicals, and you have a provocative documentary.