We Are from Kronstadt (1936) User Reviews

We Are From Kronstadt!

[david.bober · 6/10 · 12 August 2002]

This film is available on video - I saw it as such during the early 90s. By way of brief synopsis, a group of sailors from Kronstadt rally to the Bolshevik cause and enlist to fight as naval infantry in the Civil War. After a few scraps they are captured, and would rather be driven at bayonet-point over the edge of a cliff than submit to the Whites.

If you are looking for other films in this genre, I would suggest 'Chapeyev'.

Surprisingly Well-Done and Very Interesting To Watch

[denis888 · 8/10 · 25 February 2015]

Despite the fact that it was shot in 1936 and for many it is an example of Stalinist cinema, it is different from may films of the era and by the way, it is much better. There are several assets in this movie, shot wholly in stark black and white. 1. The plot. It is seemingly old, trite and banal - Civil War in Russia, 1919, near St. Petersburg, a group of Bolshevik sailors battle the White Guard and lose, then some very tragic events follow, then the main hero escapes and then there is a sort of revenge. But, the way the events are shows is very fresh, fast, cool and often humorous. 2. Warm humor permeates the movie throughout and thus saves this seemingly dark, tragic, dramatic work of pomposity. The depiction of several heroes is very deeply sympathetic and decent. 3. There are no rough and ready cloches here - even the Reds are shows as normal people with all the drawbacks, while Whites are suddenly even depicted with bigger amount of realism, even some empathy and realism. 4. The execution scene is probably The best ever shot in Soviet cinema of the whole period. 5. The film in fact was a revelation and paved the way to similarly great movies of 3 decades later. Highly recommended

story of a reluctant hero

[colby-14 · 8 December 2004]

spoiler alert!

set in 1919 during the Russian Civil War between Reds and Whites, a detachment of Baltic fleet sailors is organized to help the Red Army defend Petrograd against Gen. Yudenich's White Army. a Soviet version of the typical American war movie, with emphasis on personality types rather than names(2 of the main characters aren't even given names).first you have Jerkface, the initially unsympathetic hero. then you have Blondie, the mysterious female lead. next you have Nemesis, the Red Army man who clashes with the Jerkface over the woman. as lesser characters you have Guitarman as comic relief, always quick with a joke or a song, the Commisar for leadership inspiration, and the Kid as unit mascot.

as the detachment is organized everyone is vetted by the other men for inclusion. the Commissar is in for though only on his first day in the navy, he had a long Party record dating back to 1901. Guitarman is accepted because even though his dad was an officer, at least he turned dad in to the cops! the Kid gets in because he has more revo cred than some of the adults. Jerkface barely gets in because he is a non-Party man("for my own reasons") and a general pain in the butt.

next comes a little last minute R&R in town Jerkface spies a good looking woman, Blondie. he is smitten and it is starting to look like a gang-rape is going to happen. then Nemesis and some of his Red Army buddies show up and they fight the sailors off. Jerkface vows revenge.

night comes and the Army and Navy boys are billeted together in an orphanage based on a confiscated White estate. Jerkface is surprised to see that Blondie is running the place. he tries to turn on the charm but she isn't having it. everybody tries to get some shut-eye all over each other while Blondie serenades them and the orphans run amok. morning comes and Jerkface and Nemesis wake up face to face with each other! a battle breaks out before they can duke it out.

everyone goes out to block a chokepoint on the road to Petrograd. they capture a White soldier. everyone assumes he is one of the foreign imperialists they have been told about, but he is just a poor dumb local kid drafted by the Whites. during the ensuing battles he is torn between hanging with his captors or getting ready to rejoin his own side, thus is constantly taking his epaulettes on and off, depending on the tempo of the battle.

a huge White tank shows up causing the sailors to bug out temporarily. the army boys stop and capture the tank. the peasant soldiers admire the tank and agree that it would be a fine machine for ploughing! during White counter-attacks the Commissar mans a Maxim machine gun and repels them. "Mr. Maxim has the floor" he says. afterwards: "that was a fine speech!" new attacks come in and a wild melee erupts in the trench. guitarman gets some good lines. asked to surrender, he says "Just a sec!" and whips out a pistol and blows the guy away. then, carefully putting the guitar out of harms way, jumps into the scrimmage. face to face to a White soldier he says"Welcome home!" and then "who's surrendered to whom? we'll soon find out!"

soon after the Red sailors are captured, and all, even Jerkface, claim to be Party members, a sure death sentence. they all get rocks tied around their necks and are pushed off a cliff into the sea. Guitarman makes sure to kick his guitar off first to keep it out of White hands. Jerkface is the last one to go, jumping rather than be pushed. he has palmed a knife however and is able to cut the rope to be the only survivor. makes it back to the orphanage which has been reclaimed by the Whites. he runs into Blondie again in the place she and the orphans have relocated. she gives him her dress to disguise himself as a woman and try a break for Kronstadt. he is followed by a horny White soldier who gets a fatal surprise. he gets a boat and rows for Kronstadt while the Whites try and get Blondie to induce the remaining Red Army men to surrender. she makes a break for it and disappears into no mans land.

back at Kronstadt Jerkface tells the tale of the cliff, helps organize a relief force and gives a rousing speech before leading it in a low-rent amphibious assault in the White's rear. at the front, the rmy boys are down to a few able-bodied men, the walking wounded and the marching band-and Blondie. dire straits leads to bravado like in American movies(e.g. "Come on, i haven't got all day!"). they throw rocks at the Whites: "come get your piece of land!" "Where are you going? we're not stingy, we'll give you more!"

Jerkface and the sailors show up to save the day. he and Nemesis meet cute as J. is kissing and hugging him before he realizes who it is. buddies now, they go off arm in arm to push the Whites off the same cliff. they see Blondie arm in arm with the commander, and Nemeisis lets Jerkface know that she is the commander's wife! Jerkface has "D'oh!" moment. his last line as he looks at the drowned Whites below is "Anybody else want Petrograd?" people who like this should see "Red and White."

A revealing example of Stalinist cinema

[njaffe-604-968961 · 5/10 · 3 March 2013]

We are From Kronstadt (1936) follows the story of a Baltic Fleet sailor recruited to defend the road to Kronstadt from the advancing White army during the Russian civil war. Hearkening back to many of the revolutionary films of the Soviet golden era, particular characters are de-emphasized in favor of character types and groups. However, Kronstadt completely lacks in the avant-garde style of those earlier films; the narrative is mercifully straightforward, but this comes at the cost of any originality. Save for a few touching scenes – Reds being executed by White soldiers, band members playing patriotic tunes while a battle rages around them – Kronstadt is a pretty predictable tale of an apolitical sailor who is inspired to activism by the heroic deaths of his comrades and their commissar. The film's strength derives from its (probably unintended) juxtaposition of idealism and terrible sacrifice. Akin to Battleship Potemkin, one of the opening scenes shows sailors complaining to their commissar of reduced rations, to which he responds, "Where's your revolutionary spirit?" Despite the inspirational tone, one can't help but acknowledge that these men are suffering from some of the same basic injustices for which they overthrew the imperial regime. Likewise, a scene in which injured Red soldiers are called to return to the front is deeply saddening, and manages to highlight the unfortunate deficiencies of the Red army rather than the ideological loyalty of its members. These displays of patriotism range from disturbing to ludicrous: in one scene, the Red marines are hesitant to allow a young boy to join their ranks, but concede when he claims to have fought in the revolution. These scenarios suggest that Soviet society was built on necessity and regrettable sacrifice rather than ideological and moral righteousness. It's hard to imagine that self-criticism of this kind was tolerated in the restrictive atmosphere of Stalin's cultural revolution, which brings up the ironic possibility that Kronstadt is a piece of such staunchly mainstream dogma that it has managed to become social commentary.

Memorable picture

[Senhal · 29 May 1999]

I saw this movie when I was about 8 and cannot remember it in detail. But I do remember that it was a Great movie and I have never forgotten it and would love to see it again (and own it)