Three Songs About Lenin (1934) Movie Script

Production Mezhrabpom Film

Screenplay and Direction: D. Vertov

Assistant: E. Svilova

Photography:

Surenskii, Magidson, Monastirstkii

Sound: Shtro

Composer: Shaporin

Orchestra: Blok

THREE SONGS ABOUT LENIN

In every corner of the planet Earth,

in the countries of Europe and America,

in hot Africa and beyond the Polar circle,

they sing songs of Lenin,

the friend and deliverer of every slave.

No one knows the nameless

authors of the songs,

but the songs themselves

pass from mouth to mouth,

from tent to tent, from hut to hut,

from mountain camp to village on the plain.

Our film has been made out of three

such songs from the Soviet East.

One song is of woman,

throwing off her veil, of electricity,

brightening the mountain village,

of water, flowing through the desert,

of the illiterate, reading and writing,

of that which is ILYICH-LENIN.

One song is of the October Revolution,

of that which is ILYICH-LENIN.

One song is of the war

for a new and happy life

of that which is

ILYICH

LENIN

The room in Gorki where Lenin died,

its windows face the park.

Here is the bench

we know from the photograph

SONG ONE

"My face in a dark prison lay"

My face in a dark prison lay

And blind my life remained

No learning mine nor light of day,

a slave although unchained

Till through my darkness shone a ray

and Lenin's truth I gained

We never looked upon his face

We never heard his voice

Yet closer than a father he

much closer to us was

No father for his children did

what LENIN did for us

MY state farm

MY country

MY land

- Do you see the mark?

- I do.

- And the bull's eye?

- Clearly.

- Hold your breath.

- OK.

- When you feel you're ready, shoot.

- OK.

- The target is easy.

- I see.

- Get ready to shoot.

- OK.

Pull the trigger

and discharge the cartridge.

From darkness thick he made a light

from deserts gardens green

And out of death the life he brought

through him the poor have seen.

MY university

MY factory

MY collective farm

A million sand grains make a mound,

A million corn a sack,

A million of the weakest straws,

Break the strong camel's back!

MY family

MY hands

STEEL hands

MY party

With all he had he took our part:

He gave his brain, his blood, his heart

SONG TWO

"We Loved Him"

We loved him as we loved our steppes;

no, more than that!

If he would but return, we would

give away our tents and steppes

If he would but return,

we would give away our lives!

Never will we forget him,

Our grandchildren's

grandchildren shall remember!

He founded our party of steel

He built it from year to year

Taught it and tempered it

In the stubborn and ceaseless

struggle it was tempered

He was tireless in work

His eyes were full of irony

and sparkling with wisdom

Now he smiles kindly

His burning speech

is inspiring the masses

THE FOUNDER OF THE

COMMUNIST INTERNATIONAL

THE LEADER OF WORLD COMMUNISM

THE LOVE AND PRIDE OF THE

INTERNATIONAL WORKING CLASS

THE BANNER OF

THE DOWNTRODDEN EAST

THE HEAD OF THE WORKERS'

DICTATORSHIP IN RUSSIA

He was simple and

straight in his manner

The Russians called him just "ILYICH"

He lived in a hut;

in a hut beyond the marshes

In this place in July and August 1917

in a hut made of twigs

the leader of the World October

lay hidden from his pursuers

and wrote his book.

We have built a monument of granite

- The Workers

In October he led them into battle

through breakdown

yet they come

through cold

YET THEY COME

through hunger

YET THEY COME

through fire

YET THEY COME

THEY ARE LED BY

ILYICH LENIN

STAND TOGETHER

BRAVELY FORWARD

AGAINST THE FOE

TO US VICTORY IS ASSURED

THE POWER OF THE LANDLORDS AND

CAPITALISTS IS BROKEN IN RUSSIA

AND WILL BE CONQUERED

THROUGHOUT ALL THE WORLD

LENIN

Ah, now he moves not

LENIN

Ah, he is silent

THE MASSES

MOVE

THE MASSES

ARE SILENT

YOUR HERITAGE AND YOUR WORK

WE SHALL COMPLETE.

HOW OFTEN HERE

ON THIS RED SQUARE

We saw him - the LIVING Lenin!

SONG THREE

"In the big stone city"

In Moscow

In the big stone city

In a square there stands a tent

And in it lies LENIN

And if you should ever be in sorrow

Then go you to this tent

and look on LENIN

And your grief will pass away from you,

like water

And your grief will pass away from you,

like water

And your sorrows float away,

like leaves upon the brook

The day is bright

And I'm so happy

Dancing in the street

For my mother and father

We're happy

Why shouldn't we dance?

The spring is in full blossom

Our life has become sturdy and joyful

True is our Lenin path

And on every sector of the front,

step by step,

we are conquering

for Socialism our huge country.

I was working on the dam

across the River Dnieper,

handling cement to supply

the crane in bay 34.

We poured 95 baskets of the stuff

into the body of the dam.

When we pulled out one of the baskets

and levelled the concrete,

I noticed that a piece

of pitched paper roofing had fallen

on the freshly laid surface.

I picked it up and put it back

in its proper place.

But suddenly I lost my balance.

At first, I grabbed the stairway.

But I wasn't able to hold onto it.

Everybody got very frightened.

Another girl started screaming

and our foreman pulled me out.

I was completely covered

in liquid concrete and soaked to the skin.

To the skin.

My face was covered with concrete

and my hands were stained by liquid tar.

They pulled me out

and took me upstairs

to the drying room,

where there was a small heater.

I went back to my post

and I worked until the end of my shift.

THE DNIEPERSTROY

BUILDING FACILITY

I was awarded the Order of Lenin

for fulfilling production quotas.

NO FORTRESS IS INSURMOUNTABLE

FOR THE BOLSHEVIKS

This magnificent structure

is our greatest memorial

to the builder of Communism

and the first made

to bring electrification

to the Soviet Union, Comrade Lenin.

If LENIN could see our country now!

I am 63 years old.

This year I have harvested

5,500 kgs of wheat.

When I brought it to the state evaluator,

there was a special meeting

and festivities.

If all collective farm workers

worked as hard as I did

We're working relentlessly,

notwithstanding the fact

that we have no flour.

I feel that our leaders are

speaking real words of wisdom.

These words must be written down

and remembered.

They must be passed on to everyone

when you return home.

We want to do everything

the way our leaders tell us.

You want to lead a life on

the collective farm in the right way.

You may think of how it was in the past,

but the Bolsheviks reject any retreat.

You must not think of past difficulties

but always look to the future,

how to proceed forwards.

It is not easy, you have to live

through it and digest it,

to understand how to approach it.

And only after you understand it all,

may you act.

If LENIN could see our country now!

OUR oil

OUR coal

OUR metal

If LENIN could see our country now!

Our Magnitostroy

If LENIN could see our country now!

If LENIN could but see our country now!

STAND FIRM

STAND TOGETHER

ONWARDS BRAVELY

AGAINST THE FOE

TO US VICTORY IS ASSURED

THE POWER OF THE LANDLORDS

AND THE CAPITALISTS

IS BROKEN IN RUSSIA

AND WILL BE CONQUERED

THROUGHOUT THE WORLD

OCTOBER

CENTURIES WILL MARCH

ACROSS THE FACE OF THE EARTH

WITH IRON HEELS

AND PEOPLE WILL FORGET

THE NAMES OF THE COUNTRIES

WHERE THEIR ANCESTORS

USED TO LIVE

BUT THEY WILL NEVER FORGET

THE NAME OF LENIN

THEY WILL REMEMBER

HIS NAME FOREVER

THE END

Three Songs About Lenin (1934) - full transcript