The Great Farewell (Stalins' Funeral): The Restored Soviet Documentary DVD
Product Description
The Definitive Account of "History's Greatest Loss".
As much deity as dictator to his people, Josef Stalin and his terror cast indelibly long shadows over Soviet life and imagination. When, in March 1953, news of Stalin’s death threw Soviet life into stunned disbelief, contemporaries described nothing less than “a rupture in time.” An extraordinary cycle of state-orchestrated mourning and spontaneous grief followed, much of it conveyed in this remarkable documentary, intended by the Soviet authorities as the definitive account of history’s greatest loss. Ranging widely across the Soviet Union and points beyond – from Warsaw to Moscow to Beijing and Korean War battlefronts, and culminating in the dictator’s colossal Red Square funeral – The Great Farewell captures the bombastic pomp and intrigue-packed circumstance of High Stalinism at its zenith. Long relegated to Soviet-era archives, this film jarringly returns us to a time when the slogan “Stalin is always with us” radiated hope and confidence in a bright Soviet future. USSR, 1953, Color (Agfacolor) 73 minutes, switchable English/Russian Soundtracks with optional English subtitles. Digitally Restored from Original 35mm Negative; possibly the highest quality known to exist.
Studio: TsSDT (Tsentral'naia studiia dokumental'nykh fil'mov-The Central Studio for Documentary Films)
8 parts, 2003 meters
Directed by (6 directors):
1.Sergei Gerasimov (for whom the film school in Moscow is now named)
2.Il'ia Kopalin
3.Elizaveta Svilova (Dziga Vertov's wife)
4.Irina Setkina
5.Grigorii Aleksandrov (Eisenstein's early co-director, and the director of musical comedies in the 1930s)
6.Mikhail Chiaureli (director of "The Vow" and "Fall of Berlin")
As much deity as dictator to his people, Josef Stalin and his terror cast indelibly long shadows over Soviet life and imagination. When, in March 1953, news of Stalin’s death threw Soviet life into stunned disbelief, contemporaries described nothing less than “a rupture in time.” An extraordinary cycle of state-orchestrated mourning and spontaneous grief followed, much of it conveyed in this remarkable documentary, intended by the Soviet authorities as the definitive account of history’s greatest loss. Ranging widely across the Soviet Union and points beyond – from Warsaw to Moscow to Beijing and Korean War battlefronts, and culminating in the dictator’s colossal Red Square funeral – The Great Farewell captures the bombastic pomp and intrigue-packed circumstance of High Stalinism at its zenith. Long relegated to Soviet-era archives, this film jarringly returns us to a time when the slogan “Stalin is always with us” radiated hope and confidence in a bright Soviet future. USSR, 1953, Color (Agfacolor) 73 minutes, switchable English/Russian Soundtracks with optional English subtitles. Digitally Restored from Original 35mm Negative; possibly the highest quality known to exist.
USSR, 1953, Color (Agfacolor) 73 minutes, switchable English/Russian Soundtracks with optional English subtitles. Digitally Restored from Original 35mm Negative; possibly the highest quality known to exist.
DVD EXTRAS:
- 2 Historical Slideshows: Stalin's Death & The Great Farewell; Moscow Wrapped in Grief -- Soviet Journalistic Reports
- 3 Additional Slideshows: Mao Zedong's Stalin Tribute; The Autopsy Report; Recommended Reading
- Original Russian Soundtrack, English Dubbed or English Subtitles.
Studio: TsSDT (Tsentral'naia studiia dokumental'nykh fil'mov-The Central Studio for Documentary Films)
8 parts, 2003 meters
Directed by (6 directors):
1.Sergei Gerasimov (for whom the film school in Moscow is now named)
2.Il'ia Kopalin
3.Elizaveta Svilova (Dziga Vertov's wife)
4.Irina Setkina
5.Grigorii Aleksandrov (Eisenstein's early co-director, and the director of musical comedies in the 1930s)
6.Mikhail Chiaureli (director of "The Vow" and "Fall of Berlin")
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NTSC Region 0 encoding (Entire World)
Available For Immediate Shipment
Libraries and Institutions Please Note: Educational Editions with PUBLIC PERFORMANCE RIGHTS and DIGITAL SITE LICENSES are available.
