“The Caucasian is helped by the mountains, the Ukrainian steppe, a Belarusian.” In the spring of this year, I decided to get acquainted with Belarusian cinema more closely, after all, I must know the origins of my native cinema, especially by profession, so as not to throw empty words around. In each textbook on the history of Belarus for the 10th grade it is written: "The first film shot "Belgoskino" is the work of Yuri Tarich "Forest history" (1926)". Whether it’s the first time, some other time. In the meantime, it seems to me that such things as the first domestic film or the most outstanding writers, famous artists or composers, everyone should know, no matter in which country he was born and whose citizen he was not considered.
What can a movie be made about when it is 1926 and Joseph Stalin is at the helm of the world’s largest country? The exploits of the proletariat and the peasantry, or the historical events of recent years. Although it was still relatively mild in terms of censorship, it was. "Forest history" is a film about the Soviet-Polish war of 1919-1920, which took place in the territories of Belarus and Ukraine. The relations between Poland and the SSRB were not glued then, the Poles decided to recreate the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and for this it was necessary to regain all the lands, which they directly engaged in. As usual, the invaders were met with guerrilla resistance. For Russian history, these events are seen as part of the Civil War, the invasion of intervention. For us, it entailed the loss of a large part of the territory of Belarus.
But back to the movie itself. Filmed in the adventure genre, the plot tells about how a simple peasant boy Grishka decided to help the Red Army to knock out the Poles from his native land. Returning with his daughter, the Polish landowner began to restore the old order, to force all peasants to work for themselves and for the Polish army, which remained on the post. Of course, no one liked it, but they were afraid to speak out because of executions and punishments. Grishka often covered Gelka, the daughter of a forester. A couple of them turned out very interesting and funny.
The film was shot in a patriotic way, the creators believed in the idea and supported it. Therefore, in the film there is only good and only evil, there is nothing in between. The Reds are doing the right thing, they follow the concepts of honor and conscience, all the decisions they make are correct, because they are for the good of the homeland. Poles are shown dirty and sinful, vicious. One of the most striking examples is a middle-aged priest suffering from an unrequited love for the pannoka Wanda; or a scene of the escape of a family of landowners from the estate, where it is shown that first of all they save jewelry, and then their faithful servants. There are many such examples.
Although the film is mute, and an hour and a half can last a very, very long time, "Forest History" is still worth watching. Especially since it was attended by prominent statesmen of the time, and the film itself is interesting, you can learn a lot from history.
7 out of 10