Circus, or Цирк (Tsirk) in Russian, is one of Grigori Aleksandrov's musical comedies of the Stalinist era of the Soviet Union. As a work of state approved propaganda, the film seeks to glorify the socialist utopia of the USSR, where people of all races and classes are equal. While the film is set primarily at a circus in 1930s Moscow, however it opens in the United States, remaining there just long enough to demonstrate what the film will later show to be the extreme racial intolerance of the country.
In the movie, American actress Marion Dixon (played by Lyubov Orlova) flees from an unknown scandal, shown in the film's typical over-the-top manner with an angry mob chasing her out of town. Eventually, Marion ends up performing at a circus in Moscow, staying there for a limited-time run with her stereotypically German manager. There, she falls in love with the dashing Ivan Petrovich Martynov, Red Army soldier, fellow performer, all-around perfect Soviet man. However, her controlling manager, language and ideological problems, and the aforementioned secret hang above her head, preventing that love from flourishing. After much goofiness, her secret is revealed to all: she fathered a child with an African-American man, a black baby. Much to the chagrin of her manager and even Marion herself, the noble Soviet people, as represented by the circus audience, love all children equally, and sing the child a lullaby in the many languages of the peoples of the Soviet Union. Finally learning what it means to be a citizen of the USSR, Marion and Martynov march together in the May Day parade through Red Square.
All of this serves to emphasize the primary theme of the movie, the Soviet Union under Stalin is a utopian society where all are equal and accepted, regardless of race or nationality. This theme can be seen most in the characters. Marion, the American actress, comes to Moscow belittled and made to feel inferior by her own country and her German manager because of her child. She knows little of socialism or even the Russian language. As the film progresses however, she begins to learn both of the language, and the society it symbolizes. She strives for the love, and the perfection, of Martynov, and in so striving becomes an equal part of the collective, as shown by the parade ending the movie. The German manager however is devious, racist, threatening, and literally self-inflating, the foil to the perfection of the Soviet Union. This pro-Soviet anti-German characterization is powerful for the time, with the USSR preparing for the soon-to-come German invasion. Finally, the audience of the circus serves as the final major character, rejecting the racism of the German and showing the citizens of the Soviet Union to be both diverse and tolerant, unlike the citizens of Germany and even the United States.
Overall, I found the film to be amusing, with above-average music and impressive set-pieces. However, despite its overtly positive demeanor and often effective comedic gags and music, there is something chilling lurking beneath the surface of Circus. In a film trumpeting the inclusiveness of the Stalin-era inclusiveness, the deletion of the final song sung in Yiddish and the execution of the man, Solomon Mikhoels, who sang it serves as a grim reminder of the almost insane hypocrisy of the film, and indeed the era of Soviet history as whole. The institutionalized racism and Anti-Semitism of the Soviet Union stands in direct contrast to the themes of the movie. Although it has little to do with the quality of production of the movie itself, I feel the weight of that fact hang like a chain from what would otherwise be a somewhat silly, buoyant piece of harmless comedic propaganda. However, the chain is well-deserved, and I could only recommend this film in good conscience with background information about the reality of race relations in the age of Stalin.
In the movie, American actress Marion Dixon (played by Lyubov Orlova) flees from an unknown scandal, shown in the film's typical over-the-top manner with an angry mob chasing her out of town. Eventually, Marion ends up performing at a circus in Moscow, staying there for a limited-time run with her stereotypically German manager. There, she falls in love with the dashing Ivan Petrovich Martynov, Red Army soldier, fellow performer, all-around perfect Soviet man. However, her controlling manager, language and ideological problems, and the aforementioned secret hang above her head, preventing that love from flourishing. After much goofiness, her secret is revealed to all: she fathered a child with an African-American man, a black baby. Much to the chagrin of her manager and even Marion herself, the noble Soviet people, as represented by the circus audience, love all children equally, and sing the child a lullaby in the many languages of the peoples of the Soviet Union. Finally learning what it means to be a citizen of the USSR, Marion and Martynov march together in the May Day parade through Red Square.
All of this serves to emphasize the primary theme of the movie, the Soviet Union under Stalin is a utopian society where all are equal and accepted, regardless of race or nationality. This theme can be seen most in the characters. Marion, the American actress, comes to Moscow belittled and made to feel inferior by her own country and her German manager because of her child. She knows little of socialism or even the Russian language. As the film progresses however, she begins to learn both of the language, and the society it symbolizes. She strives for the love, and the perfection, of Martynov, and in so striving becomes an equal part of the collective, as shown by the parade ending the movie. The German manager however is devious, racist, threatening, and literally self-inflating, the foil to the perfection of the Soviet Union. This pro-Soviet anti-German characterization is powerful for the time, with the USSR preparing for the soon-to-come German invasion. Finally, the audience of the circus serves as the final major character, rejecting the racism of the German and showing the citizens of the Soviet Union to be both diverse and tolerant, unlike the citizens of Germany and even the United States.
Overall, I found the film to be amusing, with above-average music and impressive set-pieces. However, despite its overtly positive demeanor and often effective comedic gags and music, there is something chilling lurking beneath the surface of Circus. In a film trumpeting the inclusiveness of the Stalin-era inclusiveness, the deletion of the final song sung in Yiddish and the execution of the man, Solomon Mikhoels, who sang it serves as a grim reminder of the almost insane hypocrisy of the film, and indeed the era of Soviet history as whole. The institutionalized racism and Anti-Semitism of the Soviet Union stands in direct contrast to the themes of the movie. Although it has little to do with the quality of production of the movie itself, I feel the weight of that fact hang like a chain from what would otherwise be a somewhat silly, buoyant piece of harmless comedic propaganda. However, the chain is well-deserved, and I could only recommend this film in good conscience with background information about the reality of race relations in the age of Stalin.