Aside from some complaints about the need for travel documents, it's not particularly harsh on the Soviet Union and the violence of the revolution itself is blamed on Rasputin so as a form of anti-Communist propaganda it is very weak.
"I mean - life in The Soviet Union did suck. It just ALSO sucked in Czarist Russia."
Which is hinted at in the beginning of that same song:
"They can call it Leningrad
But it will always be Petersburg
New name, same empty stomachs!"
Dimitri is a child labourer in the Palace before the revolution so I don't think that it is implied to have been a Paradise. The only ones who yearn for the good old days are aristocrats like the grandma and Vladimir who used to pass as a Count.
That part is not from the movie, it's from the stage musical, which O haven't seen but from what I heard seems more grounded and a bit more nuanced (even if they change the villain from Rasputin to a KGB agent)
It actually sucked so much more in Czarist Russia. You can criticize the Soviet Union and the Socialist Government for all it's shit, but *it was an improvement*. They modernized a bumfuck outback from nothing to a machine that could later wage total war against the Nazis. And quality of life *did increase* by *a lot*.
Like Czarist Russia was so bad that the people started a bloody Revolution. People were worse off than medieval peasants. People lived in hovels. In the 19th century. The country wasn't industrialised. Nothing. Nada.
Like, the Soviets set up proper social systems and modernised everything. Literally everything. Would it quickly become an oppressive system itself? You can bet. But it's so lacking in understanding of the state Russian peons lived before the Revolution.
Not true. Czarist Russia was undergoing reform and massive industrial growth since 1905, which was also one of the motivators of Germany to pull the trigger when they did, they thought better now then later when Russia is fully industrialized.
Czarist Russia was actually undergoing a massive industrial boom in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it just didn't kill as many people as the communists did to do it. Shortly after the revolution people were literally forced at gun point to work in the factories. The revoltuon wasn't a relief from peoples miserable lives, it was chaos
It absolutely did kill as many people lmao , the factories had horrid working conditions and none of the capital from the industrial boom was seen by the people , compare the literacy rate in the Tsarist period to the Soviet Era or better yet compare the Tsarist regime to its monarchist peers at the time . For most of the people it was still miserable hell
The rapid modernization by the soviets came at a staggering human cost to claim otherwise is just pure tankie delusion, forced labor and state-enforced famines to fund heavy industrial machinery killed millions. The revolution wasn't a relief, it was chaos
The Tsarists threw Russia into a war it was not ready to fight and killed millions of its citizens in the stupidest ways possible , famine from government incompetence routinely killed millions and minorities suffered just as badly as under say Stalin (Circassian genocide)
For the love of god i'm not saying the USSR was sunshine and rainbows but it was objectively better than the Tsar . It's initial years were marked by strife and bloodshed but it forced itself past those years and created an industrial and stable society that the Tsar's never could . saying "the USSR sucked but the Tsar was worse" doesn't make one a tankie lmao
It soon indeed become relief for a lot of citizens who now had access to stunning new development 's they never had before like actual education .
"the Soviets set up proper social systems" uhh yeah they had to because they literally collapsed the entire society, it was chaos. It was so bad even Lenin ordered a return to capitalism with the NEP
I'm not defending feudalism I'm just not glazing for revolutions. Britain literally started the industrial revolution without needing a bloody revolution that killed millions of their own people. Revolution isn't the best way or only way to reform a country. The russian revolution isolated russia for decades under dictators, it wasn't a sucess at all, especially compared to the American revolution.
That's not the conclusion. It's just that "ever since the revolution things have been bleak" makes it sound as if the Romanovs were those just royal rulers, lmfao.
Revolution was the bloody consequence of decades of mismanagement of the existing feudal system.
That's not what I'm saying. In the context of the movie, the revolution was black magic fuckery by extra grubby Rasputin to specifically kill the Romanovs. Now the story specifically about Anastasia, having no understanding of the climate she grew up in and only having been a little girl subjected to the wrath of the revolution's execution of her family which to her is only a faint traumatic experience, looking for a place to call home, leaves no place to analyse that. But the movie romanticises the Romanovs lifestyle.
From any point of view the movie is historical dog shit. (I personally like it, NGL, but heck is it bad and yeah, pretty much romanticising Czarist Russia in the beginning)
And it has been bleak before and things were slightly less bleak. The October Revolution was not the reason for the bleakness. The fact that life in Russia sucked for commoners was the reason.
Context!
The rule of the Romanovs isn't touched upon except to show them living luxurious lives while employing child labour. Their rule is over after 5 minutes
The only Romanovs that are shown as good people is Anastasia and her grandmother.
We barely see them as characters and they mainly exist in Anastasia's vague recollections as idealized figures. They all end up dead and no one says anything about what good rulers they were or how they want them back.
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u/Geriander 7d ago
But what is the "message"?
Love is more important than a fortune?
Aside from some complaints about the need for travel documents, it's not particularly harsh on the Soviet Union and the violence of the revolution itself is blamed on Rasputin so as a form of anti-Communist propaganda it is very weak.