Faux Joe
Over at Jim Lileks' Bleat comes this astounding 1940's era Soviet propaganda film showing a mythical visit by Josef Stalin to newly occupied Berlin. The propaganda film was created to glorify the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany, but if you think it seems a little weird, you're not alone. The most interesting thing about it (which Jim notes) is how it has the genuine authenticity found only in totalitarian propaganda. Stalin's is shown flying in one kind of plane, landing on another, while long shots of Stalin were performed by a body double, and only a portion of the footage, filmed deep within Soviet territory, is actually of Stalin. Check it out for yourself:
All that makeup makes him look too much like Rip Taylor for my comfort. Or anyone's comfort.
UPDATE: I really didn't intend to have a communist/Soviet theme this week, but that's the way it goes sometimes.
1 comment:
Great find, Rog.
I guess in an age before mass media (or in the case of the Soviet model, a gov't controlled media), Stalin's vassals would be easily fooled by a body double. Or were all of the participants actors? Who the hell knows? You mentioned two different planes making this a farce. I'll pose another one: Wasn't Stalin only 5 feet 4 inches tall? He's the same height as his peers in the film.
I hope some Stalin apologists post here. They're so amusing to read.
You're blog rocks, man. I, too, have an unhealthy fascination with tyranny.
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