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L'Chayim, Comrade Stalin!

Play trailer L'Chayim, Comrade Stalin! 2002 1h 33m Documentary Play Trailer Watchlist
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43% Tomatometer 14 Reviews Popcornmeter Fewer than 50 Ratings
Filmmaker Yale Strom travels by train to Russia's Jewish Autonomous Region, once proclaimed a haven for the country's Semitic populations but, in reality, now more of a barren landscape. Strom is accompanied by a translator/bodyguard who denies the existence of anti-Semitism while muttering racist statements along the way. Archival and contemporary footage shows the chaotic past, present and possible futures of a region whose identity is still unclear.

Critics Reviews

View All (14) Critics Reviews
Kenneth Turan Los Angeles Times Energetic and informative, albeit more than a little haphazard. Rated: 3/5 Mar 6, 2003 Full Review Ella Taylor L.A. Weekly The story of the JAR can be read as tragedy, but the exuberant Strom ... is by artistic temperament an optimist. Mar 6, 2003 Full Review V.A. Musetto New York Post Talking heads and shots of the grim landscape can get awfully tiresome. Rated: 2/4 Jan 31, 2003 Full Review Film Threat Rated: 2.5/5 Dec 6, 2005 Full Review Jordan Hiller Bangitout.com We are fortunate enough to see films like L'chayim Comrade Stalin, where the last brilliant sparks shine most astonishingly Rated: '2.5' Nov 3, 2005 Full Review Wade Major Boxoffice Magazine Replete with surprises, twists and thought-provoking anecdotes. Rated: 3/5 Mar 14, 2003 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Audience Member This film beautifully tells the story of the Jewish Autonomous Oblast from before its inception to the present day. This film speaks to the reduction of the Yiddish language in a way no other film I have seen has done. The film speaks to what it means to suppress a culture, to experience otherness no matter where you live, to fear your neighbors may accuse you of espionage or treason all because of your Diasporic roots granting you histories that transcend our modern states and borders. Every other review I have read from notable sources I feel wrote this movie off for their own myopic reasons. Sure this film spends lots of time talking, displays imagery of barren fields and railing trains, details the struggles of venturing into the unknown, and it certainly does not leave you feeling all that great about our reality both past and present, but if that does not reflect insight into the Jewish experience I frankly do not know what more goyim could ask for... Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/16/23 Full Review Read all reviews
L'Chayim, Comrade Stalin!

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Movie Info

Synopsis Filmmaker Yale Strom travels by train to Russia's Jewish Autonomous Region, once proclaimed a haven for the country's Semitic populations but, in reality, now more of a barren landscape. Strom is accompanied by a translator/bodyguard who denies the existence of anti-Semitism while muttering racist statements along the way. Archival and contemporary footage shows the chaotic past, present and possible futures of a region whose identity is still unclear.
Director
Yale Strom
Producer
Elizabeth Schwartz
Screenwriter
Elizabeth Schwartz
Production Co
BlackStream Films
Genre
Documentary
Original Language
English
Runtime
1h 33m