Pusk Dneprostroya Review: Pure Concrete Propaganda That Somehow Slaps

If you don't get a kick out of watching thousands of tons of water crashing through massive grey concrete barriers, stay far away from Pusk Dneprostroya. It is a 1932 Soviet industrial hype-reel, basically. 🌊

Film nerds who drool over old-school montage editing will find this fascinating. But if you want an actual story with characters, you'll probably hate it and should go watch The City Gone Wild instead.

What even is this?

This is a short documentary about the opening of the Dnieper Hydroelectric Station. It is pure, unadulterated propaganda, but man, they really knew how to make concrete look epic.

There is no plot. It’s just Nikolay Karmazinskiy showing us the absolute raw power of engineering, lots of dirt, and very excited workers.

You get these dizzying shots of scaffolding that look like they were filmed by someone dangling by one foot. The camera angles are crazy aggressive.

The Weird Little Details

I noticed this one worker who just stares directly into the lens for about three seconds too long. He looks like he wants to eat the camera, or maybe he’s just never seen one before. 🤔

Then there is the water. The way the film captures the rushing rapids feels almost scary, like the river itself is angry about being dammed up.

Some of the editing is so fast it makes your head spin. It’s like they were trying to invent music videos fifty years before MTV.

It has this chaotic energy that reminds me a bit of the frantic pacing in The Ladder Jinx, even though that’s a completely different kind of movie.

"Look at this giant metal thing. Now look at this turbine. Now look at Lenin's face on a banner. Now more water!"

Is it actually good?

Well, yes and no. It gets a bit repetitive after the tenth shot of a crane moving a giant block of cement.

But as a time capsule? It is wild. You can practically smell the coal smoke and the wet cement pouring through the screen.

It’s definitely more interesting than some generic Hollywood drama from the same era, like Morals for Women, because at least this has actual danger in it.

You can see the real sweat on these people. No makeup, no fancy lighting, just pure grit and very heavy machinery.

Things that made me chuckle:

• The giant banners of political leaders that look slightly lopsided in the wind.
• A dog that randomly runs across the bottom of the screen during a very serious speech. 🐕
• How the editing goes incredibly fast every time a turbine spins, like the editor got super caffeinated.

So yeah, give it a go if you want to see some cool historical footage. Just don't expect a love story.