V ogne rozhdennaya review: A lot of soot and very little smiling

Is it worth the watch?

If you are into film history or you just really like looking at old footage of industrial machinery, then yes. Most people will probably find it a bit too slow and heavy on the revolutionary vibes, though.

It’s the kind of movie that feels like it was filmed inside a chimney. There is so much smoke and shadow that you sometimes lose track of who is who. 🚂

The main guy, Nikolai Vitovtov, has a face that looks like it was carved out of granite. He spends a lot of time looking off-camera at things that are probably very important for the future of the state.

There is this one scene where the light hits the workers' faces just right. It makes them look like statues in a museum rather than actual people eating lunch.

It reminds me a bit of the heavy atmosphere in The Destruction of Carthage, even if the setting is totally different. Both films seem obsessed with things falling apart and being rebuilt in fire.

The pacing is... well, it’s a silent movie from 1929. It takes its time.

Sometimes a character will walk across a room and it feels like it takes five minutes. You start noticing weird things, like how high their pants are pulled up or the way the dust floats in the air. 👖

It definitely isn't a comedy like Peter's Pants. Nobody is having a good time here.

The women in the film, like Anna Zarzhitskaya, have these incredibly expressive eyes. Even without sound, you can tell exactly how stressed they are about the factory or the war or whatever is currently burning.

One specific shot of a spinning wheel goes on for way too long. I think it’s supposed to be symbolic, but after thirty seconds, I just started thinking about what I wanted for dinner.

The title translates to 'Born in Fire' and they really lean into that. Literally everything is on fire at some point, or at least glowing very brightly.

I wonder if the actors ever got tired of staring into the bright lights for these dramatic close-ups. Their pupils must have been tiny. 👁️

It’s much more intense than something like She Couldn't Say No, which feels like a different planet entirely compared to this Soviet grit.

There is a sequence near the end where the editing gets really fast. It’s almost disorienting, like the movie is trying to make you feel the chaos of the era through sheer speed.

I liked the factory scenes the most. There is something honest about the way they filmed the actual labor, even if it was meant to be propaganda.

The film ends rather abruptly, which I didn't mind. It felt like the person running the projector just decided they’d seen enough for one day. 📽️

If you want something light, go watch Noisy Noises instead. This one is for when you want to feel the weight of history on your shoulders.

It's a strange, dusty relic that still has a bit of heat left in it. Just don't expect a happy ending or any jokes.