Obyknovennyy fashizm

It is hard to draw parallels between this brilliantly narrated compilation of both Allied and Third Reich's archive films and Hollywood's productions such as "Schindler's List" or "Jakob the Liar". While the latter present limited, sanitized and artificial-looking depictions of life under the Nazi rule, Romm's "Ordinary Fascism" pulls out all the stops in its selection of documentary material to draw the viewer not only into absolute horror about fascism and nazism in the 1920s-1940s Europe, but also to a firmest of convictions that nothing of the sort should be allowed to happen again anywhere in the world.

Note the timing: the film was released in 1965, in the Soviet Union's heyday at the height of the great societal and intellectual "thaw" that followed the Stalin's death and the denunciation of Stalin's totalitarianism by Nikita Khruschev. Never explicitly mentioning any of them explicitly, the film targets tyranny and despotism no matter what form they may take; the release of such a film would have been impossible under Stalin.

A good indicator of the power of this film could be the fact that it is available in most video stores in Germany.

This 1965 documentary by Mikhail Romm is an excellent example of the special position of film directors in the former Soviet Union, who didn't have to succumb to the economic hardships typically imposed on art by Western market economies. However, the film implicitly reveals the political interventions under which all art suffered under the Soviet system. On the one hand, Romm displays a strong and original will to educate mankind in a Soviet style sense of humanism, which by today's standards appears to be rather naive, if not outright ridiculous. On the other hand the documentary simply brushes aside important historical events in order to (over-)emphasize the undeniable contributions of the Red Army and of Soviet society in general to overthrowing fascism in the Great Patriotic War. There is no mention of 1939's Soviet-German Non-Aggression Pact, in which Hitler and Stalin divided Polish territory amongst themselves like pieces of pie, no word about the willingness of many Soviet citizens to collaborate with the Nazis because of overwhelming Russian dominance in the USSR, nothing about the fact that Britain's RAF was the only power providing successful military resistance to the Nazi war machine in 1940/41, and the decisive invasion of Normandy is not considered either. The whole war is painted as a primarily Soviet affair. The depiction of US marines as the fascist hordes of the Cold War really puts the icing on the cake, as it puts Americas's troops in the same line with some of world history's most appalling war crimes, for the apparent propagandistic benefits. However, Romm's approach is interesting insofar as it combines the analysis of fascism with sarcastic comments uncovering at least the nature of Hitler's bestial tyranny. However, most of these comments are rather common-place, such as alluding to Goerings plump figure or Hitler's obsessions with dogs and so on. This movie is not a must, but despite its obvious propagandistic tendency it provides the viewer with some interesting insights - not only about the causes of fascism, but also about the nature of Soviet dictatorship as well.

"Fascismo de Todos os Dias" is without doubt the best documentary about the Second World War I have ever seen. It goes far beyond a simple historical recounting of events, delving deep into the psychology and everyday mechanisms that allowed fascism to flourish. Romm's use of archival footage is not only informative, but thought-provoking, making you think about how propaganda and authoritarian ideologies seep into everyday life. This documentary is a masterpiece that continues to resonate, revealing truths about human nature and the dangers of unchecked power. Essential viewing for anyone interested in history or politics.

Triumph Over Violence is a triumph of documentary filmmaking. I got burnt out on documentaries a while back and don't watch as many as I used to, but this one was so effective. It moved well and never felt boring, and the scathing narration (I don't know if I can quite call it cheeky or humorous, but there was definitely shade thrown at the Nazis, as deserved).

This is something special, though. The amount of footage they seem to have, the excellent narration, and the way it uses those images, the narration, and the editing to create jarring moment after jarring moment, and tonally doing so in a way that still respects the viewer and respects those who are died and are now on film.

So many tightropes walked all at once by this. It's a miracle it all works and feels so effective. That being said, it's hard to recommend because of how grisly the imagery can be... dismembered body parts, emaciated dead bodies, heads in the process of being separated from bodies, aftermaths of the camps, shot bodies, hung, frozen, bloated bodies - it's a horrifying watch. Tread lightly, but it uses that imagery for a purpose. I would be the first person to complain if it felt like shock for shock's sake.

This was a near-perfect documentary. Loved the presentation. There are parts (not necessarily the violent parts) that will stick with me (the bit with the close-ups on the eyes was chilling). It's all such an overall powerful, angry, scathing, and necessary condemnation of Nazi Germany and the concept of war in general. Catharsis, presenting an argument, and informing - what more could a documentary aim to do?

A marvelous and internationally acclaimed masterpiece of Soviet cinema. Is it the crowning glory of documentary cinema? No, I would rather call it an auteur cinema, film-meditation, as Romm himself says: "From the enormous amount of material, we selected what seemed to us the most striking, which gives us the opportunity to reflect together with you". Nevertheless, a lot of work was done: research in German archives, collection of photographs, visits to concentration camps. The film was released in 1965 to remind the younger generation who had not witnessed the war, the roots of that inexplicable event, the mass hysteria that had seized the entire German nation. This film is universally applicable to vivisect the genesis of any dictatorship. It's about ordinary people who willingly become diligent cogs in a system aimed at waging an incessant war against "alien elements" of its society and against the external threat of "inferior human species". Romm's sarcastic off-screen comments certainly don't want to make a laughingstock of Hitler and his entourage, or to diminish the importance of what is happening using a "comic relief", Romm only emphasizes the absurdity of what is happening on the historical footage. You'd think, why concentrate on nuances like where Hitler liked to keep his hands? But in fact, the next photo - and everyone is imitating their fuhrer! The farce and idiocy of personality cults lie in such details. The counterpoint technique creates a tragic impression. A dire contrast between the paraphernalia of Nazi butchers and the pure forever perished eyes of innocent people - really act on the emotions. Analogies with previous and current totalitarian (or even authoritarian) regimes will appear to you naturally. This was the case in 1965, when the main Soviet ideologist Suslov asked Romm: "Why do you dislike us (the Bolsheviks) so much?" The film was shelved for a while for this implicit comparison of two totalitarian regimes. None the less, the final scenes show us "dogs of imperialism", the aggressive West, the growling Marines, ready to turn the Cold War into a "hot" one. Whether Romm really intended some kind of covert criticism of the USSR is irrelevant, because the Soviet public took this message for granted. In a system where any criticism could only be expressed in Aesopian language, people got used to read double hidden meanings into such works. B. Strugatsky said after watching the film: "Now it is clear to any reasonable person that communism and fascism are "twin brothers", because both of these regimes grow from a single root called "a totalitarian state"." Few people can say for sure that they will not become the next useful cog in the system: it takes great courage to preserve individuality and strength to say no to dehumanization and violence, when everyone around you says yes. That's why its important to convey the messages of this film to future generation, to children, so that they won't become "a mass".