Tractor Drivers

This is a good comedy about collective farm workers and a recently returned tank driver from the Far East. It is difficult to understand it if one does not speak Russian and Ukrainian (yes, there is even an Ukrainian folk song in the movie). It so happens that I understand both. The "Zabady vas komar" line is epic. Explicit propaganda is quasi-absent. There are three things I found curious. First, at some point, the kolkhozniki find a German helmet and they comment that the Germans are preparing to attack the Soviet Union. It is curious, because the movie was released in 1939, so presumably the Soviets were expecting the attack (this is also Curtio Malaparte suggests). Second, there is the idea that in case of war, the kolkhozniks can easily change the tractor for a tank. The idea o patriotism and the need to sacrifice for the fatherland is Third, the Georgian guy in the beginning does not appear later in the movie, although he seemed a funny character. I did not understand where exactly was the main character coming from. He says he is returning from the Far East, so it might be from Khalkhin Gol. Overall it is a very good bilingual movie.