A Road to Life Movie Summary - Essay Example

A Road to Life Written and directed by a creative director Nikolai Ekk, Road to Life (1931) serves as a remarkable movie of early Russian cinema, which reflects upon the problems faced by the newly established Union of Soviet Socialist of Republics (USSR). Contrary to most of the pictures of the era, including Volga Volga, Jolly Fellows, Happiness and others, which used to discuss comparatively light and simple issues and topics, the Road to Life concentrates upon a very sensitive subject, the Soviet society had undergone during the initial years of its coming into existence. Ekk has described that the children were deprived of their parents by depicting the difficulties faced by the abandoned youth, during the revolution, which turned out to be homeless because of the bloodshed and chaos took place during and after the advent of the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution. The film reflects, in a powerful manner, the significance of socialization process, as the young orphans become a serious challenge for the peace and stability of society by putting the lives of the other individuals into jeopardy. The film also refutes the very idea that affection and care may tame and socialize all individuals of society. On the other hand, some of the young people maintain tendency of law breaking in one way or the other. The film also narrates that cognitive behavior develops in children in early period of life, and if the individuals go astray, socialization at latter stage of adolescence can also bring positive alterations in their lives. As a result, they can be taught regarding the consequences of breaking the law and challenging the peace of society; the same is applied to the orphan boys round who the film under study revolves. The film also depicts the camera techniques and use of written words, dubbing of voice, background music at different occasions and the use of shades applied by the film director in order to make the movie a success. The movie concentrates upon the activities of the orphan children, who are kept and looked after with proper care and concern in a rehabilitation camp. The movie shows that the camp commission provides them with comforts and trains them to learn various technical skills under an affectionate, nurturing and congenial environment, which is helpful for the socialization of the orphan boys; as a result a large number of boys learn how to behave like civilized persons while interacting with other members of society. Nevertheless, two of the boys keep on deviating from the rules and regulations, and commit the crimes of various types, which create much disturbance and annoyance in the locality. It clearly demonstrates the bitter fact that there certainly exist some people in every society, which have natural inclination towards committing crimes and hurting others. Since it was the age of black and white films, the director has sought support from shades, shadows and dark colors. For instance, the evening and night scenes of the camp life have been supported with the same techniques. Moreover, being the first sound film, the director has also applied the written words on the screen in order to demonstrate various areas and situations going to be displayed in the movie. The words appear on the screen in order to guide the audience in respect of the location, where the specific part of movie is being established. In addition, close and remote camera skills can also be witnessed in order to show distance between different characters and objects and places as well. Establishing shot technique has been exercised in Zighan’s catching the shoes stolen by the deviant boy at the railway station. In addition, close up technique has been applied in order to reveal the face expressions and body language of the characters. The film takes the audience from one place to the other through the wonderful application of cross-cuts technique. For instance, the scene showing the main characters standing and wandering at the railway station turns into their activities at the camp. The film shows how forcefully the negative memories of past leave their indelible imprints upon the raw minds of the young adults, which do not have the ability to make distinction between right and wrong. Consequently, they practice delinquent behavior of various kinds, and deprive the people of their wealth and resources. Zhigan (Mikhail Zharov) is the kind teacher and supervisor, who applies all efforts to stop the young people to deviate from the right path, and forgives them even they are caught red-handed while hurting and harming others for pecuniary gains as well as just for amusement. For example, their gang leader, called Mustafa, snatches suitcases of women, and cuts the rear part of the coat of a woman, and thus deprived her of the proper covering of her lower back. Railway stations had been important public place particularly before the establishment of the trend of travelling by road or plane. Consequently, most part of the movie has been focused upon the locality near railway station. In addition, the governments, during those days, established the courts, post offices, camps and other authoritative and public offices far from the rest of the city. Moreover, travelling was generally made through trains; railway station used to be center of activities in big cities. It is therefore, the director has elaborated the cultural traits and features of the then Russian society within a broad perspective, which reveals his command over drawing out natural and social phenomena existing all around him. The film also reveals the intriguing mind of the orphans’ gang leader Mustafa, and the benevolence of the camp in-charge Zhigan (i.e. Mikhail Zharov). On the one side the gang-leader always instigates the boys to commit crimes and take away the belongings of the vendors and public at large; and on the other side, Zhigan carries on bestowing mercy and kindness upon the irritating youth. The film shows one of the gang boys picking the pair of shoes near railway station is caught red handed and is adversely tortured by the public on committing the crime; however, when he tosses the shoes, his kind teacher Zhigan, catches the same and returns it to the vendor at the crime spot. It is the same boy, whose mother was killed during the street crime committed by one of the youth living in the same camp the boy joins later. Hence, he has no idea regarding the consequences of the harm they are inflicting upon others in cold blood. Somehow, they are immature persons, to some extent, which are instigated and tempted by the evil temptations of some older member of their society. Hence, the gang of the homeless orphans appears to be the prey of evil seduction, which is always busy in devising crime plans and implementing the same particularly through the young boys. Zhigan maintains the mastery of guiding and training the youth for their collective social and moral uplift. He also has the command over pacifying the youth at critical situations. Although Zhigan is at the commanding position in the movie under analysis, and the abandoned youth accept him as their guide and role-model, while exercising their abilities and performing different tasks during the course of learning technical skills; nevertheless, few of them have tendency of getting involved into crimes and delinquencies on finding an opportunity for the same. The boy committing crime of robbing the pair of shoes from a vendor’s shop at the railway station feels guilty on doing the same; his being tortured at the hands of the public also creates feelings of humiliation in his sensitive mind, and he ponders upon giving up the same in order to lead a respectable and peaceful life. The film also elucidates the emotional and furious attitude of the juvenile delinquents, who break the window panes and destroy the factory equipments during a riot they launch against the administration. The writer here conveys the very message that the proper coaching of the adolescents and allocation of their passion towards some constructive activity could be supportive for themselves and society at large as well. The film shows, at the end, the sorrowful fate of the protagonist Mustafa, who was murdered by a patriotic person, because of trying to destroy the railway track. His companions later found his dead body lying at the track, which really startles the entire community, and they are determined to stop their malicious and obnoxious activities subsequently. The author has given a moral lesson that an unchecked revolution not only destroys the socioeconomic status-quo and deprived the privileged stratum of their wealth and statuses, but also their children may become shelter-less and unprotected in the aftermath of the revolution. Moreover, the revolution does not confine to one social class only; rather, it influences all classes into its sway. Hence, the children of common people may also suffer by losing their homes in the wake of the arrival of a revolution. It is therefore the abandoned children appear to be involved into malpractices including stealing, robbery, hurt and even killing and redundancy, which take the entire society into its unpleasant fold. Thus, the writer has conveyed the message of Socialism, though he does not declare mere capitalism as the root cause of all evils existing in any of the societies. Read More