The film is rather uneven and in the end unsatisfactory as a whole, although it has some interesting and valuable footage.
The first part of the film - the only part that Romm was able to complete before his death - is, unfortunately, the least interesting, being a brief overview of history of the first half of the 20th century. It's hard to tell what the film would've been like had Romm enough time to finish it, but Elem Klimov and Marlen Khutsiev were obviously not able to find an apt form for remaining footage. Intertitles that they chose to resort to give the effect very different from Romm's narration. The rendering of material in the second part of the film is not only predictably biased and one-sided, which by itself is not a crime, but too often, instead of giving a subjective view, leans towards plain and boring propaganda.
What is truly valuable is the footage in the second part of the film that shows people of the early 1970s from all over Europe: interviews with children and young people, a rock concert, people in the streets - walking, kissing, reading... Sketches for a portrait of the age.
The first part of the film - the only part that Romm was able to complete before his death - is, unfortunately, the least interesting, being a brief overview of history of the first half of the 20th century. It's hard to tell what the film would've been like had Romm enough time to finish it, but Elem Klimov and Marlen Khutsiev were obviously not able to find an apt form for remaining footage. Intertitles that they chose to resort to give the effect very different from Romm's narration. The rendering of material in the second part of the film is not only predictably biased and one-sided, which by itself is not a crime, but too often, instead of giving a subjective view, leans towards plain and boring propaganda.
What is truly valuable is the footage in the second part of the film that shows people of the early 1970s from all over Europe: interviews with children and young people, a rock concert, people in the streets - walking, kissing, reading... Sketches for a portrait of the age.
