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Fragment of an Empire

Original title: Oblomok imperii
  • 19291929
  • 1h 36m
IMDb RATING
7.3/10
414
YOUR RATING
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
  • IMDbPro
Fridrikh Ermler, Fyodor Nikitin, Vladimir Stenberg, and Georgii Stenberg in Oblomok imperii (1929)
  • Drama
A story of a man who loses his memory during the First World War, regains it 10 years after the Russian Revolution and returns home to a new and alien St. Petersburg.A story of a man who loses his memory during the First World War, regains it 10 years after the Russian Revolution and returns home to a new and alien St. Petersburg.A story of a man who loses his memory during the First World War, regains it 10 years after the Russian Revolution and returns home to a new and alien St. Petersburg.
IMDb RATING
7.3/10
414
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Fridrikh Ermler
  • Writers
    • Fridrikh Ermler
    • Ekaterina Vinogradskaya
  • Stars
    • Emil Gal
    • Sergey Gerasimov
    • Yakov Gudkin
Top credits
  • Director
    • Fridrikh Ermler
  • Writers
    • Fridrikh Ermler
    • Ekaterina Vinogradskaya
  • Stars
    • Emil Gal
    • Sergey Gerasimov
    • Yakov Gudkin
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 2User reviews
    • 8Critic reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 1 win

    Photos35

    Sergey Gerasimov in Oblomok imperii (1929)
    Oblomok imperii (1929)
    Yakov Gudkin in Oblomok imperii (1929)
    Fyodor Nikitin, Vladimir Stenberg, and Georgii Stenberg in Oblomok imperii (1929)
    Oblomok imperii (1929)
    Fyodor Nikitin and Lyudmila Semyonova in Oblomok imperii (1929)
    Oblomok imperii (1929)
    Oblomok imperii (1929)
    Fyodor Nikitin in Oblomok imperii (1929)
    Oblomok imperii (1929)
    Fyodor Nikitin in Oblomok imperii (1929)
    Fyodor Nikitin in Oblomok imperii (1929)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Emil Gal
    • Passenger in the trainas Passenger in the train
    Sergey Gerasimov
    Sergey Gerasimov
    Yakov Gudkin
    Yakov Gudkin
    • The wounded soldieras The wounded soldier
    Ursula Krug
    Varvara Myasnikova
    Varvara Myasnikova
    Fyodor Nikitin
    Fyodor Nikitin
    • Filimonovas Filimonov
    Lyudmila Semyonova
    Lyudmila Semyonova
    • Filimonov's wifeas Filimonov's wife
    Valeri Solovtsov
    Valeri Solovtsov
    • Filimonov's wife's new husbandas Filimonov's wife's new husband
    Vyacheslav Viskovsky
    Bella Chernova
    Bella Chernova
    • Passanger on Tramas Passanger on Tram
    • (uncredited)
    Aleksandr Melnikov
    Aleksandr Melnikov
    • Member of the Komsomolas Member of the Komsomol
    • (uncredited)
    Victor Portnov
    • Drunkardas Drunkard
    • (uncredited)
    V. Stukachenko
    • Factory Colleague Instructing Filimonovas Factory Colleague Instructing Filimonov
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • Fridrikh Ermler
    • Writers
      • Fridrikh Ermler
      • Ekaterina Vinogradskaya
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
    • All cast & crew

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    Storyline

    Edit
    Fridrikh Ermler's last silent feature, Fragment of an Empire, tells the story of a Russian non-commissioned officer, Ivan Filimonov (Fyodor Nikitin), who was shell-shocked, thought to be dead in the First World War and in loss of memory. Filimonov regains his memory in 1928, ten years after the Russian Revolution. Determined to find his wife and get his job back, he goes home to Saint Petersburg only to find out that his wife has remarried and his former employer has been replaced by a factory committee. The Saint Petersburg that he used to know also does not exist anymore. Renamed Leningrad and deprived of its status as capital, the city with its monumental buildings and statues of Lenin is foreign to Filimonov as is everything else in this new world created by the 1917 Revolution. As time goes by, however, he learns to appreciate the new ways. Although he is not reunited with his wife, he regains full control of his life. At the end of the film, Filimonov breaks the fourth wall and addresses the audience directly as he declares, in true Soviet propaganda fashion: "There is still much work to be done!"
    • war trauma
    • husband wife relationship
    • memory loss
    • killing a dog
    • war medal
    • 9 more
    • Plot summary
    • Add synopsis
    • Taglines
      • SEE NEW RUSSIA Through the Eyes of a Soldier Who Lost His Memory During the World War...A Rip Van Winkle Idea on a Tremendous Scale (Print Ad- Wisconsin News, ((Milwaukee, Wisc.)) 7 November 1931)
    • Genre
      • Drama
    • Parents guide
      • Add content advisory

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Described by historian Paul Rotha as "the epitome of the Soviet propaganda film, realized with extraordinary skill of technical achievement".
    • Connections
      Featured in Fejezetek a film történetéböl: Az orosz és a szovjet némafilm (1989)

    User reviews2

    Review
    Top review
    8/10
    Cultural Lag
    The Russians are retreating before the German advance, and the dead are piled like cordwood. Desperate men take their boots and flee. Fyodor Nikitin is left for dead, but he has survived, and for ten years he remains where he is, the memoryless village idiot. One day his memory returns and he rides the rods into what he remembers as Petrograd. However, the Revolution has triumphed, and he gradually comes to embrace the new order of things. However, he is still looking for his wife, Lyudmila Semyonova. Thinking him long dead, she has a new husband, Valeri Solovtsov. His job is to lecture the workers on socialism, on the dignity of the individual, and when the two men first meet each other in the factory, he is hectoring the workers, busy eating lunch, on how their wives are deserving of respect. He does not treat Miss Semyonova with respect.

    Fridrikh Ermler's late silent picture is full of Academician touches, with bouts of fast montages, and Lasky lighting. Nikitin gives a wild-eyed performance that befits his Rip Van Winkle/Enoch Arden character. Besides the story, it makes a point about cultural lag; we may have a worker's paradise in the factory, but until we are all comrades in the home, the work is not yet done.
    helpful•3
    0
    • boblipton
    • Dec 17, 2019

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • January 25, 1930 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • Soviet Union
    • Languages
      • None
      • Russian
    • Also known as
      • Odlomak carstva
    • Production company
      • Sovkino
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 36 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Sound mix
      • Silent
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.33 : 1

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    Fridrikh Ermler, Fyodor Nikitin, Vladimir Stenberg, and Georgii Stenberg in Oblomok imperii (1929)
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    By what name was Oblomok imperii (1929) officially released in Canada in English?
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