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East Side Story

  • 1997
  • 1h 18m
IMDb RATING
7.2/10
237
YOUR RATING
East Side Story (1997)
DocumentaryMusic

A look at Communist musicals that strove to be ideologically correct - and entertaining, besides.A look at Communist musicals that strove to be ideologically correct - and entertaining, besides.A look at Communist musicals that strove to be ideologically correct - and entertaining, besides.

  • Director
    • Dana Ranga
  • Writers
    • Andrew Horn
    • Dana Ranga
  • Stars
    • Margarita Andrushkovich
    • Chris Doerk
    • Erich Gusko
  • See production, box office & company info
  • IMDb RATING
    7.2/10
    237
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Dana Ranga
    • Writers
      • Andrew Horn
      • Dana Ranga
    • Stars
      • Margarita Andrushkovich
      • Chris Doerk
      • Erich Gusko
    • 7User reviews
    • 14Critic reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 1 nomination

    Photos12

    East Side Story (1997)
    East Side Story (1997)
    East Side Story (1997)
    East Side Story (1997)
    East Side Story (1997)
    East Side Story (1997)
    East Side Story (1997)
    East Side Story (1997)
    East Side Story (1997)
    East Side Story (1997)
    East Side Story (1997)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Margarita Andrushkovich
    • Self
    • (as Margarita Andruschkovitsch)
    Chris Doerk
    • Self
    Erich Gusko
    • Self
    Helmut Hanke
    • Self
    Barbara Harnisch
    • Party Girl
    Brit Krüger
    • Party Girl
    Andrea Schmidt
    • Party Girl
    Karin Schröder
    • Self
    Frank Schöbel
    Frank Schöbel
    • Self
    Maya Turovskaya
    • Self (film historian)
    Brigitte Ulbrich
    • Self
    Hans-Joachim Wallstein
    • Self
    Nikolai Bulganin
    Nikolai Bulganin
    • Self (watches military parade)
    • (archive footage)
    • (uncredited)
    Nikita Khrushchev
    Nikita Khrushchev
    • Self
    • (archive footage)
    • (uncredited)
    Marina Ladynina
    Marina Ladynina
    • Various roles
    • (archive footage)
    • (uncredited)
    Vladimir Lenin
    Vladimir Lenin
    • Self
    • (archive footage)
    • (uncredited)
    Anastas Mikoyan
    Anastas Mikoyan
    • Self (watches military parade)
    • (archive footage)
    • (uncredited)
    Vyacheslav Molotov
    Vyacheslav Molotov
    • Self
    • (archive footage)
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • Dana Ranga
    • Writers
      • Andrew Horn
      • Dana Ranga
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

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    Did you know

    Edit
    • Quotes

      Narrator: This is the odyssey of a filmmaker searching for music, fun and colors in the world of ambiguity and suspicion - the world behind the Iron Curtain.

    • Crazy credits
      The end credits dedicate the film "to Karl Marx, without whom none of this would have been necessary."
    • Connections
      Featured in The Movie Show: Episode dated 15 June 1997 (1997)

    User reviews7

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    9/10
    Fascinating view of Stalinist and Warsaw Pact musical comedy, showing that even in a repressive dictatorship, people still need to be entertained.
    "East Side Story" is a documentary of musical comedy in Stalinist Russia and later in the eastern European satellite comedies, with many clips from the films and commentary from the survivors. Although some of the Stalinist films look laughingly bad (The Bright Road (?) being a notable exception), the films from the sixties actually look pretty good. "My Wife Wants to Sing," "The White Mouse," and "Midnight Revue" look particularly entertaining. The producers had to contend with the censors, who had the power to decide what was politically correct, which led to some confusion, humorous in retrospect, since the people whom the censors were trying to appease were the very people who supported making the films to begin with! Since musical comedies were fairly rare behind the Iron Curtain--there were only something like forty made in forty years--they had a disproportionate effect upon their audiences, who made major hits of some of the films.

    I notice that the sound for the sixties films was much better. The directors often had to make do with antiquated equipment, and stringent power regulations--they had to film in seven minute takes or less--and dangerous officicrats.

    I also notice that "West Side Story" seems to have had a strong influence on "Hot Summer." The later films may not measure up to "Singin' in the Rain," but they certainly look like they beat the hell out of "Bye Bye Birdy"
    helpful•3
    1
    • sydhe
    • Apr 19, 1999

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • June 25, 1997 (United States)
    • Countries of origin
      • France
      • Germany
    • Languages
      • German
      • Russian
      • Polish
      • Romanian
      • Bulgarian
      • Czech
    • Also known as
      • Истсайдская история
    • Filming locations
      • DEFA Studio für Dokfilm, Babelsberg, Potsdam, Brandenburg, Germany(Studio)
    • Production companies
      • Anda Film
      • Canal+
      • DocStar
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

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    • Runtime
      1 hour 18 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White
      • Color

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