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OPEN CLASSIC CINEMA · 406

The General Line

1929121 minSoviet Union

Video edition: YouTube
Original language: No spoken dialogue. Intertitles: Russian.
This copy runs: 120:52
Subtitles: English

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Synopsis

A struggling peasant woman sees little hope in working a tiny farm alone. She joins other villagers to organize a cooperative, confronting distrust, scarcity and entrenched rural hierarchies. Machinery and shared resources become the centre of a visually exuberant argument about agricultural change in the early Soviet countryside.

Cast

Martha Lapkina

M. Ivanin

Konstantin Vasilyev

Vasili Buzenkov

DirectorsGrigori Aleksandrov Sergei Eisenstein

Historical context

Sergei Eisenstein interrupted this project to make October, then returned to a changed political climate. Released as Old and New, the film promotes agricultural collectivization through montage and the story of a rural heroine. Lead performer Marfa Lapkina was a farm worker without previous screen experience.

Sources and availability

General references identify the work and its copy. A reference beside an editorial section is linked to the claims checked in that section.

Wikipedia — film reference Internet Archive — catalogue record Duke Center for the Study of the Public Domain — US term reference

Work catalogued as public domain in the United States.

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Availability checked on September 10, 2026.

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