The Vyborg Side

The Vyborg Side (Russian: Выборгская сторона, romanized: Vyborgskaya storona) is a 1939 Soviet drama film directed by Grigori Kozintsev and Leonid Trauberg, the final part of trilogy about the life of a young factory worker, Maxim.[1][2] The film was also released in the United States under the title New Horizons.

This article is about the film. For the area in Saint Petersburg, see Vyborg Side.
The Vyborg Side
Film poster
Directed byGrigori Kozintsev
Leonid Trauberg
Written byGrigori Kozintsev
Leonid Trauberg
Lev Slavin
StarringBoris Chirkov
CinematographyAndrei Moskvin
Georgi Filatov
Production
company
Release date
  • 2 February 1939 (1939-02-02)
Running time
3277 meters (121 minutes)
CountrySoviet Union
LanguageRussian

Background

The Vyborg Side is a traditional industrial area in Saint Petersburg, Russia, on the right bank of the River Neva delta. It is named because of its situation at the start of the road to Vyborg, a formerly important city taken from Swedish empire by Russian army under Peter I in early 18 century during the Great Northern War and securing the existence of Russia's new capital Saint Petersburg. The Vyborg Side was filled with industrial enterprises of different complexity, producing sugar, textiles, timber and later, since the 19th century, many kinds of heavy industry products. There were factories e.g. by Ericsson and the Nobel family. Working and living conditions for workmen were varied, but generally considered harsh, and illegal Socialist propaganda of various political factions successfully spread among workers in the last decades of 19th century and early decades of the 20th century. There were strikes, and World War I caused both battle losses and famine in the city. Not surprisingly factory workers supported in 1917 the February revolution that overthrew monarchy and the October Revolution that promised to end private ownership of factories and actually of workers' lives. People's militia was formed on the Vyborg Side to counteract any attempts of counter revolution and maintain public order. These detachments were called Red Guards. Vladimir Lenin before the October Revolution returned from hiding in semi-autonomous Finland to a safe house on the Vyborg Side, from whence on the eve of the revolution he was conducted to the revolutionary headquarters in Smolny by a Finnish bodyguard of his to head the developments.

Plot

Following the Russian Revolution, Maksim is appointed state commissar in charge of the national bank. With great efforts, he learns the complexies of the banking trade and begins to fight off sabotaging underlings. Dymba, now a violent enemy of the Republic, tries to rob a wine store but is arrested with Maksim's help. Maksim also exposes a conspiracy of a group of tsarist officers who prepare an assassination attempt against Lenin. He then joins the Red Army in its fight against the German occupation.

Cast

References
  1. Peter Rollberg (2009). Historical Dictionary of Russian and Soviet Cinema. US: Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 427–428. ISBN 978-0-8108-6072-8.
  2. Jay Leyda (1960). Kino: A History of the Russian and Soviet Film. George Allen & Unwin. p. 320.
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