Original subtitles

Production Mezhrabpom Film

Screenplay and Direction: D. Vertov Assistant: E. Svilova

Photography: Surenskii, Magidson, Monastirstkii

Sound: Shtro

Composer: Shaporin

Orchestra: Blok

Three Songs of LENIN

In every corner of the planet Earth,

in the countries of Europe and America,

in hot Africa and beyond the Polar circle,

they sing songs of Lenin,

the friend and deliverer of every slave.

No one knows the nameless authors of the songs,

but the songs themselves pass from mouth to mouth,

from tent to tent, from hut to hut, from mountain camp to village on the plain.

Our film has been made out of three such songs from the Soviet East.

One song is of woman,

throwing off her veil, of electricity,

brightening the mountain village,

of water, flowing through the desert,

of the illiterate, reading and writing,

of that which is ILYICH-LENIN

One song is of the October Revolution, of that which is ILYICH-LENIN

One song is of the war for a new and happy life

of that which is

Ilyich

LENIN

The room in Gorki where Lenin died, its windows face the park.

Here is the bench we know from the photograph...

SONG ONE "My face in a dark prison lay"

My face in a dark prison lay

And blind my life remained

No learning mine nor light of day, a slave although unchained

Till through my darkness shone a ray and Lenin's truth I gained

We never looked upon his face

We never heard his voice

Yet closer than a father he much closer to us was

No father for his children did what LENIN did for us

MY State farm

MY State farm

MY country

MY land

MY land

- Do you see the mark? - I do.

- And the bull's eye? - Clearly.

- Hold your breath. - OK.

- When you feel you're ready, shoot. - OK.

- The target is easy. - I see.

- Get ready to shoot. - OK.

Pull the trigger and discharge the cartridge.

From darkness thick he made a light from deserts gardens green

And out of death the life he brought through him the poor have seen

MY university

MY factory

MY collective farm

MY collective farm

MY collective farm

A million sand grains make a mound

A million corn a sack

A million of the weakest straws

Break the strong camel's back

MY family

MY hands

STEEL hands

MY party

With all he had he took our part

He gave his brain, his blood, his heart

SONG TWO "We Loved Him..."

We loved him as we loved our steppes; no, more than that!

If he would but return, we would give away our tents and steppes

If he would but return, we would give away our lives

Never will we forget him

Our grandchildren's grandchildren shall remember

He founded our party of steel

He built it from year to year

Taught it and tempered it

In the stubborn and ceaseless struggle it was tempered

He was tireless in work

His eyes were full of irony and sparkling with wisdom

Now he smiles kindly

His burning speech is inspiring the masses

THE FOUNDER OF THE COMMUNIST INTERNATIONAL

THE LEADER OF WORLD COMMUNISM

THE LOVE AND PRIDE OF THE INTERNATIONAL WORKING CLASS

THE BANNER OF THE DOWNTRODDEN EAST

THE HEAD OF THE WORKERS' DICTATORSHIP IN RUSSIA

He was simple and straight in his manner

The Russians called him just ILYICH

He lived in a hut; in a hut beyond the marshes

In this place in July and August 1917

in a hut made of twigs the leader of the World October

lay hidden from his pursuers and wrote his book.

We have built a monument of granite

The Workers...

In October he led them into battle

through breakdown

yet they come

through cold

YET THEY COME

through hunger

YET THEY COME

through fire

YET THEY COME

THEY ARE LED BY

ILYICH LENIN

STAND TOGETHER

BRAVELY FORWARD AGAINST THE FOE

TO US VICTORY IS ASSURED

THE POWER OF THE LANDLORDS AND CAPITALISTS IS BROKEN IN RUSSIA

AND WILL BE CONQUERED THROUGHOUT ALL THE WORLD

LENIN

Ah, now he moves not

LENIN

Ah, he is silent...

THE MASSES

MOVE

THE MASSES

ARE SILENT

YOUR HERITAGE AND YOUR WORK WE SHALL COMPLETE

HOW OFTEN HERE ON THIS RED SQUARE

We saw him - the LIVING Lenin!

SONG THREE "In the big stone city"

In Moscow

In the big stone city

In a square there stands a tent

And in it lies LENIN

And if you should ever be in sorrow

Then go you to this tent and look on LENIN

And your grief will pass away from you, like water

And your grief will pass away from you, like water

And your sorrows float away, like leaves upon the brook

The day is bright

And I'm so happy

Dancing in the street

For my mother and father

We're happy

Why shouldn't we dance?

The spring is in full blossom

Our life is become sturdy and joyful

True is our Lenin path

And on every sector of the front,

step by step,

we are conquering for Socialism our huge country.

I was working on the dam across the River Dnieper,

handling cement to supply the crane in bay 34.

We poured 95 baskets of the stuff into the body of the dam.

When we pulled out one of the baskets and levelled the concrete,

I noticed that a piece of pitched paper roofing had fallen

on the freshly laid surface.

I picked it up and put it back in its proper place.

But suddenly I lost my balance.

At first, I grabbed the stairway.

But I wasn't able to hold onto it.

Everybody got very frightened.

Another girl started screaming and our foreman pulled me out.

I was completely covered in liquid concrete and soaked to the skin.

To the skin.

My face was covered with concrete and my hands were stained by liquid tar.

They pulled me out and took me upstairs

to the drying room,

where there was a small heater.

I went back to my post

and I worked until the end of my shift.

THE DNIEPERSTROY BUILDING FACILITY

I was awarded the Order of Lenin

for fulfilling production quotas.

NO FORTRESS IS INSURMOUNTABLE FOR THE BOLSHEVIKS

This magnificent structure is our greatest memorial

to the builder of Communism and the first made

to bring electrification to the Soviet Union, Comrade Lenin.

If LENIN could see our country now

I am 63 years old.

This year I have harvested 5,500 kgs of wheat.

When I brought it to the state evaluator,

there was a special meeting and festivities.

If all collective farm workers worked as hard as I did...

We're working relentlessly,

notwithstanding the fact that we have no flour.

I feel that our leaders are speaking real words of wisdom.

These words must be written down and remembered.

They must be passed on to everyone when you return home.

We want to do everything the way our leaders tell us.

You want to lead a life on the collective farm in the right way.

You may think of how it was in the past, but the Bolsheviks reject any retreat.

You must not think of past difficulties but always look to the future,

how to proceed forwards.

It is not easy, you have to live through it and digest it,

to understand how to approach it.

And only after you understand it all, may you act.

If LENIN could see our country now!

OUR Oil

OUR coal

OUR metal

If LENIN could see our country now!

Our Magnitostroy

If LENIN could see our country now!

If LENIN could but see our country now!

If LENIN could see our country now!

STAND FIRM

STAND TOGETHER

ONWARDS BRAVELY AGAINST THE FOE

TO US VICTORY IS ASSURED

THE POWER OF THE LANDLORDS AND THE CAPITALISTS

IS BROKEN IN RUSSIA

AND WILL BE CONQUERED THROUGHOUT THE WORLD

OCTOBER

CENTURIES WILL MARCH ACROSS THE FACE OF THE EARTH

WITH IRON HEELS

AND PEOPLE WILL FORGET THE NAMES OF THE COUNTRIES

WHERE THEIR ANCESTORS USED TO LIVE

BUT THEY WILL NEVER FORGET THE NAME OF LENIN

THEY WILL REMEMBER HIS NAME FOREVER

THE END