The Spanish Earth
       
Director: Joris Ivens
Year:  1937
Rating: 7.5
This documentary made during the Spanish Civil War from the viewpoint of the Republic is rather remarkable. It was the second year of the war and the Republic had its back to the wall as General Franco was closing in on Madrid. The documentary has a feel of neo-realism before there was such a thing as it documents men at war, Madrid under bombardment and a nearby village trying to bring in water from the river  to irrigate their fields in order to feed the city. It was written by Ernest Hemingway and John Dos Passos who had both come to report on Spain. Both were very sympathetic to the cause of the Republic in its battle against the creeping fascism in Europe. Franco had Germany and Italy helping him out while the Soviet Union was on the side of the Republic. The great democracies stood by and did nothing though many individuals did something. Dos Passos was soon to fall out with Hemingway because he felt Hemingway was being swayed by the Communists. Hemingway narrates the documentary.

 

In his narration Hemingway asks "Why do they stay? They stay because this is their city. These are their homes. Here is their work. This is their fight. The fight to be allowed to live as human beings." The film had a purpose other than simply recording events for posterity or for the news. It was meant as a propaganda piece and it is fairly effective with the film ending with the Republic having a small victory in taking a bridge and the village successfully irrigating their fields. The war would go on for two more years and likely many of the soldiers we witness on the front line were killed.

 



The film was the brainchild of the Comintern and the director Joris Ivens was a Dutch Communist. They got a group in Hollywood to promote it and finance it - Hemingway, Dos Passos, Lillian Hellman and Archibald MacLeish. The film does not directly promote Communism but of the "common man" speakers featured, they were all dedicated Communists though not identified as such. After the film was finished it played at the White House and was used to fund raise for the Republic in the homes of the Hollywood stars sympathetic to the fight against fascism. I am reading Red Star Over Hollywood which goes into detail about the leftists in Hollywood during the 1930s and the Communist agents who influenced them. It is an interesting read. This is up on YouTube, 52 minutes. Initially, Orson Welles narrated the film but Hemingway later re-did it but apparently both narrations exist. The one I saw was Hemingway's.