Enthusiasm (1931) review

In the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine - which, as of this writing (it's October 2022), is currently involved in a criminal invasion by Russian forces - citizens are shown praying outside a church and kissing the feet of a statue of Christ ... but quickly decide to reject religion (they take down the steeples) and worship their new "god" Socialism; when they learn that they're almost completely out of coal, the workers band together and work hard to increase their supply.  As with all of Vertov's films (which he worked on with his wife Yelizaveta Svilova), the photography and editing are commendable, even if the message is anything but: the individualist in me absolutely loathes the entirety of this, which argues that one needs to give up his/her autonomy (and personal faith) in order to toil like a drone for the Motherland.  Just a year or so after the release of this "documentary," millions of Ukrainians would starve to death because of their Soviet overlords: there wasn't anything to be enthusiastic about in those days.