Built from 1928 newsreels—the year 60 nations vowed to outlaw war—Storck’s razor-edged montage mocks the era’s self-congratulation by cross-cutting speeches and parades with portents of renewed violence: nationalism, colonial repression, police brutality. Slow-motion collapsing chimneys and the exhumation of an “unknown soldier” give the satire its sting.
Cast: Benito Mussolini · Philippe Pétain · Czar Nicholas II of Russia
Documentary
Original Title
Histoire du soldat inconnu
Original Language
French
Production Country
Belgium
Release Date
01/01/1932
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Story of the Unknown Soldier
1932·11 min
Built from 1928 newsreels—the year 60 nations vowed to outlaw war—Storck’s razor-edged montage mocks the era’s self-congratulation by cross-cutting speeches and parades with portents of renewed violence: nationalism, colonial repression, police brutality. Slow-motion collapsing chimneys and the exhumation of an “unknown soldier” give the satire its sting.
Cast: Benito Mussolini · Philippe Pétain · Czar Nicholas II of Russia