East Side Story 1998

A comical documentary about a part of history unknown in the West--the socialist movie musicals made behind the Iron Curtain during the height of the Communist rule. Eastern Bloc countries were not known for their joie de vivre, but in their ongoing effort to save their audience, the state-sponsored film studios made a few films that tried to interpret Western-style escapism in socialist terms. The films had everything that Western musical had - elaborate sets, unbelievable plots, extravagant musical numbers - but in place of fancy gowns and the dream of a rich life, they substituted overalls, factory settings, and earthy working-class values. These Communist musicals were the unholy offspring of socialist propaganda and capitalistic depravity, doomed to a truncated existence and future ridicule.