Dawn Film Difficulty Ranking: 4
Dawn is timeless. What it lacks in depth and clarity it makes up for in style. You’ll probably lose track of what’s happening more than once because of the snappy cuts and quick camera movements. However, you won’t care because it’s mesmerising. The beautiful black and white cinematography and the epic myth of Pavlik Morozov will immerse you in the chaos of Soviet Latvia.
From: Latvia, Europe
Watch: Trailer, Amazon Prime, Amazon Rent
Next: Battleship Potemkin, The Exterminating Angel, Soy Cuba
Why Watch Dawn?
- For the beautiful black and white cinematography
- Experience the chaos of Soviet collectivism
- Witness an epic battle between father and son
- Because its ambiguity makes it timeless
The Breakdown
Dawn starts with a close up of a snail crawling on a log by some chickens. It’s an image of untamed nature to show the simple life Latvians had before the Soviets came in with their collective farms. It also sets up one of the following scenes nicely, where we meet Pavlik’s drunken dad, who has just been denounced by his son for sabotaging the collective farm. He lives in a house overrun with chickens, goats, and other animals whilst his tables are all covered in bottles. It’s this chaos and mess which immediately characterises him as the enemy of progress (the collective farms) because he still chooses to live a simple life and spite the promising future that the Soviet Union brings.
However, Dawn doesn’t give a completely one sided account of Pavlik and his father. It questions the foundations of the myth of Pavlik Morozov, a young boy who became a martyr in the Soviet Union after he denounced his father to the authorities for sabotaging the collective farm he was assigned to.
Firstly, it doesn’t show an organised and efficient Soviet Union, but a Soviet Union ruled by chaos. Dawn depicts the destruction of a church by an angry mob, as well as Soviet officials that are unable to control the anyone. The chaos is inherent in the style of the film, which alternates between close up shots and widescreen shots as the camera moves all over the place. It never stays focused on one thing for long.
Secondly the dialogue never establishes anything. There’s loads of clipped sentences and one liners, with some characters even breaking the fourth wall by talking directly to the camera. From the style and the events which take place, Dawn makes collectivism look like a complete mess.
Lastly, young Pavlik is never objectively depicted as good or bad for denouncing his father. It’s hard to sympathise with him or hate him because he never says anything to reveal his character. In this sense, the Pavlik on film is just like the myth of Pavlik Morozov. Because no one knows what he said, no one knows if he was real or a fabrication of the Soviet propaganda machine. As a result, we cannot judge whether he was good or evil.
What to Watch Next
If you love the chaos of Dawn, you should check out Eisenstein’s Battleship Potemkin. Eisenstein is famous for pretty much inventing the chaotic sweeping shot, so you’ll feel right at home after seeing Dawn. You could also feed yourself on more stylistic Soviet cinema by heading to Cuba and checking out Soy Cuba or Lucia.
For a dark satire aimed at the upper classes, check out The Exterminating Angel from Luis Buñuel.
Or if you just like modern black and white films, you should check out Embrace of the Serpent, Ida, or Roma. All three are beautifully shot, and are three of the best films of the 21st century.
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