Ivan (1932)
★ ★
There's a rhythm to some of the editing and compositions with people lined up diagonal in the frame that immediately reminded me I know this director better than I thought. I liked that part of the film, but there's an awful lot of unstylized documentary footage of construction and the ending has as many speeches as Triumph of the Will.
Aerograd (1935)
★ ★
A metaphorical plot to showcase the tensions on Russia's East coast with the growing Japanese threat. Potentially interesting, but I think the limitations of sound hurt Dovzhenko because it's blandly filmed. Also hard to follow in places, probably because I don't know enough about the political climate of the time and the tensions within Russia between the government and religious leaders.