Peasant Women of Ryazan (Babi Rianzanskic)
Set in the years 1916 to 1918, ‘Peasant Women of Ryazan’ portrays life in a close-knit rural community in revolutionary Russia concentrating on the oppression of women in that community. The film revolves around two women – one who accepts an arranged marriage and the other who rejects the old traditions and rebels against her family. The lives and struggles of the women are presented in great detail – spinning, weaving, harvesting the corn.
‘Peasant Women of Ryazan’ is one of the greatest and most beautiful films that has ever been made. It combines construction, beauty and dramatic power together with beautiful photography. But the negative was destroyed in the fire at the Afifa works last autumn and it is said unless a copy was preserved in Russia it is unlikely the picture can ever be shown again.
– Bryher, The Problems of Soviet Russia, 1929
Description Source: Cinenova Catalogue (1994). Edited by Kate Norrish. Editorial committee: Elaine Burrows, Liane Harris, Helen de Witt
