Roman Karmen facts for kids
Roman Lazarevich Karmen (born Efraim Leyzorovich Korenman) was a famous Soviet filmmaker. He was a war cinematographer, a documentary maker, and a journalist. He also wrote screenplays and taught film. Karmen was known for showing important events around the world. He lived from 1906 to 1978.
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About Roman Karmen
Roman Karmen was born in Odessa, a city in Ukraine. His family was Jewish. His father, Lazar Karmen, was a writer. His mother, Dina Leypuner, was a translator.
Karmen's Filming Adventures
Karmen was a communist and traveled a lot. He filmed many big events in history. He showed the Spanish Civil War and battles in World War II. These included fights in Moscow and Leningrad. He also filmed the First Indochina War.
Karmen documented the rise of communism in different parts of the world. He filmed events in Southeast Asia in the 1950s. He also filmed in South America during the 1960s. He even got to film famous leaders. These included China's Mao Zedong and Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh. He also filmed Cuba's Fidel Castro and Chile's president Salvador Allende.
Karmen's Filmmaking Style
Karmen's way of making documentaries was very important. It also caused some discussion. He was very skilled at filming. He could capture the strong feelings of war. He often used similar shots and camera angles in his films. This became his special style.
However, Karmen sometimes changed what really happened. He would re-enact important battles. For example, he re-filmed the end of the siege of Leningrad in his movie Ленинград в борьбе (1942). He also re-created the Viet Minh victory at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu for his film Вьетнам (1955). Another re-enactment was the 1956 landing in Cuba by fighters led by Fidel Castro. He made it look like a first-person documentary.
In 2001, two French filmmakers made a movie about him. It was called Roman Karmen: A Cineast In The Revolution's Service. The next year, one of them wrote a book about him. It was titled Roman Karmen, A Red Legend.
Roman Karmen's Films
Here are some of the films Roman Karmen directed:
- 1939: Испания (Spain), about the Spanish Civil War.
- 1942: Ленинград в борьбе (Leningrad in the fight), about the siege of Leningrad.
- 1942: Разгром немецких войск под Москвой (Crushing defeat of German troops in the environs of Moscow), about the Battle of Moscow.
- 1945: Берлин (Fall of Berlin – 1945), about the Battle of Berlin.
- 1946: Суд народов (Judgment of the peoples), about the Nuremberg trials. An English version was also made.
- 1953: Повесть о нефтяниках Каспия (Narrative about the oil-industry workers of the Caspian region).
- 1955: Вьетнам (Vietnam), about the Battle of Dien Bien Phu.
- 1956: Утро Индии (Indian Morning).
- 1958: Широка страна моя... (Wide is my country…), the first Soviet movie made with a special wide screen.
- 1959: Покорители моря (Conquerors of the sea).
- 1961: Пылающий остров (Blazing island), about the Bay of Pigs Invasion.
- 1965: Великая отечественная (Great Patriotic War), celebrating 20 years since the end of the German-Soviet War.
- 1967: Гренада, Гренада, Гренада моя… (Grenada, Grenada, my Grenada…), co-directed with Konstantin Simonov, about the Spanish Civil War.
- 1969: Товарищ Берлин (Berlin Kamarad).
- 1972: Пылающий континент (Blazing continent).
- 1976: Сердце Корвалана (Corvalán's heart), about a jailed leader of the Communist Party of Chile, Luis Corvalán.
See also
- The Unknown War (TV series)
- Konstantin Simonov
- Leni Riefenstahl
- Frank Capra
Images for kids
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De Castries' bunker in Вьетнам, 1955
