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United Kingdom released, PAL/Region 2.4 DVD: LANGUAGES: English ( Dolby Digital Stereo ), English ( Subtitles ), ANAMORPHIC WIDESCREEN (1.78:1), SPECIAL FEATURES: Anamorphic Widescreen, Interactive Menu, Scene Access, SYNOPSIS: 1989 was a year of revolution: it marked the collapse of communism in Eastern and Central Europe and and an end to an entire way of life for millions of people behind the Iron Curtain. Beginning in Hungary, the retreat from communism picked up speed over the summer when the Poles won an overwhelming victory in free elections over their pro-Soviet rulers. In the fall, East Germany and Czechoslovakia achieved freedom with surprisingly little violence. Only Romania, at the end of the year, witnessed a savage battle in the capital and the summary execution of the most notorious of Eastern Europe's dictators, Nicolae Ceausescu. ...The Lost World Of Communism
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
37 of 39 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
This short series doesn't try to be any sort of definitive history of Eastern Bloc Communism. Instead it offers a fascinating sneaky view of how life was really lived during the postwar decades by normal people behind the Iron Curtain.
Much of the footage is from personal archives, home movies, old photos, newsreels and old photos. It reveals how people actually coped, day to day, in repressive regiemes, sometimes under martial law, often being spied upon and with limited freedoms.
The episodes focus not on Russia itself but three satellite states: East Germany, Czechoslovakia and Romania. The personal footage is interspliced with official films, which show communist propaganda in all its glory -- young adults doing synchronised gymnastics in their thousands -- and the chilling reality of the show trial, where reformers are found guilty of treason before being shot.
The programmes also reveal that many of the ordinary folk felt more secure under the authoritarian governments of the past; they might have been repressed but at least they knew they would get hospital treatment, an education, and housing into their old age. It's chilling to compare this kind of wistful nostalgia with the horrific understanding that in Romania women were denied contraception and forced to have babies; inspected and humiliated every month to make sure they weren't hiding a pregnancy.
Some of this footage is impossibly silly, and makes these old regiemes look ridiculous to modern, Western eyes. But much of it is sinister and scary; the Secret Police who kept one civil rights leader under supervision didn't bother to hide: they had a shed in the field next to his house. A singer who showed support for the rebellious Czech leader during the uprising lost her career when the tanks rolled in again. The Ceausescus destroyed much of their capital city to build a palace to their own glory -- and then they were taken out and shot, when the revolution came.
Hearing from the ordinary people, and the ones who stood up to be counted and thus became more than ordinary people, reveals far more about the truth of life in Communist Europe than we normally perceive from a history book. This series mixes understanding and insight with outright entertainment, and so provides a more interesting perspective than it if were a plainly factual documentary. There are obviously other angles to all of the stories which are told, and this isn't a comprehensive history by any means.
But it is a fascinating insight into 20th century European history, and one which helps to make the current situation in Eastern Europe rather more understandable. Plus it's enjoyable to watch in its on right.
8/10
Much of the footage is from personal archives, home movies, old photos, newsreels and old photos. It reveals how people actually coped, day to day, in repressive regiemes, sometimes under martial law, often being spied upon and with limited freedoms.
The episodes focus not on Russia itself but three satellite states: East Germany, Czechoslovakia and Romania. The personal footage is interspliced with official films, which show communist propaganda in all its glory -- young adults doing synchronised gymnastics in their thousands -- and the chilling reality of the show trial, where reformers are found guilty of treason before being shot.
The programmes also reveal that many of the ordinary folk felt more secure under the authoritarian governments of the past; they might have been repressed but at least they knew they would get hospital treatment, an education, and housing into their old age. It's chilling to compare this kind of wistful nostalgia with the horrific understanding that in Romania women were denied contraception and forced to have babies; inspected and humiliated every month to make sure they weren't hiding a pregnancy.
Some of this footage is impossibly silly, and makes these old regiemes look ridiculous to modern, Western eyes. But much of it is sinister and scary; the Secret Police who kept one civil rights leader under supervision didn't bother to hide: they had a shed in the field next to his house. A singer who showed support for the rebellious Czech leader during the uprising lost her career when the tanks rolled in again. The Ceausescus destroyed much of their capital city to build a palace to their own glory -- and then they were taken out and shot, when the revolution came.
Hearing from the ordinary people, and the ones who stood up to be counted and thus became more than ordinary people, reveals far more about the truth of life in Communist Europe than we normally perceive from a history book. This series mixes understanding and insight with outright entertainment, and so provides a more interesting perspective than it if were a plainly factual documentary. There are obviously other angles to all of the stories which are told, and this isn't a comprehensive history by any means.
But it is a fascinating insight into 20th century European history, and one which helps to make the current situation in Eastern Europe rather more understandable. Plus it's enjoyable to watch in its on right.
8/10
19 of 20 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
I have taught International Law and International Relations all over the World. I have lived and visited every country of the Eastern Bloc. I still lecture in the USA and Russia. So I also have a vast experience of living and talking to people of this era. The series is incredible and eye opening and is based on truth, that today is hard to believe, unless you experienced it yourself...as I saw when the Wall came down.
The DVD is 3 hours long and has 3 documentaries looking separately at Germany, Czechoslovakia and Romania. Each programme examines the different experiences of people from all strata of the given society and what happened in each of the countries from the inception of communist rule. It is the real life stories, incredible film from the actual era, plus the historical context explained by the narrator with the brilliant editing, that makes this DVD so good. I actually use it in my American classes to try and show the current student what life was like behind the Iron Curtain.
It is a brilliant teaching aid and enthralling documentary that anyone with an interest in this era of history or subject matter will find fascinating.
Highly recommended.
The DVD is 3 hours long and has 3 documentaries looking separately at Germany, Czechoslovakia and Romania. Each programme examines the different experiences of people from all strata of the given society and what happened in each of the countries from the inception of communist rule. It is the real life stories, incredible film from the actual era, plus the historical context explained by the narrator with the brilliant editing, that makes this DVD so good. I actually use it in my American classes to try and show the current student what life was like behind the Iron Curtain.
It is a brilliant teaching aid and enthralling documentary that anyone with an interest in this era of history or subject matter will find fascinating.
Highly recommended.
40 of 43 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
If you're thinking of buying this excellent series, BEWARE! Approximately 25 minutes of material which was shown on television, is inexplicably missing from this DVD release, leaving each part about 8 minutes shorter than the original broadcast.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
The BBC's lost opportunity.
This series was far too short to do anything other than scratch the surface of some of the communist satellite states, and what it misses out and ignores left me feeling utterly... Read more
Published 3 months ago by SL-N/1973
Interesting and entertaining.
Amazing footage, brilliant narrative and beautifully convened. The series are not long at all nevertheless they are relevant, succint and interesting. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Castor
More please..
Excellent docu.about the 3 countries,DDR,Romania and Czechoslovakia..having visited most Iron curtain contries during the 60's-70's,this DVD brought a tear to my eye... Read more
Published 10 months ago by Makka-Pakka
A unique BBC series - pity there are only three episodes.
The use of personal footage from people who lived behind the Iron Curtain is very well done. It is just a pity the BBC only made three episodes, as there are surely many more Cold... Read more
Published 12 months ago by S. Carey
"Soft" communism seen from within
This DVD is extremely valuable because it shows communism in the DDR, Czecho-Slovakia and Romania through the eyes of people living under it. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Klinkhamer
A warning from history people would do well to heed
This excellent three-part series, originally shown on BBC2, provides a glimpse of life under communism in three Eastern European countries: East Germany, Czechoslovakia and... Read more
Published on 24 Sep 2009 by Lance Grundy
Balanced and Fair.
Unfortunately for those interested in the Cold War and the "Iron Curtain", many documentaries are hopelessly bias one way or the other. Read more
Published on 17 Sep 2009 by R. Harrison
Mad, Bad & Sad
This is a delightful BBC series (well, three one-hour documentaries) on Communist Germany, Czechoslovakia & Romania, 1945-89. Read more
Published on 3 Sep 2009 by M. Wheeler
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