Interpretation of "The Commissar"

by Jeff Jones

I loved this film the moment I first saw it in part because of its rich symbolism. In the first scene for this assignment, for instance, I see her difficult birth as a metaphor for the birth of the Soviet Union itself. It was accomplished with great pain and difficulty, it nearly killed her (that is, the Soviet Union itself very nearly died in the throes of "childbirth"), as she literally screamed at one point "it'll kill me!" We see the cost and sacrifice of the Red Army's victory in the Civil War in the large number of saddled but rider-less horses racing ahead, a metaphor for the fallen soldiers that once rode them. This symbolism is underscored by the image of the Christian/Eastern Orthodox graves of the fallen amid the dust in the background as the horses rush to water.

The difficulty of their cause, moreover, is apparent in her first dream scene during labor and her effort to push—just as Vavilova herself is being told to push during childbirth—a cannon through the Central Asian desert. One of the soldiers is violently whipping the horses pulling the canon forward, a metaphor for the Soviet leadership's effort to "whip" the masses into shape—so to speak—albeit with great difficulty and with very little progress. Also, the troops pushing the canon in the hot, arid desert understandably abandon the effort when they see water, which they rush headlong toward. In other words, the stuff of life, water, food, takes precedence over the struggle for victory and ideas.

The wounded soldier apparently blinded (temporarily?) among them is also an interesting figure in this scene. Twice he is seen wandering alone in the desert yelling "pomogete" (помогите) or "help!" Another time significantly we see him prominently right next to Commissar Vavilova herself among those pushing the canon forward. I interpret that figure as representing the blindness of ideology: it does not really matter what "cause" one is fighting for, in other words, when life itself is threatened by the hot desert sun beating down, excruciating thirst, and the onerous task of pushing the cannon forward (to what end seems at least immediately unclear and really kind of pointless).

Last but not least in this scene is the significance and symbolism of the cannon itself. Why, after all, are they expending such tremendous energy to push it forward through the desert? Cold, hard, iron (obviously very heavy), it symbolizes the Soviet state itself, which could not have come into existence (against great odds) without such necessary military hardware. In the very next dream sequence the cannon is again front and center, although this time just for Vavilova and her lover, the father of her child, as they kiss and apparently make love next to it after she caresses the phallic-shaped gun of the cannon. We see them kissing but not having sex; instead we see Red Army troops wielding scythes or sickles, one of the symbols of the USSR along with the hammer, in the desert sand, a metaphor that the couple will soon reap what they have sown (i.e. have a baby!) We of course see the child's father being killed in battle, leading the charge, on a bridge, as he falls from his horse and his glasses shatter next to him. By the end of the birth scene Vavilova (i.e. the USSR) has overcome all challenges and difficulties and given birth to a son, who represents the (Soviet) future—the young Soviet state in its infancy.

The second clip for this assignment starts with Red Army soldiers from her former unit recognizing and calling out to Vavilova, teasing her as she walks by with her newborn son, causing her to run away across a bridge that metaphorically both divides and connects her two selves: her former self as a Red Army Commissar and her current self as a doting mother of a newborn son, the symbolic embodiment of the Russian "Motherland" (Rodina/Родина). In her grief she sees a foal in the water, which perhaps reminds her of her own newborn child and seems to calm her down. Afterward when the Red Army officers come to visit her she is washing the floors as they arrive, a typical "domestic" chore associated mostly as "women's work" (indeed, the Jewish hostess tells her not to worry about it as she will finish up the chore). They bring news that the Reds are retreating temporarily and that the Whites are coming to take the town for a while, advising her that she should retreat just in case. During the visit she notices that one of the officers has a gold watch and scolds him. The implication is that he received it either as a bribe or through theft; in any case a true believer Soviet officer (like Vavilova used to be) should not have a gold watch, the ultimate symbol of bourgeois decadence.

Interestingly, for provisions the officers leave behind for Vavilova and her host family flour, sugar, and bacon, which is a peculiar choice given that the host family is Jewish and thus would presumably not eat pork (although this is not entirely clear). Perhaps this is a very veiled hint at anti-Semitism among the Reds themselves, as they would not think of such a detail? Clearly, in any case, anti-Semitism is rampant and a major cause of concern for Vavilova and he host family. At first she tells them that she should leave because "neighbors will rat them out," that is inform the Whites that they are sheltering a former Red Army Commissar. In that case probably both she and they would be executed, and they would likely be executed in the case of a White takeover of the town anyway because of the virulent anti-Semitism of many White Army soldiers. In a scene not included in the assignment the Jewish host tells Vavilova that an officer of the White Army had brutally beheaded his brother. Also, we can sense the history of anti-Semitism in the Ukraine by his reference to "a lifetime of fear"—he means fear of being killed in a pogrom because of being Jewish—and the haunting words (in Yiddish) of the grandmother at the end of this clip.