The End of St. Petersburg

The End of St. Petersburg (Russian: Конец Санкт-Петербурга, romanized: Konets Sankt-Peterburga) is a 1927 silent film directed by Vsevolod Pudovkin and produced by Mezhrabpom.[1][2] Commissioned to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the October Revolution, The End of St Petersburg was to be one of Pudovkin's most famous films and secured his place as one of the foremost Soviet montage film directors.

The End of St. Petersburg
Directed by	Vsevolod Pudovkin Mikhail Doller
Written by	Nathan Zarkhi
Starring	Aleksandr Chistiakov Vera Baranovskaia Ivan Chuvelev V. Obolenskii
Cinematography	Anatoli Golovnya
Distributed by	Mezhrabpom
Release date	14 December 1927 (1927-12-14)
Running time	87 min. (Kino DVD edition)
Country	Soviet Union
Language	Silent film Russian intertitles

The film forms part of Pudovkin's 'revolutionary trilogy', alongside Mother (1926) and Storm Over Asia (aka The Heir to Genghis Khan) (1928).

The End of St. Petersburg is a political film, explaining why and how the Bolsheviks came to power in 1917. The film covers the period from about 1913 to 1917. The film does not show the political figures of the time; the emphasis is on the struggle of ordinary people for their rights and for peace against the power of capital and the autocracy.

The film inspired the composer Vernon Duke to write his eponymous oratorio (completed in 1937).

A simple peasant boy arrives in St. Petersburg to obtain employment. Fate leads him to a factory where there are severe, almost slave-like working conditions. He unwittingly helps in the arrest of an old village friend who is now a labor leader. He attempts to fix his wrongdoing but ends up in a fight and then arrested. His punishment is being sent to fight in World War I. After three years, he returns ready for revolution.