Educational Media Reviews Online

One of the most famous and emotionally charged songs of the last two centuries has been "The Internationale." Written in 1871 at the fall of the Paris Commune by Eugene Pottier, it was set to music a few years later by the French factory worker Pierre Degeyter. Since that time, the song has been a rallying cry for all exploited and oppressed people of the world to rise up and overthrow their masters. As the anthem of the 1917 Russian revolution, the song began to become the antithesis of its lyrics by the time of the Stalin repression in the 1930's through 1950's. Despite its socialist and communist overtones, the song continues to be a call to freedom and equality around the world.

Narrated at times by Pete Seeger, well-known folk guitarist and activist, this film documents the history of the song from its beginnings up to recent times, including a new version written by Billy Bragg with the encouragement of Seeger in 1989. This "updated" version of the song adds a few new verses, but does not eliminate any of the lyrics or music of the original version. This film won the Official Selection award of the 2000 Margaret Mead International Film and Video Festival. This film is highly recommended for all age groups and classroom situations, as an example of the power that one song can engender throughout history and among different peoples and situations.