Quartile rating: 6/10 · 1 rating
Romm pulls out all the stops in its selection of documentary material to draw the viewer not only into absolute horror about fascism and nazism in the 1920s–1940s Europe, but also to a firm conviction that nothing of the sort should be allowed to happen again anywhere in the world.
Mikhail Romm's 'Ordinary Fascism' (Triumph Over Violence) is a landmark of Soviet documentary filmmaking. Its editorial construction and authorial voice — Romm himself narrating with wry, probing commentary over archival footage — give it a singular identity rarely matched in the genre. The montage approach to dissecting fascist propaganda and everyday complicity is genuinely innovative for its era, earning high Novelty. Cinematography is credited to the archival selection and Romm's masterful repurposing of enemy footage, which is above average in craft. The Plot/structure is coherent and rhetorically powerful, though essayistic rather than narratively driven. Acting is not applicable in a traditional sense; participants are historical figures captured in archival footage, so it scores low by default. The ending leaves a sobering moral charge but stops short of being truly memorable as a cinematic conclusion.