Time, Forward! (1965)

Time, Forward! is a rare historical drama that turns the sheer act of building into cinema with the pulse of a thriller—an infectious rush of motion, noise, and purpose that feels almost musical. Set over a single day at the Magnitogorsk steelworks, it captures the feverish momentum of socialist competition with virtuosic camerawork that makes cranes, sparks, and human bodies move like choreography, all driven by an evocative score that practically shoves the screen forward. What’s most surprising is how sincerely it commits to its optimism, finding genuine exhilaration in collective effort rather than winking at it, and that sincerity can be oddly inspiring even if you don’t share the ideology. It won’t be for everyone—if you need psychological intimacy or a critical distance from propaganda, you may bristle—but if you want dazzling, high-energy filmmaking that makes history feel alive, it’s an exhilarating watch.

Time, Forward! is aiming for a breathless, day-in-the-life portrait of Soviet industrial heroism, turning one construction shift into a nationwide race against the clock. The problem is it often plays less like drama and more like a loud, overextended rally: lots of shouting, frantic movement, and stretches that feel like filler in service of the message rather than the characters. The plot can come across disjointed, with momentum replacing clarity, so if you want a coherent story with emotional nuance, this may test your patience. Still, if you’re interested in Soviet-era cinema, industrial spectacle, or propaganda as a historical artifact, it has energy and period flavor that might make the slog worthwhile.