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Marionettes
Movie

Marionettes

1934 • Unknown

Woke Score
6
out of 10

Plot

Fearing the Soviet Union, rich businessmen who want more influence in Europe decide to give the nation of Boufferia a new king, an easy to handle drunkard.

Overall Series Review

Marionettes is a 1934 Soviet satirical propaganda film with a clear ideological agenda that targets the institutions of Western-coded European societies. The plot centers on a fictional monarchy, Boufferia, whose wealthy capitalist and aristocratic elites conspire to install a puppet king, reflecting the film's title—the ruling class are mere puppets of greater financial and political powers. The entire narrative is structured around the vilification of this Western-style system: the parliament is squabbling, the monarchy is inept, and the Archbishop is part of the 'reactionary coalition' alongside fascists and munitions manufacturers. The film explicitly holds up the Soviet Union as the inspirational example to the common people, directly attacking Western civilization's core political and economic structures. The critique is primarily one of class and political corruption, leading to extremely high scores for Oikophobia and Anti-Theism, as they are central to the film's Soviet propaganda mission. The lack of modern gender or sexual themes keeps those scores low, but the intense focus on group vilification and civilizational self-hatred from a Soviet perspective drives the overall score.

Categorical Breakdown

Identity Politics8/10

The narrative operates entirely on a class-based group hierarchy, where the 'cabal of wealthy capitalists' and aristocrats are the villains, while the common people are an oppressed group 'radicalized by the example of the USSR.' This is a vilification of the Western-coded, traditional, wealthy male power structure, which is depicted as incompetent, corrupt, and conspiratorial.

Oikophobia10/10

The film is an explicit piece of Soviet antifascist and anti-capitalist propaganda that frames the political, financial, and religious institutions of a fictional European (Western-coded) monarchy as fundamentally corrupt, chaotic, and warmongering. The narrative suggests that all of these core institutions are fundamentally flawed, while the Soviet Union is presented as the inspiring, superior external model.

Feminism3/10

The main female character, Mi, is 'The Singing Star' and the 'Prince's Fiancée,' a glamorous figure who is an appendage of the dissolute and corrupt aristocracy. Her role is to be part of the elite being satirized, not a 'Girl Boss' or an independent, modern female protagonist. The focus of the satire is political and class-based, not gender-based.

LGBTQ+1/10

The film’s focus is entirely on anti-capitalist and antifascist political satire. There is no evidence of themes related to alternative sexualities, gender ideology, or the deconstruction of the nuclear family.

Anti-Theism9/10

The Archbishop (Re) is explicitly named as a member of the 'reactionary coalition' and a co-conspirator alongside the fascists and the cabal of wealthy capitalists who are attempting to start a war with the USSR. This portrays the leader of a traditional religious institution as a corrupt, anti-people, and integral part of the political evil being satirized.