Amman, April 27 — The Cinema Committee at Abdul Hameed Shoman Foundation will screen the classic American film The North Star, directed by Lewis Milestone, tomorrow Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at the foundation’s headquarters in Jabal Amman.
Produced in 1943, the film is set in a rural area of Ukraine, then part of the former Soviet Union, during World War II. It was produced by renowned American producer Samuel Goldwyn at the request of U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt as a tribute from the United States to the Soviet Union for its role in defeating Nazism. Ironically, the film was not shown in the United States after it was completed.
The story follows a peaceful Ukrainian village whose residents live cooperatively, bound by solidarity and mutual care as they work their farmland. As the school term comes to an end, a group of villagers decides to walk to Kyiv for a short holiday. Among them is an air force officer on leave, and along the way they meet a kind old man pulling a cart. Their journey is abruptly interrupted by a German air raid, forcing the villagers to confront the advancing Nazi occupation with the simplest forms of resistance. Elderly men, youth, women, and children all unite in fierce clashes to defend their village.
The film is marked by its striking audiovisual imagery, capturing the beauty of its settings and carefully composed spaces. It feels like a fresh formal experiment, expressing the vision of a cinematic auteur through the complex relationships among several characters during World War II. In this way, it serves as a balanced dramatic reflection of the villagers’ resistance to Nazi occupation, a resistance born of modest means and limited resources.
What most distinguishes the film—beyond its unmistakable cinematic style and its refined, undeniable creative sensibility—is the director’s mastery of realistic depiction. Many scenes carry an almost documentary quality, seamlessly blended with narrative drama. Through this approach, the film offers deeply expressive and visually compelling tableaux that vividly capture the character of the village and its spaces—its roads, homes, and farmland—alongside striking musical and dance sequences that are powerfully effective and harmonize beautifully with the film’s other artistic elements. The dialogue is shaped into calm, measured exchanges that engage urgent themes without slipping into loud didacticism, subtly guiding the villagers toward what must be done to confront the forces of evil and violence advancing upon their town. Particularly noteworthy is the director’s decision to cast one of silent cinema’s most renowned filmmakers, Erich von Stroheim, in a prominent role as a corrupt doctor who collaborates with the Nazi occupation forces.
Ultimately, The North Star stands as a rare classic in world cinema, filled with human warmth and emotional depth, and presented in expressive black-and-white imagery. Despite its high production value, star-studded cast, and six Academy Award nominations, the film faced censorship, bans, and suppression after its release. It remained largely unseen until 1976, when it was finally allowed to be screened in its complete form as envisioned by its director, restoring its artistic and historical significance and honoring the filmmakers’ creative vision.