During the soviet art period, cinema and culture in general were used as a tool for propaganda. Artists were limited and oppressed, but in my opinion this kind of attitude helped art in a way; it became more rebellious, interesting, mystical, symbolic and differently interpreted.
As for the monuments, they are representations of every regime, not necessarily the Soviet; the same was happening in Germany during Nazism. But it still happens in today’s democracy. If some decades ago the propaganda was spread through oppressed culture, soviet symbols, sculptures, etc., today we see billboards with advertisements, journals, newspapers and television programmes that set specific standards on how a person should look like, think, behave, dress or breathe. Every regime has their own tools for influencing, brainwashing, threatening and dominating people; placing monuments of the dictators was one of those tools. When looking at an enormous statue you kind of belittle and get filled with fear.