One of the earliest Experimental films, "Ménilmontant" highlights a typical love story amidst a flurry of speed and images. An immediately orphaned pair of sisters find themselves enmeshed in a love triangle with no one the better for it. A full circle of death and redemption the film courses through at the start with breathless motion and multiple exposures settling to a normal pace as it progresses. With her fair, round-eyed features, thick curly matted hair and air of sexual ambiguity Nadia Sibirskaïa was quite comely in her Lillan Gish ragamuffin-like look and her fine acting is the clear center and focus of the film. Street scenes of 1920s Paris add a visual treat to this tale of urbanity. Although marred by slow parts the film holds up with its viewability and timeless story. Worth the watch for the history and the film's importance.
Review of Ménilmontant
