Now virtually forgotten, but once an internationally renowned star, Ivan Mosjoukine finally gets the recognition he deserves in this marvellously detailed documentary.
One of the first major figures in early Russian cinema, Ivan Mosjoukine gave remarkable performances in early versions of "Queen of Spades" and "Father Sergius" (completely convincing as he ages from 16 to 80).
However with the Russian Revolution Mosjoukine and his collaborators were forced to flee to France. Setting up film production in their new home this diverse group of artists made a great contribution to the film industry there, revitalising it with innovative new styles and the charismatic acting (and directing) of the multi-talented Mosjoukine. A decade later Mosjoukine would struggle with French dialogue in his few starring talkies but in the universal language of 1920's cinema this wasn't a problem and he became one of the great Silent Movie stars.
This does a very good job of covering the entire film career of Mosjoukine, with dozens of clips from his earliest ("House of Koloma") through the great French silents, then his unsuccessful attempt to conquer Hollywood (only one film resulted) and finally his struggles with dialogue - not so apparent to non French speakers - in the early sound era to his final film role ("Nichevo").
The film makers can't be faulted for the detail with which they approach his evolution as an actor and there is a great deal of information about his - sometimes less than admirable - private life. The film makers have even managed to interview former colleagues and friends - remarkable considering this was made 60 years after his death.
The only minor flaw with this is that the narrative sometimes goes out of sequence - jumping from a point in the mid twenties to a much earlier stage in Mosjoukine's life. However this is clearly intentional on the film maker's part and doesn't really hurt the documentary as a whole.
All in an extremely impressive piece of work, clearly a labour of love for those involved, though it would be nice to get an English narrated version (since the current English subtitles are on the small side).
Highly recommended
One of the first major figures in early Russian cinema, Ivan Mosjoukine gave remarkable performances in early versions of "Queen of Spades" and "Father Sergius" (completely convincing as he ages from 16 to 80).
However with the Russian Revolution Mosjoukine and his collaborators were forced to flee to France. Setting up film production in their new home this diverse group of artists made a great contribution to the film industry there, revitalising it with innovative new styles and the charismatic acting (and directing) of the multi-talented Mosjoukine. A decade later Mosjoukine would struggle with French dialogue in his few starring talkies but in the universal language of 1920's cinema this wasn't a problem and he became one of the great Silent Movie stars.
This does a very good job of covering the entire film career of Mosjoukine, with dozens of clips from his earliest ("House of Koloma") through the great French silents, then his unsuccessful attempt to conquer Hollywood (only one film resulted) and finally his struggles with dialogue - not so apparent to non French speakers - in the early sound era to his final film role ("Nichevo").
The film makers can't be faulted for the detail with which they approach his evolution as an actor and there is a great deal of information about his - sometimes less than admirable - private life. The film makers have even managed to interview former colleagues and friends - remarkable considering this was made 60 years after his death.
The only minor flaw with this is that the narrative sometimes goes out of sequence - jumping from a point in the mid twenties to a much earlier stage in Mosjoukine's life. However this is clearly intentional on the film maker's part and doesn't really hurt the documentary as a whole.
All in an extremely impressive piece of work, clearly a labour of love for those involved, though it would be nice to get an English narrated version (since the current English subtitles are on the small side).
Highly recommended
