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Reviews
Russkiy kovcheg (2002)
Ark
Sokurov's Russian Ark begins with a narrator waking up in the Hermitage, not knowing what time period he has stumbled into. He soon runs into a mysterious man dressed in black—the only person throughout the movie who notices the narrator. The narrator calls the mysterious man the 'European' throughout most of the movie. The film is the two wandering through the Hermitage; as they wander through the hermitage, they also wander through Russian history: they run into characters such as Peter the Great, Katherine the Great—they see scenes from WWII, and dance through a grand state ball. Russian Ark is an extremely beautiful work. It is filmed in one continuous shot—the audience never sees the narrators, as the camera lens serves as his eyes. By the middle of the film, the viewer has forgotten the camera is there and is nearly seeing the Hermitage through their own eyes, through the several different periods of history the characters explore. The name of the movie, Russian Ark, tells the audience a lot about what it is about to see. The Hermitage serves as an ark for Russian history—the ending scene where the narrator is surrounded by the ocean tells us as much. The Hermitage has survived so much and will continue to preserve Russian—and a lot of European—history through the storms of time. The move back to great pride in Russian history shows that the Soviet period is truly over and Russia is moving on to a new period of Russian nationalism.
Kavkazskiy plennik (1996)
Beautiful Story against Beautiful Scenery
In Bodrov's Prisoner of the Mountain, Ivan (Vanya) has just entered the Russian army. He's barely uniformed by the time he is on his way to Chechnya. On the road into the mountains, the group comes under attack by a group of Chechen rebels. Vanya and Sacha are both knocked out and taken prisoner by the Chechens in the attack. One of the Chechens, Abdul, is hoping to trade the two Russians for his son, who is being held in a Russian army prison. The story that ensues shows both the cruelty and humanity that can be found in war. Both sides commit atrocities: the two captives kill the mute Hassan in their struggle as they attempt to escape—this is one cruelty on the Russian side. A Chechen father kills his son who has traded sides in order to work for the Russian police. Neither side has its hands clean. However, even in the midst of war, love can be found in this story— not just the fraternal love that grows between Vanya and Sacha, but love between enemies. Abdul's daughter Dina is kind to the captured soldiers, and in turn, Vanya shows her kindness she doesn't experience from her peers. She wants to help him escape, but he refuses to go because he knows that the rest of the villagers will never forgive her. Vanya, throughout the movie, represents an opposition to war. He never directly kills anyone, and never even learns how to properly handle a gun; even by the end of the movie, he is misfiring his weapons. When he is going to spar with the Chechen leader's nephew, he comes off as a pacifist. Even when he knows Sacha is dead, he doesn't turn to violence as a solution. A beautiful story with a beautiful backdrop, Prisoner of the Mountain is a true Russian gem.
Monanieba (1984)
eh
Repentance is a film one would expect to come out of Perestroika and Glasnost. It is a Stalinist/early Soviet metaphor that would have never been seen before this time. The story begins in present day, or in this case 1984. In a small Georgian town, the mayor, Varlam Aravidze, dies. The seemingly important citizens of the community come to pay their condolences at his funeral. However, one day after the funeral, the corpse is found at the home of the mayor's son. The corpse is reburied . . . but is removed from the crypt a second and third time. A woman is taken into custody and put on trial. She admits to having done it; much of this part of the film is full of flashbacks focusing on Varlam's terrible reign, revealing her motives for having done it. Varlam looks like a combination of dictators. There are traces of Hitler (the mustache) and Mussolini (the black shirt), but of course he can also be compared to Stalin and Beria, two of the cruelest names known in Soviet history, both who were of Georgian origin. Varlam was the Stalinist figure, and the two other generations of his family could be considered a lot of the rest of Soviet history. His grandson clearly represents the period of Glasnost and Perestroika. He has trouble accepting what his family has done, and he commits suicide because of it (I'm sure it was not meant to be this way, but it could be considered a foreshadowing of the end of the Soviet Union). The son of Varlam is sort of everything in between Stalin and Perestroika (except the anti-Stalin Krushchev years).
This was a very interesting movie; it was a little too full of symbolism, but beautifully made. It was a very interesting change watching a Georgian Soviet film instead of a Russian made Soviet film.
Voskhozhdenie (1977)
Must See
Larisa Shepitko's Ascension tells the harrowing tale of two pro- Soviet partisans, Rybak and Sotnikov. The film begins with the two of them trekking to a Belorussian village in search of food. When they find the village in ruins, they continue on to the next place, where they— with a little trouble—obtain a sheep. They have a run in with some Germans, when Sotnikov is shot in the leg. Rybak goes back for him and drags him through the Belorussian snow to the safety of a woman's home . . . however, the two and the woman sheltering them are captured by Germans. The struggle for survival continues through the rest of the movie. There is a big theme of Rybak's immorality vs. morality in this movie. The first incident is when Rybak goes back to help Sotnikov. One may think that it would be more moral to leave him behind—get back to the group with the sheep and take care of the collective instead. However, it still seems like a noble and moral thing to do. The next case is in the attack—Rybak could have kept silent and possibly still stayed alive and maintained the safety of both Sotnikov and the woman—Demchikha. The last and most morally questionable act of Rybak is changing sides in order to keep his own life. Is it really better to live when you have already betrayed your cause? The question of Rybak's morality can be extended further into a biblical comparison with Judas; Sotnikov is clearly the Christ like figure in the case. Rybak again and again seems to betray Sotnikov and the Soviet cause, and in the end survives while Sotnikov makes the ascent up the hill to the gallows, which is clearly metaphorical for Christ's ascent up the hill to his crucifixion. Sotnikov sacrifices himself—like Christ—for what he believes in. This movie is a must see for all.
Sluzhebnyy roman (1977)
Shrews in the Office
Eldar Ryaznov's Office Romance (1977) tells the story of workers in a statistical bureau in the era of stagnation. Director Liudmilla Prokofievna Kalugina is a strict woman who is seen as the office hag by the rest of the workers. When Yuri Grigoriovich Samokhvalov is named assistant director, he tries to appoint worker and old friend Anatoly Yefremovich Novoseltsev to a higher position in order to help him provide more for his two young sons. However, Liudmilla doesn't approve of this promotion . . . therefore; Yuri suggests that Tolya lightly flirt with Liudmilla in order to win her favor for the promotion. The two, however, soon begin to have actual feelings for each other which begins to lead the story in entirely new directions. The film shows a true view of how many things were in the era of stagnation: for example, transportation. Both Olga Ryzhova and Tolya take public transportation everyday-the tram and the trolleybus. The scenes from the film show how crowded the cars of these forms of transportation become. Not shown in the movie, however, are the usually long lines in order to get onto these cars Another thing that could be noted in this film is the way the office women and eventually even Liudmilla dress. Although it is still the communist Soviet state, in the Brezhnev era there is a sort of frivolity in things such as this. One of the main reasons is because foreign clothing and other foreign goods are increasingly becoming easier and easier to obtain through the Soviet black market. This classic Taming of the Shrew like tale has the perfect blend of humor and truth-it's easy to see why it is still a favorite in many of the former Soviet countries.
Mne dvadtsat let (1965)
Lack of Direction for 20 somethings
Khutsiev's I Am Twenty is a sort of coming of age film—the generation it deals with is those coming of age in the 1960's, the young adults of Khrushchev's thaw. I Am Twenty follows just returned from the army Sergei, his two best friends—Nikolai(Kolia) and Slava, and his eventual love interest, Anya. They all struggle finding their place in the adult world of Moscow 1962 . . . Sergei has just returned from his time in the army and finds it difficult to return home and have the same relations as he did before his time in the army—he's not really sure what he should be doing; Slava has a wife and child, but still tries to hang around with Kolia and Sergei like nothing has changed; Kolia is a hard worker and also quite a flirt; Anya is in the midst of a divorce and is quite an unstable, flighty character for most of the film—her words and actions don't always add up. One theme in the film is the lack of knowledge from one's elders—it also translates into a sort of teenaged/young adult angst feel. Sergei's father, for example, died in WWII at a very young age so he has never been around to give Sergei advice or help him in this transitioning phase. He gives Sergei one word of advice in a dream —'live'. This is very hopeful, but still doesn't give Sergei much direction (he wouldn't however, know how to help Sergei in this transition phase since he himself never got to live through it). One of the technical highlights of I Am Twenty is the way Moscow is shot. It is a truly beautiful city, and this film does a great job of showing that: the shots of the parks of Moscow and the Kremlin for example are beautiful and can show even one who has never been to the city just how magnificent it is.
Okraina (1933)
Fun 90 Minutes
Outskirts is the story of one town from the outbreak of WWI and into the beginning of the revolution. It follows a few separate story lines—a few of these story lines include a father and his two soldier sons; a girl, her German POW love and her awful, anti- revolution father. This series of subplots was entertaining—it allowed for a lot of issues to be tackled: the soldiers on the front and the POWs in the town provided a look at the war and some of the issues the Russian people were faced with during WWI. While it didn't even begin to show the incredible struggles and loss, it did convey the feeling that the Russians did not want to be fighting the war. There was also the love story that did a good job of showing the common humanity between the Germans and the Russians. The series of subplots, however, were also quite confusing. None of the scenes really came full circle, and a lot of them left me with more questions than I got answers. Even in the end when the revolution was beginning to come full circle, the subplot method did more to confuse than anything. My other thoughts on this film are related to its ideological content. It doesn't seem to focus too much on ideology until the end and then it is sort of in a frantic way that tries to cram all of it into a very small period of time. This seems strange to me since it was made in 1933, the heyday of the party minded film. Despite some of the film's shortcomings—such as the confusion— it was still an enjoyable 90 minutes.
Neobychainye priklyucheniya mistera Vesta v strane bolshevikov (1924)
Cowboys and Businessmen in the USSR
The Extraordinary Adventures of Mr. West in the Land of Bolsheviks happens to be the most entertaining Soviet propaganda film I have ever seen (and as a student of Russian Studies, I have seen quite a few Soviet propaganda films). American Mr. West and his trusty companion—the cowboy Jeddie—go off to see the land of the Bolsheviks, which they are warned is chaotic and barbaric place. When they arrive, Jeddie is arrested (for lassoing and shooting a man in the fashion of a Clint Eastwood character) and Mr. West is taken in by a group of thieves. What unfolds is quite the tale. Kuleshov was a master of editing—he used editing of shots in order to make them something new, and that is seen in The Extraordinary Adventures of Mr. West in the Land of Bolsheviks. For example, the closing scenes of the movie show a series of cuts—all quick scenes around Moscow pieced together. Even though Jeddie and Mr. West aren't in all of the scenes, viewers are under the impression that they are because of the way Kuleshov has pieced the cells together. On the propaganda side of things, the film is pretty easy to interpret. Jeddie and Mr. West—as Americans— symbolize American ignorance and all that is flawed with America—and therefore capitalism. The true Bolsheviks in the movie are portrayed as pure and good—showing that communism and Bolshevism is the true way to go. Mr. West is a highly entertaining movie—even if you are but a simple minded member of the proletariat.
Po zakonu (1926)
Kuleshov being Kuleshov
By the Law tells the tale of five people who have set up camp in the Yukon in hopes of finding gold. From the moment one of the gang— Dennin—finds gold, it is easy to tell that he is the outsider; one can quickly foreshadow that he is probably going to do something drastic later in the film. Indeed, soon enough—he does do something drastic: he comes in while others are eating and loses it—he takes his shotgun and shoots two of the five dead on the spot. The other two—husband and wife—are able to subdue him before he can do anything else. They are then left with a decision: do they wait until they can make it back to civilization to give him a trial, or do they take the law into their own hands and conduct the trial and sentencing themselves? This film doesn't have very many action scenes, but the one action scene—the scene where Dennin goes crazy and kills his fellow gold miners—is quite something. Kuleshov's use of montage seems to make the quick paced scene go even faster than it actually does. This one scene of action provides a lot of excitement for an otherwise dull movie. Another thing that stands out in the action scene is the way Kuleshov really focuses on the actors' faces. Their expressions add a whole different emotional effect that would not have otherwise been present. Another interesting part of this film is the fact that even a painting—Queen Victoria— can cause the Kuleshov effect to occur. During the trial Kuleshov flashes the camera back to her several different times and it seems almost as if her expression changes— even though it is very clear that as a painting it has not. Kuleshov does a great job using modernist techniques to give this story life.
Jim Shvante (marili svanets) (1930)
Pretty Propaganda
As a student of Russian history, it is hard for me to see 'Salt of Svanetia' as anything but a propaganda film. However, even as a propaganda film, there are incredible things that happen with this film. Kalatazov is a master of imagery. The scenes that overlook Svanetia are breathtaking, but equally interesting are the scenes that focus on the work of the villagers--especially when he focuses on the actual workers. The inter-titles give the film a storyline--this creates a new sort of life to the documentary. The storyline makes the film bearable for even one who is not a film specialist. Kalatazov has done an amazing job of making even propaganda pretty.
Sumerki zhenskoy dushi (1913)
An Entertaining but Silent 48 Minutes
Bauer's "Twilight of a Woman's Soul" tells the tale of Vera, the daughter of a countess who is very lonely although she is surrounded by luxury. The film follows her through several phases, and ends with her transformation to a powerful, independent woman. The film deals with some intense themes, including rape and murder. It's never explicitly stated that they occur, however—the text refers to them as 'her secret' or something similar, though, making it pretty clear that the horrible deeds did indeed occur. Although the text was rather sparse, it did a good job filling the holes in the plot—there were not that many holes, though. Great performances by Chernova and Ugrajumov respectively in the roles of Vera and the Prince made the movie easy and enjoyable to watch for the most part. The staging was also impressive. Mostly stationary scenes without any camera movement, the scenes were all quite picturesque and beautiful. Bauer also used the tinting technique—both blue and pink tints, which allowed him to capture extremely different moods throughout the film. "Twilight of a Woman's Soul" was impressive and entertaining for its early date, and also surprisingly easy to follow even without a significant amount of text. It is worth a watch to see one of the movies that show how Bauer started his impressive career.