Director: Yevgeni Bauer
Year: 1913
Runtime: 0:48
Source: Youtube
Our first Russian film is a compact tragedy with a lot for us to unpack. It comes from Yevgeni Bauer, an interesting film pioneer who died a few short months before the October Revolution. And indeed, this is a rare glimpse into late Tsarist society. It follows a young, depressed heiress Vera who feels without purpose. The early scenes showing her internal isolation are the best; Bauer uses lighting expertly to highlight her feelings of loneliness. Inspired by her mother, she gets excited by philanthropy, but is deceived by a crudely stereotypical drunkard and wastrel Maksim, who steals from and incompetently kidnaps her. Not letting herself be taken advantage of, she murders him in his stupor.
Later, she is pursued by a courteous, doting prince. She falls for him quickly, but realizes she can't connect with him emotionally, because she can't help but see Maksim when she looks in his eyes. Eventually, she runs away and becomes an actress. The love-struck prince spends years looking for her until he happens upon her performance. When he confronts her backstage, she claims that it's too late and that she's fallen out of love with him completely. In the rather melodramatic final scene, the prince collapses alone in his despondency.
There is a lot of cliché in this film, but I think two things make it worthwhile. The level of acting on display is actually quite good, and a step beyond anything I've seen so far on this list. But also I think it's sort of fascinating for the many ways you can read this rather trite story. The historian in me is tempted to think of this as poorly demonstrating the aristocrat's fear of the encroaching lower classes as embodied by Maxim, on the eve of a breakdown in society. But there's also a proto-feminist viewpoint, perhaps an unconscious one. In some ways, the prince himself in some ways mirrors Maksim - in his first meeting with her, he tries to impress her and his boisterous male friends by showing off his pistol marksmanship (amusingly, the gun is so antiquated that he must do so from 10 feet away). It's understandable that she looks for happiness on her own, and she seems to find it.
Year: 1913
Runtime: 0:48
Source: Youtube
Our first Russian film is a compact tragedy with a lot for us to unpack. It comes from Yevgeni Bauer, an interesting film pioneer who died a few short months before the October Revolution. And indeed, this is a rare glimpse into late Tsarist society. It follows a young, depressed heiress Vera who feels without purpose. The early scenes showing her internal isolation are the best; Bauer uses lighting expertly to highlight her feelings of loneliness. Inspired by her mother, she gets excited by philanthropy, but is deceived by a crudely stereotypical drunkard and wastrel Maksim, who steals from and incompetently kidnaps her. Not letting herself be taken advantage of, she murders him in his stupor.
Later, she is pursued by a courteous, doting prince. She falls for him quickly, but realizes she can't connect with him emotionally, because she can't help but see Maksim when she looks in his eyes. Eventually, she runs away and becomes an actress. The love-struck prince spends years looking for her until he happens upon her performance. When he confronts her backstage, she claims that it's too late and that she's fallen out of love with him completely. In the rather melodramatic final scene, the prince collapses alone in his despondency.
There is a lot of cliché in this film, but I think two things make it worthwhile. The level of acting on display is actually quite good, and a step beyond anything I've seen so far on this list. But also I think it's sort of fascinating for the many ways you can read this rather trite story. The historian in me is tempted to think of this as poorly demonstrating the aristocrat's fear of the encroaching lower classes as embodied by Maxim, on the eve of a breakdown in society. But there's also a proto-feminist viewpoint, perhaps an unconscious one. In some ways, the prince himself in some ways mirrors Maksim - in his first meeting with her, he tries to impress her and his boisterous male friends by showing off his pistol marksmanship (amusingly, the gun is so antiquated that he must do so from 10 feet away). It's understandable that she looks for happiness on her own, and she seems to find it.
Comments
Post a Comment