Director: Boris Barnet Year: 1936 Rating: 6.0 Country:
Russian
I picked up this Russian film on DVD a few weeks back because it was fairly
cheap, but it turns out that many real film critics consider this film a
masterpiece and the director Boris Barnet to be one of Russia's most important
directors. All news to me I admit. Most of Barnet's films were not available
with English subs for many years and his films remained fairly unknown. But
now a few have made it to DVD with subs and a re-appraisal of his work has
led to an elevation of his status.
Perhaps it was just as well that I watched this without being aware of its
reputation as that can influence how you watch a film. I thought it was a
lovely little film (runs about 70 minutes) that is a ravishing tone poem
as much as anything, but isn't particularly dramatic, involving or demanding
on the viewer. A slight romantic fairy tale comedy with a few songs and a
great score - it has a lightness and optimistic mood that feels out of place
in Stalin's Soviet Union of 1936 when he was purging millions of people and
a famine that killed millions was finally over. Stalin - who was a huge movie
fan - American Westerns primarily - apparently didn't like this very much
as it didn't have as strong a realistic socialist message as he would have
liked, but at least Barnet wasn't sent off to a gulag. The message is there
but it fades into the background of a love triangle that feels like it is
surely leading towards tragedy but instead becomes a joyous celebration of
friendship.
Two friends are adrift when their boat sinks and after a few days holding
on to a piece of wood, they make land on a small fishing island in the Caspian
Sea (both looking remarkably well after two days in the sea). Oddly, this
turns out to be where they were ordered to go and work with the farming and
fishing commune. One of the commune leaders is Masha, a striking blonde with
a broadside of a smile, that both men immediately fall in love with. Considering
that she is the only attractive woman on the farm, this isn't too surprising.
The two friends try to outmaneuver one another for her affections.
The sea itself plays a large role in the film as it begins with a lengthy
montage of waves crashing (and I thought to myself, oh oh this could get
boring fast) - and throughout the film the director returns constantly to
images of the sea as a living thing. Much of the film has no dialogue - a
written narrative explains the story - and the silence is filled with this
dramatic musical score from Sergei Pototsky and stunning black and white
cinematography from Mikhail Kirillov. This is more a visual treat than a
narrative one.
