| A catalog of early Russian cinema has been published The phrase “Russian cinema,” by the way, applies not only to perestroika bastard films and current dubious films, but also to the first decade of our film history, which began with “Ponizovaya Volnitsa” (1908). Even experts can sometimes only remember from this era “Father Sergius” by Yakov Protazanov with Ivan Mozzhukhin in the title role, to say nothing of the rest. “The Great Cinema: Catalog of surviving feature films of Russia (1908-1919)” is the name of the fundamental work published by the publishing house “New Literary Review” (compiled by V. Ivanova, V. Mylnikova, S. Skovorodnikova, Y. Tsivyan, R. Yangirov). There are more than three hundred of these films - from the popular popular "Volnitsa" to the anonymous propaganda "Atrocities of the Bolsheviks before the surrender of Kyiv." First of all, this is a reference book for film experts. Secondly, a cultural project, a successful attempt to present the history of early Russian cinema through the eyes of the people who lived and created this history: each article represents carefully selected responses in the press, fragments of memories and other materials about a particular film. And lastly, but not least, The Great Cinema is an entertaining read for the curious, very curious, non-specialist.
This same non-specialist, having opened the five-hundred-plus page catalog, will be able to find out, for example, that the opinion about the exaggerated and fussy performance of silent film actors does not apply to us. Russian cinema, which grew out of Russian literature and Moscow Art Theater pauses, was slow, melancholy, and “psychological.” All this was called the wonderful term “braking school”. Just as often as the command “start!”, the commands “pause!”, “eyes!”, strange to today’s ears, were heard on the set. The actors preferred to play complex emotional transitions in one take, without cuts - this was the highest chic of acting. And critics wrote condescendingly about the American “cinema of movement” and contrasted it with the Russian static “depth”. Another curious difference between Russian pre-revolutionary cinema is the tendency towards tragic endings. Before the revolution, Russian films were often shot in two versions - tearful, sweet to the sensitive heart of the domestic viewer, and happy, with a happy ending, for the Western viewer.
A short but informative section - biographies. Only 17 personalities were selected, but which ones - Kholodnaya, Khanzhonkov, Drankov, Mozzhukhin... The most interesting article is about Evgeniy Bauer, director and cameraman, rediscovered in recent years by film historians. Bauer not only refracted the ideas of Art Nouveau in his work in a unique way (he was friends and worked with the famous architect Shekhtel), but also proposed new lighting schemes, as they say, ahead of their time. In particular, he was the first to use backlighting (backlighting) in cinema, adding volume and mystery to the flat “picture” that appeared when using standard overhead lighting.
And finally, the list of titles of old Russian films can be read like poetry. “That’s how a kiss”, “The cinematographer’s revenge”, “One enjoyed, the other paid”, “Homespread Rus' stirred up and stood up for a holy cause”, “How did you come to live like this”, “Satan rejoicing”... This, of course, not a list of ships from the Iliad, but also an extremely entertaining thing of its kind. Arina INOZEMTSEVA |
|
