Category Archives: drama

“Ilya Muromets (The Sword & The Dragon)” (1956) on 4K Restoration Blu-ray

drama, fantasy, foreign films, ,

“Ilya Muromets (The Sword & The Dragon)” (1956) on 4K restoration Blu-ray uncut for the first time in the United States.

Aleksandr Ptushko’s visually stunning FX-filled epic has hit the streets and is now available for your theater library.

Deaf Crocodile Films, in association with distribution partner Seagull Films, released the 4K restoration on Blu-ray of famed fantasy filmmaker Aleksandr Ptushko.

Produced in 1956, this Russian film with English subtitles is visually stunning. The medieval epic was initially released and heavily edited with the title The Sword & the Dragon.

Now, Ilya Muromets (The Sword & The Dragon) through partner label OCN-Vinegar Syndrome. The Blu-ray edition of Ilya Muromets is fully restored to its original Russian release. The package also contains a new commentary track by comics artist (Swamp Thing), film historian and author Stephen R. Bissette and a reprint of film scholar Alan Upchurch’s pioneering essay on Aleksandr Ptushko from Video Watchdog magazine, plus Ptushko’s own essay on the making of Ilya Muromets. 

Mosfilm studio recently restored Ilya Muromets in 4K using the original 35mm camera negative. Ptushko’s movie became available for digital streaming after its Blu-ray release through Deaf Crocodile’s partner label, Grasshopper Films.

Ilya Muromets runs 87 minutes, which keeps the drama moving without unnecessarily long pans and dramatic moments. The legendary fantasy filmmaker Aleksandr Ptushko’s sweeping, visual FX-filled epic is impressive as a 1956 production. 

“On one level, Ilya Muromets is a pure fantasy, one of Ptushko’s greatest — but even a fantasy can have political implications,” says Dennis Bartok, Deaf Crocodile’s Co-Founder and Head of Distribution & Acquisitions. “Although Ilya Muromets was made in 1956 at the height of the Cold War and was set in a mythical landscape nearly a thousand years earlier, it has unmistakable parallels to today’s world and the war in Ukraine. Ilya was a legendary Kyivan Rus hero, encompassing modern Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus in the 9th to 13th centuries. That idea of somehow returning to a mythical “united Rus'” has been used as a tragic justification for the war today — and of course, when Ilya Muromets was made in 1956, it would have been seen as a call for a united Soviet Union at the time.”

“Imagine being given an unlimited budget and no time constraints to make the ultimate fantasy epic in 1956… that’s Ilya Muromets”, added Deaf Crocodile Co-Founder and Head of Post-Production & Restoration Craig Rogers. “With over 100,000 extras, over 10,000 horses, and a three-headed dragon that breathes real fire!”

Though I have seen none of Ptushko’s production before, some film fans believe this is one of his most enchanting achievements. The movie has stunning Cinemascope as a ballad of heroic medieval knights with ruthless Tugar invaders.

The special effects include wind demons and three-headed fire-breathing dragons, which are remarkable for 1956. The film stars Boris Andreyev as the bogatyr, Russian for a warrior, Ilya, a mythic figure in the Kyivan Rus’ culture that pre-dated modern Ukraine and Russia. Kyivan Rus’ was a shapeless federation in Eastern Europe and Northern Europe from 880 to the beginning of the 13th century. Much of the film’s action is set in Kyiv, and Ilya’s relics are held today in the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra monastery. 

Based on a series of famous byliny, Russian for oral epics, the film follows Ilya as he wages a decades-long battle against the Tugars. The Tugars threaten his homeland, kidnap his wife and raise his son to fight against him. The movie is worth watching because of its dynamic acting, brilliant costumes, cinematography and vast panorama shots. 

Ptushko began his career in the 1930s and became a combination of Walt Disney, Ray Harryhausen, who pioneered stop-motion animated effects, and Mario Bava, an Italian filmmaker known for his horror movies. Ptushko stands among the best for his dazzling, bejeweled fantasies, including The Stone Flower, Sadko, Sampo and Ruslan & Ludmila. 

They released the first Cinemascope film produced in the Soviet Union, Ilya Muromets, in a truncated, dubbed version in the U.S. at the height of the Cold War as The Sword & The Dragon, downplaying the epic poetry and lyricism of the original. 

Thanks to the progression of technology, Deaf Crocodile and Seagull Films, this epic movie arrives fully restored in 4K for its first-ever official U.S. release on Blu-ray in its original Russian with English subtitles. 

Showtime’s “Billions” Season 5

drama, episodic, television, ,

The fifth season of the machinations of Billions is full of double-crosses, complex and shifting alliances and too many gut punches. Ultimately, the viewers know they’ll get a significant reset in the sixth season at the end of the season.

The most noteworthy plot thread in season 5 was the gradual move of Axelrod or Axe, played by Damian Lewis, and Wendy Roades, played by Maggie Siff, acting on their long, and otherwise unstated desire to be together. When we thought it would happen, the season ended, and it was not the happy ending we hoped to experience. We also know Axe is no longer on the show when season six arrives.

According to the showrunners and Variety, Axe leaving started about three years ago. They knew Wendy and Axe would struggle with love, but it would never flourish. If you remember the season finale, Axe is leaving for Europe, running away. He asks Wendy to join him, and she turns him down.

With an unfulfilled relationship ending, other complex plotlines develop with double-crosses, wordplays, and shifting alliances. Van Halen fans appreciated the character reciting his lyrics from “Antic Punk.”

Since rival billionaire Mike Prince, played by Corey Stoll, outmaneuvers Axe in his constant jousts in the marketplace. Prince comes across as kinder, gentle, and socially more appealing compared to Axe. At the end of the season, Axe is tricked by the marijuana kingpin, played by Janeane Garofalo, who moves both contraband and legal weed, which places Axe in a vulnerable posting of money laundering charges.

Taylor Mason, played by Aisa Kate Dillon, holds the cards as the analytical genius but grapples with her conscience and wealth accumulation. A newcomer, Rian, played by Eva Victor, challenges her idealism. Taylor wants to take down Axe and helps Chuck Rhoades, played by Paul Giamatti, bring criminal charges against him. But, in the end, Taylor feels sorry rather than victorious.

As Billions showrunner and co-creator Brian Koppelman explained to Variety, “The central theme of the show has always been can anybody resist the temptation of that level of money and power? Can anybody remain even close to their true selves when that much money is at hand?”

“The Concubine” Machinations of Two Powerful Women

drama, foreign films, ,

Directed by Kim Dae-Seung, The Concubine takes place in Korea during the early Joseon Dynasty. Like most movies about the lineage of royalty, machinations control the outcome. We meet Hwa-Yeon, played beautifully by Yeo-jeon Cho, a minister’s daughter and Kwon-Yoo, played brilliantly by Min-Joon Kim, a commoner. Both are deeply in love with each other. It’s a forbidden attraction because of the caste system.

For this reason, Hwa-Yeon is ordered to the royal palace to become the royal concubine. She and Kwon-Yoo attempt to flee and spend the night together. Hwa-Yeon’s father and men, who threaten to kill Kwon-yoo, intercepted them.

To save her one true love, Hwa-Yeon agrees to go to the palace as King’s concubine as instructed. Unbeknownst, her father castrates Kwon-yoo as a punishment, which sets up some compelling drama later in the movie.

Five years later, Hwa-Yeon is the mother of the heir to the throne, but the King slowly dies. After his death, the King’s stepmother, played by Ji-Young Park, uses her power to appoint her biological son Sung-won, played emotionally charged by Dong-Wook Kim, as the successor.

Sung-won has been madly in love with the unobtainable Hwa-Yeon for years. Now that he must procreate to produce an heir to the throne, he can have any woman he wants except Hwa-Yeon based on his mother’s manipulation. She has vengeance on Hwa-Yeon, whose life is in danger.

Kwon-Yoo reemerges into the story, pushing them into a dangerous chess game of lust, sex and power. When Hwa-Yeon discovers what her father has done to her true love, she’s devastated but regains strength. 

The Concubine theatrical release in 2012 received accolades and was the 11th most-watched Korean movie. Some reviews at the time focused on the erotic aspect of some scenes, which caused audiences to misunderstand the director’s intent. Mainly, the film shows two powerful women fighting for power. However, the ending is tragic. The director gets us there with beautiful imagery thanks to Ki S. Hwang’s cinematography and Geun-Hyun Cho’s production design.

English subtitles suffice, but I prefer to watch the movie, but the storyline gets lost. The running time is 102 minutes.

Special Features Include: 

· Special collector’s media book packaging

· Two-disc set

· Original trailer

· 24-page booklet featuring director/actor profiles

“Respect” Dazzles, Celebrating Aretha Franklin

drama, legend, movies, true story, , , , ,
Respect is now available on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital.

“Be your own artist, and always be confident in what you’re doing. If you’re not going to be confident, you might as well not be doing it.”
— Aretha Franklin

Vocal powerhouse and Oscar and Grammy awards winner Jennifer Hudson stars as legendary singer Aretha Franklin in a true story about the “Queen of Soul.” Respect focuses on Franklin’s formative years, in which director Liesl Tommy says that it “contained things the general public doesn’t know about her.”

Watching her journey to become the brilliant musician with Franklin’s original songs, sung by Hudson, was profound to witness. From the beginning, we see a young woman with the most incredible voice in the world. But something was amiss. She needed to find her own voice.

In the film’s production notes, Tommy stated he felt strongly about “showing a meaningful experience of a young Black girl’s childhood.”

I found it interesting that Franklin came from a wealthy family, dominating the film primarily through her father and sisters.

Tommy related to that aspect of Franklin’s life, “As a little girl myself who grew up listening to people talk around the dinner table about fighting for freedom for themselves and for future generations, I know firsthand that it affects your life forever. It’s who you are. Aretha understood that, and it’s what made her art activism. When you talk about the “Queen of Soul,” her church was her activism.”

The movie reminds us of listening to Aretha Franklin. The emotion she sang with and deep feelings she conveyed — she spoke to us. Tommy describes it well, “Millions of people have a beautiful voice, but she channeled her emotions into her music in a way that no one else could.”

R_07374_RC Actor Jennifer Hudson and director Liesl Tommy on the set of RESPECT A Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures film Photo credit: Quantrell D. Colbert

The movie tells us who she was and her history of protest music. We see Franklin heal herself through her music. You can feel the depth of who she was as a being, though there is complexity and depth based on her relationships.

As we all know, Aretha Franklin’s voice is the best, most powerful, and culturally significant voice of all time. In the movie, we hear hit songs: “Respect,” “Natural Woman,” “I Say a Little Prayer,” and “Think,” to name a few. They are classics that defined the resistance and resilience of Black people during the Civil Rights Movement, the Black Power Movement, and the Women’s Movement — and still resonate today at the moment in time where the world is in crisis and need of soulfulness.

The movie shows Franklin being a child music prodigy who grew up with great privilege in a household in Detroit that understood the importance of social protest, racial justice, and community organizing centered squarely in the foundation of the Black church — faith, service, and self-actualization. Respect shows us Franklin’s challenge in navigating and overcoming grief that would become the artistic inspiration. In return, she created musical masterpieces that saved lives and moved culture.

Respect establishes that she was a musical genius when she was a child. You discover she had all those albums that did not become hits at Columbia Records. The movie begins at the church and ends in the church with the journey in between. Tommy tells the story of a woman with the most incredible voice in the world but still doesn’t know what her voice is. “And that was the story that I felt like I wanted to tell, and that was what ended up being the center of the film, the spine of the film.”

Jennifer Hudson stars as Aretha Franklin and Mary J. Blige as Dinah Washington in RESPECT A Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures film Photo credit: Quantrell D. Colbert

Jennifer Hudson’s portrayal of Aretha Franklin is believable. She sings the icon’s songs herself, which is fantastic but not surprising. Hudson has a powerful voice. But she is not Franklin. She is a depiction of her.

Interestingly, Hudson was Franklin’s opening act one time. “After American Idol, Aretha Franklin was doing a show in Maryville, Indiana, and I wanted to open for her. Everyone knew she did not allow singers to open for her instead of starting her shows with a comedian. And, then, she approved of me to open for her. So, that was a dream, as are the many moments I shared with her.”

Marlon Wayans stars as Ted White and Jennifer Hudson as Aretha Franklin in RESPECT A Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures film Photo credit: Quantrell D. Colbert

Nabbing that gig as an opening act, as Hudson says, “I find especially now; she has been a huge guide for the structure and spirit of my career.”

Franklin’s niece, Sabrina Garrett Owens, was very close to her Auntie Aretha. And very proud to see Jennifer Hudson take on the role of her aunt. “A lot of it has to do with the similarities between the two [Aretha and Jennifer]. They both grew up in church. They both had that gospel sound to their voices. Jennifer has a wide range, the same as Aretha did. I see a lot of similarities in their style.”

The story begins with her childhood, her father, played brilliantly by Forest Whitaker. Affected by his wife’s death, he anoints Franklin at a young age to be a gospel star and be different and better than the rest.

Knowing that the movie producers, Scott Bernstein and Harvey Mason, Jr. talked with Aretha Franklin on the phone about her story, so she could gauge it as her legacy is astonishing. “So, we knew we were going to end at the ‘Amazing Grace’ live album recording. The spine of the story would be a movie about a father and daughter relationship. And, that gave us a focus to tell the period of her rise, and the origin story of her becoming the ‘Queen of Soul.”’

Written for the screen by Tracey Scott Wilson, the story captures that significant time in Franklin’s life, the sixties and seventies, establishing her relationship with her father, and she meets her first husband. Then, she broke up with her father, her church and had to find her own faith.

She meets Ted White, played by Marlon Wayans. They marry. He manages her career during the early days of her Atlantic Records. “She went from singing standards to, you know, gospel to, okay, let’s go take you into becoming the R&B queen or just the queen period, Aretha Franklin,” according to Wayans. “So he changed the way she dressed and changed her, changed the venues she was playing and changed the record company. He was a catalyst in Aretha’s life.”

Jennifer Hudson shares a different perspective. “The biggest impact on Aretha’s life was her father. I think he is what pushed her towards her legacy and helped her own her gift. There have been times when she didn’t necessarily feel like singing, but it was a calling. He reminded her of that often, and I think that she became like the symbolic first lady of the church in a way. It helped lead Aretha to her ministry and music, one reason why she became so experienced and impactful at the height of the Civil Rights Movement.”

The rest of the talented cast includes Audra McDonald, Marc Maron, Tituss Burgess and Mary J. Blige.

Blu-ray and DVD Bonus Features:

The Making of Respect: Explore the unique telling of this Aretha Franklin story, what the project meant to all involved and how music played a pivotal role in crafting this film.

Becoming Aretha: Take a behind-the-scenes look at Jennifer Hudson’s incredible transformation into the “Queen of Soul” including her commitment to the character, her connection with the late singer, and why inhabiting the legendary artist felt more like destiny than anything else.

Capturing a Legacy: A celebration of director Liesl Tommy’s artistry and professionalism as the cast and crew express their appreciation and admiration for her and her process.

From Muscle Shoals: Sit down with the cast, crew and some of the original musicians that recorded with Aretha at Muscle Shoals to learn about this crucial time period in Aretha’s life and how it helped propel her evolution.

Exploring the Design of Respect: Production designer Ina Mayhew and costume designer Clint Ramos discuss the research they conducted in order to create the beautiful sets in the film as well as the various custom-made wardrobes that span three decades of style.

“Stillwater” Fine Direction Leads to Solid Performances

drama, movies, thriller, , ,

Tom McCarthy, director of Oscar-winner Spotlight, began working on Stillwater about ten years before he went into production. He intended to make a thriller set in an indistinct European port city. After one visit to Marseille, McCarthy knew he had found his port. “The layers and textures of the city were undeniably cinematic, and the confluence of cultures and the pace of the seaside metropolis felt like the perfect canvas for the film.”

But, the first draft wasn’t the movie he wanted to make. He felt it lacked dimension, humanity and a point of view. McCarthy felt drawn to the Mediterranean noir genre of writers like Andrea Camilleri, Massimo Carlotto and Jean-Claude Izzo, notably Izzo’s Marseille Trilogy. “Those novels all account for the life around the crime pushing beyond the genre. Ultimately, I wanted my film to do the same.” 

McCarthy set the script down, picked it back up about seven years later, and gave it a fresh read. He liked the setup, but his previous concerns remained. “It still wasn’t a script I was prepared to direct.”

And so, he reached out to French writing team Thomas Bidegain and Noé Debré and sent them the draft. “We had a very awkward zoom call where they carefully laid out a few fundamental flaws in the approach to the script,” says McCarthy.

He flew to Paris, spent a week in a room together with his co-writers, reimagining the movie, which was the beginning of an eighteen-month writing process, which began in the fall of 2016. Reflecting, McCarthy saw the world had changed drastically. “The United States had taken an alarming turn towards populism, and Americans were becoming increasingly alienated not only from each other but also from the rest of the world.”

Matt Damon’s character, Bill, journeys abroad, as he desperately tries to navigate a new culture, language, and justice system to save his only daughter. 

Underlining this story was McCarthy’s fascination with the details of the 2007 Amanda Knox case, where an American student living in Italy was arrested and charged with the murder of her roommate. She was convicted and sentenced to a lengthy prison term, although she maintained her innocence. 

Matt Damon stars as “Bill” in director Tom McCarthy’s STILLWATER, a Focus Features release.
Credit Jessica Forde / Focus Features

“What was exciting about reimagining the script in the context was the opportunity to subvert expectations of Bill — both as the quintessential ‘American hero’ and protagonist of this story, as well as an outsider entering a community that views him in a certain light.”

Many moments throughout the film, the story reveals Bill as a flawed man who, despite his best efforts, can’t escape his past. As a man from Stillwater, Oklahoma, we see the sternness or solidness of not revealing too much, holding in anger and other emotions just on the surface. 

McCarthy starts the movie five years after the prison sentence of his daughter, Allison, played by Abigail Breslin. It’s his umpteenth visit to Marseille, and we see the unraveling of his flaws, forgetting keepsakes for his daughter, discounting his ignorance.

However, during this visit, there is a revelation of fresh evidence that might prove her innocence, thus setting her free and back to America. At this point in the movie, we examine more closely the notion of America’s moral authority in a country and a world where nationalism was on the rise. 

McCarthy could have easily followed what audiences, who are conditioned to expect the hero to stop at nothing to protect his family or what he thinks is right. If the movie were a pure thriller, we would applaud Bill’s relentless pursuit of that aim. 

But McCarthy examines the personal consequences of Bill pursuing his singular aim. He ultimately gets what he wants, but at what price? What does he sacrifice, and how does that kind of thinking play out in our world today? 

He befriends an eight-year-old Maya, played authentically by Lilou Siauvaud. Then he meets her mother, Virginie, played by Camille Cottin. Virginie immediately helps him, which keeps the movie on edge. More and more of Bill’s flaws come to view. We find out that he was never there for his daughter, who lived most of her time with her aunt. Yet, we discover Virginie has a bleeding heart. She saves lost souls, like Bill. Maya becomes Bill’s companion or a second chance to be a good father. The threesome flourishes with Bill, staying in Marseille, hoping to help his daughter. 

(Camille Cottin as “Virginie”, Matt Damon as “Bill” and Lilou Siauvaud as “Maya” in director Tom McCarthy’s STILLWATER, a Focus Features release. Credit Jessica Forde / Focus Features

Marseille has a considerable impact on the film, going deep into the city, from the stunning Calanques to the massive Velodrome to the old prison in Les Baumettes. The credit goes to production designer Phil Messina, providing a Marseille canvas intimately and authentically. 

Though Marseille is the film’s primary setting, Bill’s past in Oklahoma also plays an essential role in the story and his character development. “We tried to reflect the impact these two places — Marseille and Oklahoma — have on Bill and Allison through the brilliant cinematography of Masa Takayanagi,” says McCarthy

The film starts in Oklahoma shooting with Anamorphic lenses, which enhances the solitude and isolation of Bill, using a shallower depth of field and a wider field of view. Then, Bill steps off the plane in Marseille. However, the camera moves. “It has the kinetic, spontaneous, grittiness of Marseille, which translated to a handheld for much of Marseille,” explains McCarthy. 

Then, when we return to Oklahoma at the end of the movie, McCarthy uses spherical lenses with us as if Bill brought something back with him from Marseille. “But our camera became static once again, indicating that Oklahoma, the place, has not changed, just Bill and Allison. 

McCarthy shot the film’s last scene with handheld to capture both the sense of intimacy and immediacy. Also, the method deepens the emotional connection to Marseille, a city that continues to haunt them.  

The casting of Damon as the central performance anchors Stillwater. It felt like Bill took a profound journey for all its complexities and ambiguities. Breslin holds her own, not playing a glamorous role, though McCarthy gives her some light moments with Maya. 

Stillwater doesn’t have a happy ending, but a determined finish that falls on Bill’s shoulders, where he says something like, “You’re my daughter.” And, later, he repeats his daughter’s phrase from an early conversation, “Life is brutal.”

Despite flaws or immorality, we still love our children and will always stand by them.

I wanted a different ending, a happy ending, but McCarthy’s ending makes sense because each scene seamlessly leads to this moment. 

McCarthy explains the film is about human nature. “What dictates the decisions we make, and how morality can be corrupted by one’s past, society and love of family. It speaks to what we perceive to be our moral imperative. It’s a story of liberation that addresses the shackles of shame and guilt that keep us rooted in one place. It’s a film that addresses our longing to be loved and needed.” 

The Stillwater Blu-ray/DVD and Digital download combo pack includes:

BONUS FEATURES: 

An Alchemy of Viewpoints – The cast of Stillwater discusses their characters and the research that went into portraying them authentically.          

An American in Marseille: The Locations of Stillwater—Much of the authenticity that comes across in Stillwater is because of the dedication of filming on location. Hear from the cast and filmmakers on what it was like filming in places such as the streets of Marseille and the Calanques along the coast.    

With Curiosity & Compassion: Director Tom McCarthy – Cast and filmmakers discuss the thought and interest that goes into director Tom McCarthy’s stories and how he uses his natural curiosity about real-life interactions to guide his filmmaking style. 

“Last Call” Offbeat Story Stars Jeremy Piven

comedy, drama, , ,

Directed by Paolo Pilladi, Last Call follows Mick, played by Jeremy Piven, a successful story and estate developer. He returns home to his offbeat blue-collar Irish neighborhood in the shadows of Philadelphia, Darby Heights, for his mother’s funeral and must stay to ensure his parents’ ailing family business gets back on course.

Amidst all of this, he grows closer to his childhood crush, played by Taryn Manning, who is also back in town, while enduring the constant ridicule from his old hometown crew.

Mick reconnects with the neighborhood where he grew up, and he finds himself at the crossroads when forced to raze or resurrect the family bar.  He needs to decide whether to develop a casino near gentrification or keep the tradition of neighborhood bars. If Mick pushes the casino through, it will destroy Darby Heights.

Unfortunately, the movie falls flat despite an impressive cast that includes Bruce Dern, Cathy Moriarty and Jamie Kennedy.

Thank you, The Guardian, for the additional information.

“The Sound of Silence” Discovers High-Fidelity of Existence

drama, movies, review,

Directed by Michael Tyburski, The Sound of Silence impinges into a symphony of almost undetectable sounds that make up a moment of silence.

The story follows Peter Lucian, played by Peter Sarsgaard. He’s determined to catalogue all of the undetectable sounds. Through his job as a New York City “house tuner,” the hyper-methodical Peter works meticulously to diagnose the discordant ambient noises —produced by everything from wind patterns to humming electrical appliances — adversely affecting his clients’ moods. It’s an intriguing premise to speculate or theorize, and I have heard of the government creating “silent sounds” to influence people without being aware of the sound. 

When Peter takes on the challenging case of Ellen, played by Rashida Jones, a lonely woman plagued by chronic exhaustion, Peter discovers the mysteries of the soul, maybe even more significant than the mysteries of sound. 

The film is a quietly moving portrait of a harmony-obsessed man learning to embrace the dissonances of human emotion. Sarsgaard has a huge list of impressive credits, such as Jarhead, Shattered Glass, Education and a couple of episodic shows: Dopesick and Interrogation. ​

Jones is the daughter of Quincy Jones and Peggy Lipton. She’s starred in Parks & Recreation, The Social Network and several voiceovers: Spies in Disguise, Klaus and Duncanville TV series.  

The Love of Jeanne Ney

4 Genuine and Superior Classic German Silent Films

4K Ultra HD, comedy, drama, historical, history, horror, ,
The Great Leap (1927)

Kino Classics released some extraordinary German classic films from the silent era during the 1920s. Each one is available on Blu-ray or DVD. Presented in restorations by F. W. Murnau-Stiftung, I found each movie stunning and mesmerizing.

The films restored are The Great Leap (1927), directed by Arnold Fanck and starring Leni Riefenstahl, Paul Wegener’s The Golem (1920), G. W. Pabst’s The Love of Jeanne Ney (1927), and F. W. Murnau’s Tartuffe (1925), starring Emil Jannings.

The Great Leap
The Great Leap (1927)

I first watched The Great Leap, which features an audio commentary by film historian Samm Deighan. The movie stars Leni Riefenstahl, who is infamous as the great documentarian of Hitler. Before all that, she was foremost an actress, and she is good in this movie. It’s super funny. Apparently, Riefenstahl was a popular actress who starred in several mountain movies directed by Arnold Fanck. They included The Holy Mountain (Der heilige Berg, 1926) and The White Hell of Pitz Palu (Die weisse Hölle vom Piz Palü, 1929) as dramas of romance and survival.

The Great Leap suggests was something different as a playful romantic comedy set high atop the Dolomites. Riefenstahl plays an Italian peasant whose simple life is upended when a series of urbanites invade the slopes for a ski vacation. This bubbly comedy (featuring Riefenstahl’s usual on-screen love interest, Luis Trenker) combines slapstick laughs with stunning footage of acrobatic skiing and rock climbing, making it perhaps the most entertaining but unique movie out of all the German mountain films.

The Golem (1920)

Then I watched The Golem that contains both a 4K restoration of the German release version with three musical scores by Stephen Horne, Admir Shkurtaj, and Lukasz “Wudec” Poleszak, including U.S. release version with music by Cordula Heth. A feature comes with a comparison between the German and U.S. versions, and audio commentary by film historian Tim Lucas.

Hypothetically acknowledged as the source of the Frankenstein myth, the ancient Hebrew legend of the Golem provided actor and director Paul Wegener with the substance for an intriguing and adventure movie. Suffering under the tyrannical rule of Rudolf II in 16th-century Prague, a Talmudic rabbi, played by Albert Steinruck, creates a giant warrior, played by Wegener to protect the safety of his people. When the rabbi’s assistant, played by Ernst Deutsch, takes control of the Golem and attempts to use him for selfish gain, the lumbering monster runs rampant, abducting the rabbi’s daughter, played by Lyda Salmonova, and setting fire to the ghetto. The special effects for this time are impressive, creating the creation sequence with a dazzling blend of religion, sorcery, and the grand-scale destruction toward the end of the movie. The Golem was apparently an outstanding achievement from the legendary UFA Studios and remains an undeniable landmark in the horror’s evolution film.

The Love of Jeanne Ney came next and presents both the restored German release version with music arranged and orchestrated by Bernd Thewes, and the U.S. release version with music by Andrew Earle Simpson. It includes audio commentary by film historian Eddy Von Mueller.

The Love of Jeanne Ney (1927)

An epic of the Weimar cinema (Cinema of Germany), The Love of Jeanne Ney follows a young French woman’s struggle for happiness amid the political turbulence and corruption of post-World War I Europe. Directed by G. W. Pabst, who also directed Diary of a Lost Girl, Pandora’s Box, the film blends a variety of cinematic approaches as it weaves its complex narrative of moral chaos and political upheaval. Consider the use of the “American Style,” evocative of the Hollywood studio blockbuster; the avant-garde techniques of Soviet montage; and the eerie moving camerawork and shadowy perspectives are typical of German Expressionism. The result is a stunning cinematic experiment that never failed to surprise me with fast sequences that end with an exhilarating conclusion.

Tartuffe (1925)

Tartuffe includes both the German release version with a new score by Robert Israel and the U.S. release version with music by Giuseppe Becce, adapted by Javier Perez de Azpeita.

Tartuffe (1925)

Considered one of the most gifted visual storytellers during the German silent era, F. W. Murnau crafted works of great subtlety and emotional complexity through his absolute command of the cinematic medium. Known for such dazzling films as Nosferatu (1922), The Last Laugh (1924), Faust (1926), and Sunrise (1927), Murnau draws toward more intimate dramas exploring the dark corners of the human mind.

I had a prime interest in seeing Tartuffe, where Murnau Moliére’s fable of religious hypocrisy to the screen. The story follows a faithful wife, played by Lil Dagover. She tries to convince her husband, played by Werner Krauss, that their morally superior guest, Tartuffe, played by Emil Jannings, is in fact a lecherous hypocrite with a taste for the grape. Twisting the story to heighten the contemporary relevance, Murnau frames Moliére’s tale with a modern-day plot concerning a housekeeper’s stealthy efforts to poison her elderly master and take control of his estate.


Lost in America

Insider’s Homeless Youth, Absolutely Lowest “Lost in America”

documentary, drama, , , ,
Lost in America
Movie includes Halle Berry, Tiffany Haddish, Jon Bon Jovi, Rebecca Gayheart-Dane, Sanaa Lathan.

Directed by a survivor of the homeless as a youth, Rotimi Rainwater presents a blunt obligatory look at the harsh realities of homelessness in the documentary Lost in America. The story is poignant, showcasing the heart-wrenching truth of youth homelessness that, according to production notes, affects over millions of youth each year across America.   

The movie is a raw, unedited look at the various faces of youth homelessness, following Rainwater’s six-year journey as he gets up-close and personal with over 30 homeless youth in over 15 cities across the country. Shining his light in the dark shadows highlights the brutal perspective of the constant challenges of the homeless youth.  

The documentary shows startling truth about why so many young adults do not have a place to call home. Vacillating from human trafficking, family rejection, domestic violence, abuse and failures of the foster care system, each of the 30 participants tell their harrowing stories, painting an authentic, dark portrait of their homeless journey—it’s an eye-opener.

Simultaneously, the documentary highlights the efforts made to combat this issue. Lost in America includes interviews with homeless youth organizations and prominent political figures.  

The documentary features some major Hollywood talent that includes Halle Berry, Tiffany Haddish, Jon Bon Jovi, Rebecca Gayheart-Dane, Sanaa Lathan, and many more.  

Lost in America

The movie lacks popcorn entertainment. It is a film that everyone must watch, but not by themselves, with family and friends or educational or social betterment groups with discussions held afterward. Lost in America will be available on DVD and is streaming at select cable providers.

“Battle of Leningrad” a Russian Heroic Tale

drama, foreign films, historical, history, military, true story, ,

Written and directed by Aleksey Kozlov, Battle of Leningrad involves World War II’s Siege of Leningrad – in which Nazi Germany blockaded the major Soviet city for 28 months. The situation ranks as perhaps the single most brutal and devastating military campaign in modern history.

Now, the story of horrifying siege told through the lives of people caught in the middle of it in Battle of Leningrad. Produced in Russia, the story began in September 1941. On the Eastern Front of World War II, Kostya, played by Andrey Mironov-Udalov and his fellow Russian cadets tasked with evacuating thousands of civilians out of war-torn Leningrad. The purpose is safety aboard Barge 752.

While Kostya’s commander initially worries that the barge may be too outdated to sail across Lake Ladoga safely, the evacuation completed. Even Kostya finds time to smuggle his fiancé, Nastya, played by Maria Melnikova, aboard the bare to join him on the journey. But tragedy quickly finds them, and the story is about survival.

An unrelenting storm strikes that evening, and Barge 752 begins to break down and leak, threatening to sink. Kostya, Nastya, and the rest of the ship’s occupants are hopeful for rescue the next morning. They find themselves in even greater danger when the first responders are not what they hope them to be — planes to rescue them, but enemy aircraft, geared up for attack.

The film is epic on a grand scale while allowing enough focus intimately on the unique individuals caught up in an enormous tragedy. Kozlov’s movie is similar to Dunkirk, Saving Private Ryan, Stalingrad, and Titanic.

The movie is full of rage with intense circumstances on board the barge with the impending attack plays with remarkable clarity. 

The battle scenes are energetic and penetrating along with a dramatic storyline about a time in history that continues to interest storytellers like Kozlov.

Mironov-Udalov and Melnikova bring honesty to their relationship and circumstances. It is through their eyes we experience the horrors of WW II in Russia.

The movie is in Russia with English subtitles.