oh Terry Richardson... but apart from him, Russian silent cinema!!

Note: for some reason, some of the Russian is not showing up properly in this post, but it's not important.
First of all, you should all go read this article about Terry the perv, which I just found out from Tavi's blog. My only comment is, I agree with all the rational "feminists" haha. He's pretty disgusting in my opinion, no matter how artsiful his photos are. Respect should come before art... now saying that, I think art comes first before anything. So... yeah he basically has gone too far. Now, again saying that, in the industry that uses stick-thin barely just teenage girls to wear fancy pretty clothes that just don't fit what they are, AT ALL, it's all quite confusing. Oh yeah and there are a lot more pervs in this industry, so Terry's not alone.
Okay now onto other things.
My May Term class is very entertaining/annoying. Now, there are a few reason for that. I hope only the right people read this entry and if any of the wrong ones do, and start claiming that I say bad things behind people's backs (actually... not really behind, more like in the privacy of my own room at the expense of this free speech they claim to have in this country) then let them. I've never really cared for what others think of me oh how original and indie and hipster and fullofmyself this comment sounds. But really... I am going off topic.
Imagine this: there are 26 people in this class, which is about Russian culture and history through Russian (Soviet) film. There are all the "Russian" people present, such as myself, Vadim, and Yuliana. I put "Russian" in q.marks because honestly I am the only true Russian. I lived there for 11 years, and actually lived in Russia, not in a place that was part of the Soviet Union. Vadim is from Moldova and left it when he was still like 5 or something. Yuliana is actually from the Ukraine but lived mostly in Israel. All three of us speak Russian, on different levels. Also present in this class are most of the Russian students, as in students who studied Russian at this uni of ours. Plus some intellectuals, and some total randoms.
I agree, I have very high expectations for people's intelligence, and this seems to be a problem, especially here in America. Though it wasn't any different in Prague. I expect people to know the history of Soviet Union to a certain degree if they're going to be in a 200 level class about Russian History/Culture/Film. I also expect people to have patience for silent films and the fact that it's hard for everyone to grasp them, not just you average middle-class white American trash. Hm.. that sounded a bit harsh. I am so elitist sometimes, it makes me angry with myself. But moving on.
The fact that I don't understand some things in those films doesn't mean I have to ask the dumbest questions in class, or what's worse, say things that are so completely obvious that nobody says them, because everyone takes them for granted. But you have to say them, don't you? Even when the professor makes a joke and everyone laughs, you have to actually tell everyone in class how it really was, because of course, only you understand the reality, right? Because jokes are funny for some other reason, right?
Ok I am starting to repeat myself. I guess saying that Dovzhenko had some homosexual content in his film is going a bit too far, but I think that agreeing with the professor that it is going to far, and then adding that the reason the two men appear closer to each other is to make the woman feel more excluded, which is exactly what we've been discussing for the last hour, is too much. None of this will make sense unless you've seen the movie and have met the subject of my utmost adoration which is this lovely lady who says the loveliest things.
Of course, she is not alone. Other people don't appear to be the brightest in my class. The boring presentations that simply repeat what the professor already said, or presentations that simply tell us what happened in the movie. No, my favorite type of presentation is the one where the student tells us one interesting aspect of the film, and for the next five minutes gives continuous examples that get repetitive, everyone starts yawning, including the professor, and I leave to go drink water so my ears don't fall off my head.
I sound so conceited, egotistical and arrogant. Who is to say that I don't say the dumbest shit in class? Well, since this is my blog, I can say whatever I want. That's the point of the blog, isn't it...
Less of the petty disappointment in the human nature, and more of the real analysis please.
So far we've seen "Battleship Potemkin", "Mother", "October", "Man with a Movie Camera", "Bed and Sofa",  "Earth" and some awful Soviet documentary about those films.

Battleship Potemkin (Броненосец «Потёмкин»)

This film has a lot of very beautiful shots, especially the contrast between the mass fear and the tragedy of the individual. In my opinion, those are the most amazing shots in this film. The first part of the film is a bit slow moving, though the opening scenes with the grotesque meat and the maggots/worms are stunning. Even more so because the black and white makes it even more striking - first you just see the meat, but you look closer and it's full of thriving life. The other scene that simply gripped my heart was right before the mutiny, where the soldiers were ordered to shoot the sailors, the tension done beautifully by the montage of the fear of the sailors under the white sheet, and the cruelty of the commander, and just seconds before their death, the tension in the rifles.. aaaahhh it drove me crazy.
And then of course, the tragedy on the steps of Odessa was just incredible. My favorite was NOT the lady with the baby carriage, it was the lady with the boy in her arms walking towards the shooting soldiers. 

The expression on her face and the lack of any emotional response from the soldiers created incredible emotions in the audience.. well it did in me. You have to be a hardcore bastard not to feel anything in this scene. Another favorite, which I share with Francis Bacon, is the lady with the broken glasses:

This shot is just so sickeningly violent, I think my heart skipped a beat when this scene suddenly appeared on the screen.
Oh Eisenstein, in the words of my father "чудовищно мерзко-лживый" which he actually said about "Ivan the Terrible" film, but it can be applied to any Eisenstein film, especially "October". (Literal translation of my father's words: monstrously nastily falsified)

October (Октябрь (Десять дней, которые потрясли мир) )

I don't really know what to say about this film. Some of the scenes were beautiful, again, my favorites include the dead white horse hanging off the opening bridge. Unfortunately I can't find an image online.
Another scene that I love for it's hilarity is the "fake" Lenin. Fake - because it was an actor, but he really looks like Lenin! It's incredible. The whole scene is hilarious - Lenin is elevated, and you can't see what he is standing on, so it looks like he is floating above the crowds of people, and there is a flag in front of him, it's almost like a cheap advertisement!

Finally, another scene I loved was the arrival of the Women's Battalion in the Winter Palace and Eisenstein's smart montage of comparing them to the beautiful classical statues in the Palace. Priceless.
Oh, and who can forget the shameless smashing of the wine cellar? All that wine, too aristocratic! So good.


I don't know who is going to read my endless rambling about this, but who cares.


I don't have much to say about Mother (Мать) because I didn't see it in class and had very little patience to watch it in my room, so I only watched parts of it. It was wonderful at the beginning: the scene at the "local pub" and the home of the poor family that literally have to belongings, the wretched father and the amazingly theatrical and beautiful mother. I also liked the mother during the scene in the court, she was just aaahhhhh takes my breath away!


Bed and Sofa (Третья Мещанская). For some reason Wikipedia says it's called "Третья Мещанская" in Russian, but I am pretty sure it said something else on the DVD. Anyway, it doesn't matter. I saw it as a Soviet take on Hollywood entertainment (Hollywood at that time of course). It was entertaining, so it fulfilled its purpose. Again, some of the scenes were amazing. The morning routine of the husband was amazing, his grimaces, gestures, were just really great. Of course, I enjoyed the comparison of the wife to the cat. But also little details, like the decoration of their room, all those little Russian details made me want to go to Russia almost painfully. I guess this happens when you live all over the world. I wonder if one day I will watch a Czech film and see knedliki and pivicko and socks in sandals, and mullets and hairy armpits and painfully want to go visit... Probably not. But, I am moving away from the subject.


Man with a Movie Camera (Кино-глаз) was very beautiful, rhythmic, but also completely exhausting to watch, especially before noon on any day that you have to wake up at 8:30, with only a cereal bar for food and no tea. Amazingly, no one in class had anything to say about it. I guess I am not surprised. The idea of two perspectives was crazy, like looking in the mirror infinitely. The director films, and he is being filmed at the same time. And then we watch what was filmed by this camera man. A very confusing and excruciatingly philosophical, theoretic, etc etc idea. I want to learn how they manipulated images in those times with the film strips, like how did he put himself in a beer bottle??? Haha that was great.


Finally, my favorite was actually the film Earth (Земля) 

There were a lot of amazing parts in this film. The three kulaks, dressed beautifully and elegantly (as far as peasant clothing permits), грызут семечки (I am sorry, there is NO translation to this as this is a very very Russian thing to do), filmed from the bottom against a beautiful summer sky, smirking and slyly smiling. The ripeness of the fruit and abundance of the harvest, as if famine and shortage of food never happens to Russian people. The lovely old man dying, his great philosophy of life, and his friend's. How amazing is the scene when his friend leans over the old man's grave and tries to talk to him through the soil? And the naughty children make fun of him? The dance performed by the young man in the middle of the night on the way home is in itself a stunning piece of cinematography. The ending of the film is just a bit predictable, but I guess that's everything with Soviet cinema. Though the shot of the kulak writhing around with his head in the soil and his ass sticking out is quite shocking and humorous. I think my favorite shot though is from the beginning, with the old man eating the pear. The slight gesture of his hands, the way the pear sits in his hand, so majestically but modestly, his beautiful wrinkled face and his soft and yet purposeful posture ... these are all other-worldly details of GOD. He is the kind and patient God of  the old ways of farming and harvesting and peasant life. I love him.


That's enough analysis for today. My brain is now empty without any thoughts, so that I can finish the storyboard for Teaadora's video! And start on James's film. I have to write a schedule, contact the actors, think of lighting, etc etc... stuff that I love to do. I think I am going to find a camera before I go to Russia so that I can film there, maybe come up with some sort of artsy film / documentary. We'll see. I enjoy how my class is a preparation for my trip this June. Every time I go to Russia, I need about a month to prepare emotionally and such.