A personal journal of film and documentary reviews, and reviews of anything else that intrigues me.
British Films, Russian and Soviet Films
George Galloway and Gayatri Pertiwi, “Sputnik: Orbiting the World with George Galloway (Episode 2)” (RT.com, 23 November 2013) Broadcast on the 50th anniversary of the assassination…
British Films, Russian and Soviet Films
George Galloway and Gayatri Pertiwi, “Sputnik: Orbiting the World with George Galloway (Episode 4)” (RT.com, December 2013) In this episode, the Galloways enquire into institutional racism…
British Films, Russian and Soviet Films
George Galloway and Gayatri Pertiwi, “Sputnik: Orbiting the World with George Galloway (Episode 3)” (RT.com, November 2013) In addition to representing Bradford West in the British…
Andrei Tarkovsky, “Solaris” (1972) The great Soviet director Andrei Tarkovsky was nothing if not consistent: he made beautiful, artistic, slow-burning films that are an immersive experience…
Herman Axelbank and Max Eastman, “Tsar to Lenin” (1937) Presented by Mehring Books and the Socialist Equality Party, “Tsar to Lenin” is an incredible historical document…
Arkadi Sirenko, “The Temptation of B / Iskushenie B” (1990) A curious film, one of the last made in the Soviet Union before its downfall in…
Aleksandr Andriyevsky, “Gibel’ Sensatsii / Loss of Feeling” (1935) A very handsome-looking film made in 1935, “Gibel’ Sensatsii” is sometimes also known as “The Robots of…
Lev Kuleshov, “The Death Ray / Luch Smerti” (1925) A silent Soviet action thriller that starts with a workers’ revolt in a factory which is crushed…
D Zyuz’kov, Natalia Yurchenko documentary (1984) A curious little 20-minute gem on Youtube, this Soviet television documentary about the gymnast Natalia Yurchenko, made about the time…
Northern European Films, Russian and Soviet Films
Priit Pärn and Kulno Luhts, “Harjutusi iseseisvaks eluks / Exercises in Preparation for Independent Life” (1980) In typically insouciant style, animator Priit Pärn serves up another short…