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SOVIET FILM FESTIVAL
The other man's
point of view
rpHE five features In
the season of Soviet
films at- the Center
Cinema represent quite
a broad range of styles.
This alone should have
been sufficient to create
wider local .nterest in the
season. There was. a dch
nitc film festival a.r abouj
it — most people who.?a^
any of the films saw all of
them - but the theat e
management can hardly
have felt encouraged to try
such an experiment again
sinccthe house was never
much more than half filled.
The mere fact that a
film is made in any for
eign language does not
automatically make it.
eood. Nevertheless, these
were carefully selected for
a wide range of tastes
from children to balleto
manes. Their common m
terest was the opportunity
to look for different points
of view.
Indeed, the only conven
tional point of view was
taken in the least effective
of the five films — The
Sleeping Beauty\ As a bal
let, it may have been
worth seeing. As » "Im; "
was most notable for the
doubtful quality of its
direction. It was quite ap
parently Pu,„. as
cinema with plenty _
camera movement and in
timacy of view (this was
a most satisfying contrast
with the rigid style used by
Paul Czinner when filming
stage performances)
Much more virile was
the Lithuanian contribu
tion 'No One Wanted to
Die', a fairly well-controlled
story of the Sovietisation
period in Lithuania just
after the war. As a film, it
must be rated quite suc
cessful, with plenty of
movement and human
awareness even by West
ern standards.
Apart from this, it was
interesting because of its
political ambivalence.
There was no doubt from
the screenplay that the
heroes were the Reds and
the villains the counter
revolutionary bandits. But
In Its treatment, there «
a complete dcuibt as
Whid,af6 t£ bandits.
S deadly serious were
never untikeable and since
the climax to the,ac'l(£
saw most of thcm dead in
the village streets, there
was no need for explan
li°'Watch Your Car' also
carricd . overtcnes ot
social criticism, miitcd but
quite real. This >s « com
edy about a man who
steals cars from people
who have accumulated the
money to buy them by
profiteering, a more seri
ous peccadillo m Russia
th^eC!risera deliciously
obtuse policeman who,
when he stumbles on the
solution to the crime, be
haves in accordance with
the best traditions of
social conscience by g
ing the thief a second
chance — which he im
mediately proceeds
waste.
Dubbed
version
A sub-titled version of
this film was shown at tiie
last Sydney Film Festival.
This version was duboea
and as well as losing a lot
of voice quality, the Ameri
can accents did not sit so
well. The style shows a
strong French influence
perhaps a little unce^'"j£
There was a clearly
expressed audience prefer
ence for this film.
Comedy in fact was the
only common denominator
found by the generally re
ceptive audiences.
The Russians even pro
duce their own sort ot
Western movie. The £-lu
sive Avengers, about four
teenagers who fight a^in.s'
the Whites, shows that m
the mind of ^Russian
film magnates, this style
is strictly for Ms-That
such films can temadeto
serve a political education
function is also clear. The
Elusive Avengers is never
theless great fun, with
exactly the same cliches as
genuine westerns.
Gogol's novel The Over
coat' has been filmed
several times and the ver
sion here is as good as
any of them. As well, it
has the advantage of be
ing the genuine articlo,
with a better understand
ing of the characters in
volved.
In all of the feature
films, apart perhaps from
the ballet, the technical
and artistic quality was of,
a good standard. Certainly
there are lapses, but it ]
would be unfair to empha
sise these since they can
be found anywhere.
In all, the whole season
was well worth the effort;
of going out on four con- i
secutive nights and left |
one with a definite wish to
see Soviet films more
often. The same cannot al- [
ways be said for the docti-;
mentaries which were
shown. Every country uses
the documentary for pro
paganda and every coun
try makes the occasional
atrociously bad one. There
was one such on the first
night. The remainder wore
no better or worse than
anybody else's, but gener
ally showed an inability to
be ruthless In the cutting
room.
— JJ.iVl.
$