By the Bluest of Seas (Russian)

By the Bluest of Seas packs in so many wonderful emotions into a mere 70 minutes running time, that I am in complete awe of director Boris Barnet. The story of two friends working, living, and falling in love on an island is just so charming that it makes for a perfect romantic-comedy.

Yusuf (Lev Sverdlin) and Alyosha (Nikolai Kruychkov) are both quick to fall in love with Masha (Yelena Kuzmina) when they arrive at a "collective farm" to work after being shipwrecked in a storm on the Caspian Sea.  What follows is a series of mini-adventures, slapstick comedy, musical interludes, and romantic moments as the love triangle moves towards an unpredictable end.  

Similar to his film Outskirts, Boris Barnet has a way to make the audience uneasy by merging tragedy with comedy in the most unexpected of times and places. While By the Bluest of Seas is not as politically driven or serious a film as Outskirts, the trademark tragicomedy is ever-present from the very beginning when Yusuf, being rescued after the shipwreck, is more concerned about feeling ticklish than getting to safety. Such emotional highs and lows run throughout the film keeping the viewer engrossed along with being fascinated by the wonderful film making techniques used by the director during the early sound period.

By the Bluest of Seas manages to romanticize the beauty of the sea by depicting it in its many forms; from high thunderous waves to the calm serene waters reflecting the suns rays, the sea follows the moods of the characters. Once again, as in his other films, Boris Barnet also manages to capture the most basic of human emotions such as jealousy, excitement, disgust, and betrayal in his portrayal of love found and lost. 

By the Bluest of Seas is a charming little early sound period film that stays away from the state of the nation at the time and focuses more on the human aspects of love, friendship, and the joy of enjoying life for what it is. 

For being one of the earliest perfect date movies I've ever seen, By the Bluest of Seas gets a 5/5 star rating and a spot in my list of films that are essential viewings.

DVD Information:

DVD:                     Mr. Bongo Films

Title:                    By the Bluest of Seas

Release Date:       12^th November 2012

Certificate:          12

Running Time:       69 minutes

Outskirts (Russian)

A Russian classic by Boris Barnet, Outskirtsis a technically impressive film, from around the time sound in films just started, that tells the story of a small village town on the Russian-German border during World War I.

The film starts with normal everyday life of the town going into turmoil starting with a strike in the local shoe factory. Soon enough the war breaks out with a German attack and it is at this point that relationships between friends, factory workers, brothers, and family begin to strain. The film from then on follows the life of men from the town at the frontline and the life of the people they have left behind along with the German POWs who end up in the town after the war starts.

Outskirts is a film that has stark emotional highs and lows. There are moments of extreme comedy and just as in life these moments make the audience uneasy as they are almost always followed by tragic events that break the heart. These moments are heightened when news about men dying in war reaches the town just as German POWs are being given permission to move around amongst the residents to work and earn a living. A sense of despair is felt by the audience because of an expected tragedy on the onset of unexpected love between a German POW and a local girl; a love between two individuals who speak in languages that the other doesn't understand, and yet their attraction has the innocence of a first crush.

One of the scenes that depicts the emotional complexities of the period takes place inside the POW camp as the camera moves from one side of a room starting with two men playing cards, smiling, followed by a group of men gravely looking at a dying man in the next bed, followed by a man shaving his beard in an everyday fashion. The camera then moves back as the now dead man is removed, the men playing cards shift their game to a nearby bed as a mark of respect, and soon enough the empty space left by the dead man is taken by a new inmate. All this takes place in a rather subtle manner as if it is the normal way of life.

These dilemmas of emotions faced by the locals, the German POWs, and the men returning from the frontline are beautifully presented in the film and show a side of war that is often ignored.

Technically, the film presents numerous instances of marvel. From the moment in the beginning where a man looks at the audience and winks after just having picked-up a girl successfully to a later time in the film when the war has been going on for a few years and machines have taken over most of the work in factories, the camera work is simply spectacular as the film cuts from the shoe-making machines to soldiers dying in the trenches by machine guns. The sound effects of the film might seem sketchy at times, but the film proves to be a great comparison piece to see how sound has progressed over the years and also is a study into the intricacies of various sounds.        

Outskirts doesn't hide away from making a social commentary as a soldier at one point comments at the absurdity of war by saying, "We don't want to fight, they don't want to fight, but we're in the fourth year of war".

Outskirts is a film that signifies the power of people; the power to go on a strike and demand a better way of life, the power to fight for the country, the power to love the enemy, the power to defy your own father, the power to stand up against your own nation for what is right, and eventually the power of revolution.

Outskirts is classic cinema at its best.

Rating 5/5

DVD Information:

Release Date:       12 November 2012

Certificate: 12

Running Time:       99 minutes

  

Sherlock Holmes: The Hound of the Baskervilles

It's world cinema with a difference. An age old story, a classic, one that is embedded in the minds of most children and adults around the world. The tale of Sherlock Holmes: The Hound of the Baskervilles directed by Russian director Igor Maslennikov is a lovely adaptation of a much loved piece of literature.

Released on 21st May 2012 on DVD by Mr. Bongo Films, this Russian adaptation is a version that takes you back to the original writings. While it is not stylized like the new film version of Sherlock Holmes starring Robert Downey Jr., nor is it "modern" like the British TV series Sherlock, it is reminiscent of the past in its approach.

There is no doubt that this adventure of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson is legendary and can withstand repeated viewing, but watching it in a foreign language (with subtitles) did bring about a new outlook to the entire proceedings. The background music, the photography, the locations, the overall feel with horse carriages and costumes seemed a bit more genuine and honest to the story (not that I dislike the new avatars).

Surprisingly enough the subtle humor and mystery doesn't die out in the adaptation either. It's all there and thoroughly enjoyable as well. I do have to admit that initially it did feel odd every time Dr. Watson introduced himself as someone from London in Russian, but then by keeping true to the story it does bring about a certain authenticity. The acting by all the characters, especially Vasili Livanov and Nikita Mihalkov, is very theatrical, although not over-the-top, and thus once again adds to the appeal of the film.

Starring Vasili Livanov (as Sherlock Holmes) and Vitali Solomin (as Dr. Watson), the story takes Sir Henry (Nikita Mihalkov), heir to the estate of the recently deceased Sir Charles Baskerville, to the countryside along with Dr. Watson while Sherlock Holmes stays back in London overlooking other matters related to the case. What follow is treachery, murder, love, heartbreak, and obviously a beast seen by a few and heard by many, the Hound of Baskerville. In short, it's typical extraordinary storytelling by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle full of suspense, mystery, eccentric characters, and that pipe smoking, deerstalker hat wearing detective par excellence, Sherlock.    

Sherlock Holmes: The Hound of Baskervilles is cinema at its nostalgic best. If you are a Sherlockian then you will surely appreciate this adaptation, especially the moment when Sherlock makes his appearance for the first time half an hour into the film. If you love mystery and haven't read the books, give the film a try before watching any of the other adaptations and let it take you back to the original writings. If you love films in general, you will positively enjoy this world cinema-esq approach to the tales of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.                 

Rating 4/5 Stars for Authenticity, Acting, Nostalgia, and well I can never have enough of Sherlock Holmes.