Alexander Medvedkin: The Filmmaker's Companion 2 (The KINOfiles Filmmaker's Companions)

This first introduction to Alexander Medvedkin's filmmaking career traces his process of developing a unique brand of cinematic satire throughout the period of the Soviet revolutionary experiment. Using original archival material and Medvedkin's writings for his unfinished autobiography, Widdis explores the films The Miracle Worker , New Moscow and the experimental ""film train""--or kinopoezd --as well as the film Happiness . 'Today I saw how the Bolshevik laughs,' wrote Sergei Eisenstein after viewing Alexander Medvedkin's 1935 film, Happiness. For him, the film had a place alongside Soviet cinema's greatest works. Some thirty years later, at a retrospective in Brussels, the radical French director Chris Marker had a similar revelation: 'There was an unknown film, made by an unknown, a superb film, as good as Eisenstein - astonishing', he later recalled. Marker was quick to spread the news, and Medvedkin's satirical eccentricity and revolutionary vision made him a cult figure for the young generation of French filmmakers in the 1960s. Even the young Jean-Luc Godard was not immune to his influence.This, the first English language book dedicated to this most neglected of directors, draws on previously unknown archival sources including Medvedkin's diaries and notebooks, alongside close readings of his key films, to reveal his startling originality to a new audience. Looking particularly at those films which represent the pinnacle of his career - Happiness, The Miracle Worker (1936) and New Moscow (1939) - Emma Widdis traces his complex and fluctuating relationship with the political ideals and realities of soviet art.While his lifelong commitment to the Bolshevik cause is beyond doubt, Widdis draws out the ambivalence and the contradictions of Medvedkin's work and life and shows how, against the odds, he strived to use comedy - specifically satire - to serve the most serious aims. Giving a vivid impression of Medvedkin's drive, ambition and, above all, his unique vision, she shows how his creative life was marked by the challenges of his commitment to that most capricious of regimes. This, The First English Language Book Dedicated To This Most Neglected Of Directors, Alexander Medvedkin, Draws On Previously Unknown Archival Sources Including Medvedkin's Diaries And Notebooks, Alongside Close Readings Of His Key Films, To Reveal His Startling Originality To A New Audience. Looking Particularly At Those Films Which Represent The Pinnacle Of His Career - Happiness, The Miracle Worker (1936) And New Moscow (1939) - Emma Widdis Traces His Complex And Fluctuating Relationship With The Political Ideals And Realities Of Soviet Art.--jacket. 1. Political Satire -- 2. The Film-train -- 3. Happiness -- 4. The Accursed Force : A Cursed Film -- 5. The Miracle Worker -- 6. New Moscow -- 7. Journeys In The Lands Of Evil. Emma Widdis. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [153]-154). Filmography: P. 143-152. "This first introduction to Medvedkin's film-making career traces his process of developing a unique brand of cinematic satire throughout the period of the Soviet revolutionary experiment. Using original archival material and Medvedkin's writings towards his unfinished autobiography, Widdis explores his films from the 1936 The Miracle Worker, through the unreleased New Moscow of 1938 and the experimental 'film train' - or kinopoezd - up to the rediscovery of his 1934 film Happiness in the 1960s."-- Provided by publisher