Earth 1930 // Soviet Union // Alexander Dovzhenko Letterboxd (LINK) Alexander Dovzhenko‘s masterpiece comes across as a celebration of the cycle of life, growth, and death, as well as a visual poem on nature and agriculture in Ukraine, but it’s also no less a propaganda on collectivization and liquidation of the kulaks as a… Continue reading Earth (Alexander Dovzhenko, 1930)
Man with a Movie Camera 1929 // Soviet Union // Dziga Vertov Letterboxd (LINK) In Dziga Vertov‘s Kino-Eye manifesto, he wrote “I am the Kino-Eye. I am a mechanical eye. I, a machine, show you the world only as I can see it. Now and forever I free myself from human immobility. I am in constant… Continue reading Man with a Movie Camera (Dziga Vertov, 1929)
I Am Cuba 1964 // Cuba, Soviet Union // Mikhail Kalatozov Criterion Collection (Laserdisc Only) / Letterboxd (LINK) I recently had a chance to watch a restored version of I AM CUBA in cinema, it still looked as astonishing as, if not more than, I remember from watching it 5 years ago in DVD. The… Continue reading I Am Cuba (Mikhail Kalatozov, 1964)
I Am Twenty 1965 // Soviet Union // Marlen Khutsiev Letterboxd (LINK) Three young men at their early twenties, Sergei (Valentin Popov), Nikolai (Nikolai Gubenko) and Slava (Stanislav Lyubshin), rekindle their friendship after Sergei returns from military service, meanwhile all three of them starts to realise the disillusionment of their ideals amidst a conformity society and experience an… Continue reading I Am Twenty (Marlen Khutsiev, 1965)
#34 Andrei Rublev 1966 // Soviet Union // Andrei Tarkovsky Criterion Collection (LINK) This is going to be less a review than a charting of my experience with ANDREI RUBLEV, the critically praised second feature of Andrei Tarkovsky which I have watched three times till this day. My memory on my first encounter with ANDREI… Continue reading #34 Andrei Rublev (1966)
#397 Ivan’s Childhood 1962 // Soviet Union // Andrei Tarkovsky Criterion Collection (LINK) I find it intellectually intimidating in reviewing a Tarkovsky film. Andrei Tarkovsky has always been my favorite director, the more of his films I watch, the more transformative quality I find in the moments, and the less confident I am to articulate… Continue reading #397 Ivan’s Childhood (1962)
#888 Stalker 1979 // Soviet Union // Andrei Tarkovsky Criterion Collection (LINK) Wandering in the Zone It’s weird to say I absolutely love Stalker (I would say it’s one of my top 10 favorite films of all time) even it’s utterly beyond my logical comprehension. I have watched Stalker three times, each time my confusion grows and thickens… Continue reading #888 Stalker (1979)
Criterion Challenge #601 Letter Never Sent 1959 // Soviet Union // Mikhail Kalatozov Spine #601 Release: Mar 20, 2012 Four explorers descended (literally, as shown by the rising opening shot presumably taken from a helicopter) onto the land of Siberia plateau, looking for diamonds as suggested by some geographical evidence. Reminding me of the gold prospecting… Continue reading #601 Letter Never Sent (1959)
The Films in My Life (OnCriterion) 