TODAY’S BEST BET: Welcome (Back) to Crimea Cлужили два товарища/Two Army Comrades (Drama. USSR, 1968)(Kultura, 11:15). -- > The limited-sounding genre of Soviet Movies About Making Movies in the Crimea During the Civil War was actually a two-hit wonder, but only the 2nd entry drew much notice in the West: N. Mikhalkov’s fine Раба любви/A Slave of Love (1975), an elegiac “hymn to early cinema”-cum-adventure story that won several US awards and did v. well in art houses worldwide. I love “A Slave” – always have. But “Two Army Comrades” is a better film – ask any Russian – and deserves more attn now: it has two icons of Soviet/Russian performing arts – the late O. Yankovsky and the immortal V. Vysotsky – along w/ a cast so good it feels cheap to call it “supporting” (R. Bykov, A. Papanov, I. Savvina) in an anti-war epic that summons up real feeling for Russias Whites – the mortal enemies of the Party which, of course, paid to make the film. Theres your irony supplement for the day. It’s Nov. of 1920 and the sometimes heroic/often misguided Wrangel contingent is rapidly approaching E on the tank, as both the Reds and their currently-allied Makhno brethren are closing in fast…and there’s not much Crimea left behind them. A two-man camera crew (Yankovsky and Bykov) is sent up in a plane with a war-booty 35 mm. movie camera (a Debrie «Parvo») to film the White positions – and does so, but is forced down in the process and the two comrades fall into the hands of the Makhnovtsy. Yikes. Meanwhile, the film’s parallel plot – which joins the first only at the end, and sadly – features the White cavalry officer Brusentsov (Vysotsky), who successfully makes his way to Sevastopol for evac with Wrangel’s remnants but…finds his life unraveling, as the phrase has it, since all that matters to him (homeland, wife [Savvina] and his faithful horse) is now threatened. The above notwithstanding, there are more than a few good laughs here (the film is actually billed as a “tragicomedy” by Tele-Nedelya) and you’ll find several episodes both stirring and upbeat. But melancholy prevails on balance – it’s not for nothing that both “Paths of Glory” and “All Quiet on the Western Front” have been cited as points of reference for “Two Comrades.” Tune in (or watch online below) and see why for yourself. https://youtube/watch?v=Zhq-aNlQJuo&hl=ru
Posted on: Mon, 13 Oct 2014 06:27:51 +0000
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