Am blauesten aller Meere

Boris Barnet's films are not the easiest to track, down so I have no idea how representative this one is of that lesser know celebrity of the Soviet Industry.

BY THE BLUEST OF SEAS however proves to be a pleasant surprise and pleasant is a surprise among these - no invaders driven back into the sea, now vicious landowners, no loving portrait of a national military leader.

Filmed in glowing sunshine, spaced by a menacing storm, it covers the two sailors banded up with the Caspian "Light of Communism" (well what to you expect?) fishing co-op who divide their time between making the boats run and competing for the lanky blond chair-lady of the board. The three leads are appealing, slim and unconventional and we enjoy our time with them. The storm is filmed with some ingenuity, with the cabin tilting in some sound stage machine and the ocean pounding the deck.

The story is pretty slight and finally propagandist, with the blond remaining faithful to her sailor fiancé off battling the nation's maritime enemies, but it never has the heavy handedness of the body of the Russian product which survives.

Things are helped by an excellent mid tone copy.

It's difficult for me to judge Rivette's statement about Boris Barnet having been the greatest of Soviet filmmakers after Eisenstein ; I definitely prefer his works to Eisenstein's or let's say Pudovkin's.

"U samogo sinyego morya" ("By the Bluest of Seas"), a cheerful poetic miniature capturing skirmishes between love and friendship, abounds in crystal clear simplicity and heartfelt humour. In addition to these, we get more than a couple of credible faces (the one of Yelena Kuzmina in particular), a lot of nice songs, and last but not least the most impressive shots of breakers which I have ever encountered on screen.

Some reviewers didn't see any Soviet propaganda in the movie. I must disagree : the scenery upon which the personal storyline unfolds evidently promotes period collectivism,a.o. No wonder, then. However, art in Barnet's rendering transcends everything else.

The transfer on Mr.Bongo's recent release seems quite good ; regrettably no extras were taken from the original Ruscico version.

There isn't a great deal to the Russian 'classic' "By the Bluest of Seas" other than its remarkable use its location around the Caspian Sea and yet its reputation among cineastes is extremely high. Unlike the propaganda films of Eisenstein and Dovzhendo, this is a simple love story and a tale of friendship that owes more to Hollywood than to early Russian cinema.

Two sailors are washed up on an island where they both fall for the same girl, thus testing their friendship. It's a very simple-minded picture, luminously photographed by Mikhail Kirillov, charming enough in itself but hardly worth the critical plaudits that have been heaped on it.

By the Bluest of Seas (Russian: U samogo sinego morya) (1936) Director: Boris Barnet First Watched: 3/30/25 6/10 Stars

a "bros before hos", sweet sea shanty in film form- serenely stagnant, unsure whether it's silent, struggles to sustain interest.

#Tanka #PoemReview

Tanka poems do not have a rhyming scheme. They are based on syllable counts like the more common Haiku. 5-7-5-7-7 in a 5 lined stanza format. Poem Reviews are an artful, eloquent way to express opinions on anything you want, but IMDB makes this difficult with its unforgiving minimum required characters count that comes standard with every review!

Compared to the works of Eisenstein and Alexander Dovzhenko, this film will probably seem quite unremarkable to many viewers - if you've watched enough early Hollywood romantic comedies, the characters will be familiar and the plot predictable. Nonetheless, it was an enjoyable enough watch set against the beautiful Caspian Sea, with gorgeous cinematography and sound. Recommended for hardcore film buffs but not for the average viewer, who would be better served watching more well-known Russian classics or early Hollywood screwball comedies.