It is well-known that Red Army soldiers revolt at the first chance and with any excuse ( rotten food, for example
) initiating those revolutions Russia likes so much. Keeping this historical background in mind, it is unusual to find those same Red Army soldiers going to an amusement park or enjoying themselves in, MEIN GOTT!!!.. Russian nightclubs and in the company of unknown girls. This is conduct unbecoming for proper U.S.S.R. soldiers that, of course, will have problematic consequences when one of those soldiers doesn't get back to his ship, the "Aurora". He is instead seduced by the mysteries of the Russian night and is drawn into a gangster band.
"Chyortovo Koleso" (19269 was directed by the prestigious Bolshevist pair Herr Grigori Kozintsev and Herr Leonid Trauberg, or perhaps one should say, a famous trio because this was the first film in which Herr Andrei Moskvin collaborated with his cinematography with the pair mentioned before. This proved to be a long film collaboration that extended in time even to the talkie period and was an excellent artistic combination that resulted in wonderful –though sometimes strange-silent films like this oeuvre.
The film has that fast paced editing so characteristic of the Russian films of that period, astounding especially in the night sequences which include a frantic roller-coaster scene, not to mention those camera tricks that are always part of the development of film narrative. Particularly striking to this German count is the careful description of the slums characters and the peculiar night fauna but there is still the occasional nod to social issues.
But besides those well-known or classic film technical characteristics of those famous 20's U.S.S.R. films, this time this work shows some inspiration from films from the West, particularly in the underground atmosphere and the night scenes. Although scenes set in slums weren't unknown in Russian films, this time the picture is influenced by Amerikan and German movies ( USA 20's social films and German Expressionism ) and with little political propaganda. This makes the film a hybrid, a mix of innovative Russian film techniques with Western classic film narratives. This results in a very interesting and accomplished experiment typical of Herr Kozintsev and Herr Trauberg .
And now, if you'll allow me, I must temporarily take my leave because this German Count must get back to his yacht in order to avoid an aristocratic court-martial.
Herr Graf Ferdinand Von Galitzien http://ferdinandvongalitzien.blogspot.com/
