“Mr. West’s Amazing Adventures in the Bolshevik Country”
directed by Lew Kuleszow, USSR 1924, 56 min.
starring: Porfiri Podobed, Boris Barnet, Aleksandra Chochlowa, Wsiewolod Pudowkin and others.
The project had its premiere in March during the Second Silent Film Festival in Warsaw’s Iluzjon Theater. The idea of combining contemporary music artists with old film projects is not an original one, but as it turned out, is inspired by musicians who are able to improvise. The first film that was shown at the festival was the masterpiece “Mr. West’s Amazing Adventures in the Bolshevik Country”, directed by Lew Kuleszow from Russia in the year 1924, a satire about the relationship between the West and then-Soviet Russia. The accordionists of Motion Trio performed brilliantly during the showing of this moving film, their emotions building as the film progressed. The most interesting scenes were the comical ones during which the three accordionists performed as true virtuosos, changing the tempo and taking full advantage of the sounds their instruments are able to produce. The leader of the group, Janusz Wojtarowicz, performed with such emotion that he broke the chair he was sitting on, a truly accidental occurrence.
Marek Dusz, “Rzeczpospolita”
“People on Sunday”
German experimental film
Directed by Kurt Siodmak, Robert Siodmak, Edgar G. Ulmer, Fred Zinnemann, Germany 1930, 58 min.
Robert Siodmak, who also directed the famous “ Crimson Pirat ” (1952), debuted the film “People on Sunday”, which proved to be a huge financial success and became an avant garde piece of work in the history of the silent film industry. This low-budget film tells the story of a day in the life of several Berlin residents. Rather than choosing big-name actors for his film, the director chose lesser-known actors who he believed had real natural talent. They fulfilled the roles of a wine seller, salesperson, model, and a taxi driver—jobs they performed in real life. The movie was filmed among beautiful landscapes in and around Berlin. Even today, this interesting artistic experiment reflects the lives of young people living in a city, who want to escape the mundane events of everyday life. Two people who worked on the film “People on Sunday” won an Oscar Award—Billy Wilder (from Bulwar Zachodzacego Slonca, 1950) and Fred Zinnemann (From here to eternity, 1953).
