The Extraordinary Adventures of Mr. West in the Land of the Bolsheviks: Difference between revisions
bit more |
rmv section plagiarized from http://www.rusfilm.pitt.edu/2003/films/mr-west-program-notes.html . plagiarism was discovered by User:BillC |
||
| Line 35: | Line 35: | ||
However, they eventually release him and he takes a sightseeing tour of [[Moscow]], where he sees that the [[Soviet government]] left cultural landmarks such as [[Moscow University]] and the [[Bolshoi Theater]] intact during the [[Russian Revolution (1917)|Russian Revolution]] of 1917, and decides that these Russians must not be so savage after all. He then converts to [[Communism]] wholeheartedly, even asking his wife to hang a portrait of [[Lenin]] in their home. |
However, they eventually release him and he takes a sightseeing tour of [[Moscow]], where he sees that the [[Soviet government]] left cultural landmarks such as [[Moscow University]] and the [[Bolshoi Theater]] intact during the [[Russian Revolution (1917)|Russian Revolution]] of 1917, and decides that these Russians must not be so savage after all. He then converts to [[Communism]] wholeheartedly, even asking his wife to hang a portrait of [[Lenin]] in their home. |
||
==Analysis== |
|||
''Mr. West'' was the first result of [[Lev Kuleshov]]'s famous workshop, which experimented with [[montage]] and new [[acting]] methods. While [[United States of America|America]] was, ideologically, the [[Soviet Union]]'s [[antagonist]], Kuleshov and his students took the [[editing]] techniques as well as the acting style of U.S. [[adventure film|adventure]] and mystical serial films as their model, testifying to the popularity of [[American cinema]] in Russia at the time. When, at the end of ''Mr. West'', an intertitle mentions Russian children's fascination with cowboys, this popularity is marked as a curious interest in exoticism, thereby reversing the roles and displacing the image of the exotic "other" from the Bolsheviks onto America itself. |
|||
==Credited Cast== |
==Credited Cast== |
||
Revision as of 06:10, 8 November 2008
| The Extraordinary Adventures of Mr. West in the Land of the Bolsheviks | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Lev Kuleshov |
| Written by | Nikolai Aseyev Vsevolod Pudovkin |
| Starring | Porfiri Podobed Boris Barnet Aleksandra Khokhlova |
| Cinematography | Aleksandr Levitsky |
| Edited by | Aleksandr Levitsky |
| Music by | 1980s re-release: Benedict Mason |
Release date | Soviet Union: 27 April 1924 |
Running time | 94 minutes |
| Country | USSR |
| Languages | Silent, but intertitles in Russian and English |
The Extraordinary Adventures of Mr. West in the Land of the Bolsheviks ([Необычайные приключения мистера Веста в стране Большевиков] Error: {{Lang-xx}}: text has italic markup (help)) is a 1924 film by Soviet director Lev Kuleshov. It is notable as the first Soviet film that is explicitly anti-American.[1]
Plot
While the film itself mocks American ignorance of the Soviet Union, ironically it mimics the techniques used in American cinema of the time.
Mr. West (a stereotypical American, whose first name isn't given and who is played by Porfori Podobed), a YMCA president, is planning a trip to the newly-founded Soviet Union to spread the idea of the YMCA. His friends, however, warn him that the Soviet people (whom they refer to solely as Bolsheviks) are savage, and wear primitive rags and fur for clothing, as portrayed in American magazines of the time. He takes a cowboy named Jeddie along for protection (apparently a Russian misconception of American society of the time, played by Boris Barnet).
However, on arriving in the USSR he is captured by a group of Bolsheviks led by a run-down Countess (played by Aleksandra Khokhlova, and somewhat ironically due to the anti-imperialist notions of Bolshevism), who confirm his worst fears about what the Soviet people are like.
However, they eventually release him and he takes a sightseeing tour of Moscow, where he sees that the Soviet government left cultural landmarks such as Moscow University and the Bolshoi Theater intact during the Russian Revolution of 1917, and decides that these Russians must not be so savage after all. He then converts to Communism wholeheartedly, even asking his wife to hang a portrait of Lenin in their home.
Credited Cast
- Porfiri Podobed - Mr. West
- Boris Barnet - Jeddy - the cowboy
- Aleksandra Khokhlova - The 'Countess'
References
- ^ University of Pittsburgh (2003). "RusFilm 2003". Retrieved 2008-11-01.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters:|month=and|coauthors=(help)
