Chekhov's Gun

  .... which brings to mind this fun movie from 1993, Okno v Parizh , that captured the sense of longing for the West during the waning days of the Soviet Union.  Unfortunately, for poor Nicole all these new house guests prove overwhelming and she soon finds herself on the wrong side of the window, hidden by an old wardrobe.  What makes this film special is how Yuri Mamin  plays both sides of the "window."   Mamin found himself on the outside looking in when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991 and had a hard time financing this film, but his French backers stuck by him and the movie was a big hit in France and at the Berlin Film Festival that year, and was subsequently picked up by Sony Pictures.

Nice to see this classic book in print again, Moi Parizh , a highly impressionistic photo journey through Paris by Ilya Ehrenburg and El Lissitzky.  It was originally published in 1933 and would cost you a small fortune for a first edition.  I love these books as they capture a side of the Russian avant-garde not often seen. 

Here's a classic movie based on a classic novel.  Oleg Yankovsky and Galina Belyayeva in Chekhov's The Shooting Party .  Sorry, you will have to search for subtitles.

Oleg Yankovsky passed away in 2009, but his legacy lives on in film.  We were watching Khrani menya, moy talisman (Keep me, my talisman) the other night, in which a young Yankovsky is part of a love triangle with Tatyana Dubrich and Alexandr Abdulov, as they document the Pushkin Poetry Festival in Boldino, Some marvelous cameos by Bulat Okudzhava and others in the film, which dates from 1986  Yankovsky was one of Russia's favorite actors.  His filmography is mostly known within the country, but he also played in Tarkovsky's Mirror (1974) and Nostalghia (1983).

Judging by the price Ilya Repin's 1875 masterpiece fetched at a Christie's auction this past summer, Russian art is finally getting its due.  Repin is widely regarded as the master of Russian realism in the late 19th century.  He briefly broke with the Peredvizhinki artistic school to paint scenes of Paris, where he studied from 1873-76.  You can certainly see the influence of Manet in this painting.  Here's another example of his Paris Years .  Much of the Russian realism carried with it a strong sense of nationalism.  Repin would return to Russia and nationalist subject matter in such works as Reply of the Zaporozhian Cossacks to Sultan Mahmoud IV , a work that consumed 10 years of his life and was completed in 1891.

It is hard to say when modern jazz began in the Soviet Union, but in 1967 Charles Lloyd toured the Soviet Union and recorded a concert in Tallinn.  The original album contained four cuts and was released on Atlantic.  It showcased Lloyd, along with Keith Jarrett, Ron McClure and Jack DeJohnette, at he peak of his popularity following the highly successful Forest Flower album.  The highlight of the concert was an extended version of "Sweet Georgia Bright."  Soviet "jazz bands" tended to be state produced with music by the Composers' Union, so this was quite a departure from the standard fare. Slava Ganelin formed the Ganelin Trio with Vladimir Tarasov and Vladimir Chekasin in Vilnius in 1970, which is generally regarded as the first free jazz band in the Soviet Union.  They would achieve international success with the studio album Ancora da Capo and their live recording in East Germany . What little cross pollination that occurred during this time was at...

Zhena Stalina is an ambitious four-part television series that attempts to convey the agonizing position Nadezhda Allilueva found herself in when she married Josef Stalin.  The writers took their cue from a 2004 documentary by Slava Tsukerman, drawing on even more archival material to piece together a very intimate account of this marriage.  The series does lack emotional intensity, which Jamie Miller notes in his review for Kinokultura, with Duta Skhirtladze giving a rather subdued performance as Stalin.  But, then this film is principally about Nadezhda, and Olga Budina turns in a powerful performance as Stalin's wife. I don't know that much about Allilueva, so I can't say how accurate the telling is.  It appears to be more an emotional "truth" that the director is aiming for in justifying the fateful decision she would ultimately make.  We see her provide understanding and love for Stalin's son from a previous marriage, shown in this film clip , and t...