Neobychainye priklyucheniya mistera Vesta v strane bolshevikov (1924)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Lev Kuleshov

Writers:

Nikolai Aseyev (writer)
Vsevolod Pudovkin (writer)

Release Date:

27 April 1924 (Soviet Union)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

An example of ironic Soviet propagandistic film from the silent era, this film chronicles the adventures of an American...

Cast

Porfiri Podobed	...	Mr. West
Boris Barnet	...	Jeddy - the cowboy
Aleksandra Khokhlova	...	The 'Countess'
Vsevolod Pudovkin	...	Shban
Sergei Komarov	...	Crook patch-eyed
Leonid Obolensky
Vera Lopatina	...	Elly - the american
G. Kharlampiev	...	Senka Svishch
Pyotr Galadzhev	...	Crook
S. Sletov	...	Crook
V. Latyshevski	...	Crook
Anatoli Gorchilin	...	Policeman
Vladimir Fogel

Also Known As:

The Extraordinary Adventures of Mr. West in the Land of the Bolsheviks

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

Soviet Union

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Company:

Goskino

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Fejezetek a film történetéböl: Az orosz és a szovjet némafilm (#1.4)" (1989)

Money, girl, guns. It's all in this flick

This product of Kuleshov workshop studio, shot in pre-Battleship Potemkin era is one of the curious samples of where rapid Russian (which became international soon) montage has taken its roots from. Kulehov began experimenting with montage long before Eisenstein, though it doesn't make his portion in revolutionizing & inventing 'new rapid montage' any greater than Eisenstein's. Eisenstein is the only King here & it's no question about it. But Kuleshov has his own particular charm, which can be felt in 'The Extraordinary Adventures of Mr. West in the Land of the Bolsheviks'. The pace of entire movie is constantly changing from fast to very fast, it's never slow. Kuleshov's ability to use editing in order to give human expressions, which was the crucial element in that Cinematic era, more dramatic or strained & intensive look & sense, plus some use of cross-cutting montage, used previously by D.W. Griffith, plus amusing & funny story development (not without harsh tinges of Soviet propaganda), plus a very light eroticism, which we can also see in some other Kuleshov films like 'Jack London's By the Law' & as a result 'The Extraordinary Adventures of Mr. West in the Land of the Bolsheviks' can be considered Classic masterpiece of Russian silent Cinema.