Bed and Sofa (1927)

A married couple have a small apartment in Moscow. When an old friend of the husband's arrives in the city, he is unable to find lodgings. Kolia, the husband, invites his friend to move in with them.

Director:

Abram Room (as A. Room)

Writers:

Viktor Shklovskiy (story) (as V. Shklovsky), Viktor Shklovskiy (dialogue) (as V. Shklovsky)

Stars:

Vladimir Fogel, Nikolay Batalov, Lyudmila Semyonova

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Vladimir Fogel	...	Volodia, a Printer
Nikolay Batalov	...	Kolia, the Husband
Lyudmila Semyonova	...	Liuda Semyonova, the Wife
Leonid Yurenev	...	Building Superintendent
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Yelena Sokolova	...	Clinic Nurse
Mariya Yarotskaya	...	Paesant at the Clinic

Storyline

A married couple have a small apartment in Moscow. When an old friend of the husband's arrives in the city, he is unable to find lodgings. Kolia, the husband, invites his friend to move in with them. While Kolia is away on business, sensual Liuda and attractive Volodia fall in love and have an affair. After his initial outrage, the husband calms down. Kolia winds up on the sofa, and the three settle into a menage-a-trois until the wife finds herself pregnant. The two men are trying to decide what to do, but Liuda is strong enough to make her own decisions. Considered a landmark film because of humor, naturalism, and its sympathetic portrayal of the woman.

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Plot Keywords:

polyamory | radio set | extramarital affair | sofa | russia | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Details

Country:

Soviet Union

Language:

Russian

Release Date:

1927 (Germany)

Also Known As:

Bed and Sofa

Filming Locations:

Meschanskaya, Moscow, Russia

Company Credits

Production Co:

Sovkino

Technical Specs

Runtime:

86 min

Sound Mix:

Silent

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In 1996, Off-Broadway, the Vinyard Theatre presented "Bed and Sofa: A Silent Movie Opera," with Libretto by Laurence Klavan, Music by Polly Pen and Direction by Andre Ernotte. The opera reproduces the plot of the original movie, as an opera. Some of the story plays out silently, giving the feeling that the audience is watching a silent movie. A narrator injects humorous transitions between some scenes, acting as a vocal title card. This opera was performed in Fort Lauderdale's Broward Center of the Performing Arts in September, 2015.

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Connections

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

User Reviews

Great early film that has interesting take on gender roles!

Early on, The Extraordinary Adventures of Mr. West in the Land of the Bolsheviks is a comedy and meant to be understood as such. Magazines showing how barbaric Russia is alleged to be are exaggerated, but so is the Americanness of Mr. West; no one just carries around an American flag and spangled socks. Kuleshov's work in this film is not as serious as his contemporaries Eisenstein or Vertov, and perhaps as such there appears to be less esoteric uses of montage. It's present in small snatches like cuts to a shot of West's briefcase or a tea kettle boiling, but the technique is subtler than other films of the experimental left at the time. That doesn't mean it lacks technicality, though. The chase scene is masterful and clear despite rapid changes of perspective from horseback to automobile, and Jeddy's stunts are impressive. The directorial choice to include a backdrop of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior was surely no accident, and it places the film in a setting that is distinctly Moscow. And although it was added after, the music accompaniment often drives an otherwise dragging plot. The inclusion of Yankee Doodle Dandy is particularly amusing and fits the goofy mood. One has to wonder, however, if it sat well with Bolshevik ideology. Besides showing what Russians thought of Americans and vice versa, the only inclusion of real Bolshevik society was a tour by a police officer at the end; additionally, the depiction of the poverty and moral depravity of the con-artists provide a not-so-flattering view of Russia. Through the lens of comedy, however, it might be excused. Mr. West, in sum, is a comedy with sequences reminiscent of the Three Stooges, and such an over the top production would surely not have been handled as competently in the hands of a lesser director than Lev Kuleshov.