Wednesday,
April 25 – Sunday, April 29
From
the Tsars to the Stars: A Journey through Russian Fantastik
Cinema
 A
groundbreaking, one of a kind cinematic revelation, A Journey
through Russian Fantastik Cinema covers nearly a century of
Russia’s pioneering and innovative filmmaking. It is the first
effort to pay a long overdue tribute to the Russian visionaries
who worked in the genres of the imagination as well as to recognize
the extent of their influence on the world of visual effects.
Sadly
enough, the majority of these films had the misfortune of coinciding
with the worst period of the Cold War, so the fabulous “fantastic”
masterpieces had no chance to be seen abroad. Ironically, a
great deal of imagery from these astonishing works did end up
on Western screens – albeit mauled beyond recognition.
Enterprising US producers like Roger Corman purchased Japanese
and Soviet sci-fi films at bargain prices, and gave them to
then up-and-coming American directors like Francis Ford Coppola
and Peter Bogdanovich to
re-fashion
(via newly shot connecting narratives) into drive-in fodder.
A Journey Through Russian Fantastik Cinema features the original
versions of selected films, honoring the vision of their creators.
Thanks
to Alla Verlotsky and Seagull Films for organizing this series.
Wednesday,
April 25 at 7pm
Evenings
on a Farm Near Dikanka (Vechara na khutore bliz Dikanki)
dir.
Aleksandr Rou, USSR, 1961, 35mm, 69 mins, color, Russian w/
English subtitles
A
glorious excursion into Technicolor fantasy and a film that
remains very true to the spirit of Russian/Ukrainian master
Nikolai Gogol, Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka is one
of the most beautiful works in the rich strain of Russian cinematic
fantasy. The tale of a blacksmith from a darkened village sent
on an endless quest on Christmas Eve by his beloved
– ending
in St. Petersburg and with a stop along the way for a conference
with the devil – has
been filmed a few times throughout Russian film history, but
never with so much charm and such rich feeling for the satiric,
folkloric power of the source material.
Thursday,
April 26 at 7pm
Interplanetary
Revolution (Mezhplanetnaya Revolutsiya)
dir.
Z. Komissarenko, U. Merkulov and N. Hodataevy, USSR, 1924, 35mm,
9
mins, b/w, silent w/ Russian intertitles w/ English subtitles
So
successful was Aelita Queen of Mars upon its release
that it earned its own cartoon spoof in the same year. Interplanetary
Revolution doesn’t just capitalize on Aelita’s
popularity, it serves as a political corrective. In 1924, the
year of Lenin’s death, the Communist Party began to distance
itself from the “world revolution” doctrine; the notion of the
rising Martian proletariat was just past due, and safely ridiculed.
followed
by
Stalker
- New 35 mm Print
dir.
Andrei Tarkovsky, USSR, 1979, 35mm, 163 mins, color, Russian
w/ English subtitles
 A
sci-fi tale that unwinds in the environs of the soul, Stalker
takes the form of a nightmarish quest for nothing less
than truth itself. A writer and a scientist follow a shaven-headed
"stalker" into forbidden territory, a dangerous wilderness
known as the Zone. Tarkovsky forces – or perhaps allows –
"reality" to yield up abstract images of
startling originality, and his vision of landscape is nothing
less than truly mystical.
Friday,
April 27 at 7pm
Zero
City (Gorod Zero) - New 35mm Print
dir.
Karen Shakhnazarov, USSR, 1988, 35mm, 103 mins, color, Russian
w/
English subtitles
 One
of the key films of the Perestroika era, Zero City
tells the story of a Moscow engineer named Varakin who
travels to a small town with instructions to change the size
of a locally manufactured air conditioner part. He arrives at
the company office and is welcomed by a naked secretary. Next,
he finds himself sitting down to lunch. The dessert arrives,
a cake that strongly resembles his own face, baked by a chef
who soon shoots himself in the head. With its images of a burdensome
past and an indeterminate future based on both folk tales and
more modern forms of absurdism, Shakhnazarov’s very funny and
poignant film is a true historical touchstone.
Saturday,
April 28 at 7pm
The
Cameraman’s Revenge (Mest kinematograficheskogo operatora)
dir.
Wladaslaw Starewicz, Russia, 1912, 35mm, 12 mins, b/w, silent
w/ Russian intertitles w/ English subtitles
An
early classic about adultery in the insect kingdom from the
great animation pioneer. A married beetle is filmed in a compromising
situation by a jealous grasshopper. The beetle is later exposed
when he takes his (also adulterous) wife to the movies and sees
the final results.
followed
by
To
the Stars by Hard Ways (Cherez Ternii K Zvezdma)
-
New 35 mm Print
dir.
Richard Viktorov, USSR/Russia, 1985/2001, 35mm, 118 mins, color,
Russian w/ English subtitles
 Boldly
going where no man has gone before, the starship Pushkin finds
an abandoned vessel in deep space filled with the decaying bodies
of humanoids. There is, however, one surviving member of the
crew, Niya, who seeks the help of earthlings to restore her
now severely polluted home planet to its natural splendor. Richard
Viktorov’s collaboration with sci-fi writer Kir Bulychyov has
undeniable camp appeal, with its abundance of mod leisure-wear
outfits, cosmic mercenaries and bionic women. Stars (known
to Mystery Science Theater 3000 fans as Humanoid
Woman) is also visually ravishing and deeply affecting.
Sunday,
April 29 at 7pm
Ruslan
and Ludmila (Ruslan i Lyudmila) -
New 35 mm Print
dir.
Aleksandr Ptushko, USSR, 1972, 35mm, 159 mins, Russian w/ English
subtitles
 A
mad, enchanted combination of The Wizard of Oz, Die
Niebelungen and The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T, Ruslan
is quite possibly Ptushko's greatest masterpiece. Based
on a poem by Pushkin, Ptushko’s final film as a director follows
the epic adventures of Ruslan as he struggles to recover the
feisty, resourceful bride kidnapped on their wedding night by
an impish sorcerer. This epic fantasy is packed with surreal,
grotesque characters such as a sorcerous dwarf with a 50-foot
beard and a hunchbacked witch, as well as jaw-dropping set pieces
such as a shimmering crystal palace and a cavern full of tormented
chained figures.
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