06/12/2002 Entry:
"Earth - Aleksandr Dovzhenko (1930)"

I would probably say this is the greatest silent film I've seen. Not that I've seen that many, but still, this is surely the best. I have to give an enormous amount of credit for this to the fantastic score played by David Drazin, who I had also seen play with the BUster Keaton features I saw at Film Center last year. I'm curious if the score for these films is provided with the movie or chosen by the pianist (I can only assume it is provided) but Drazin paced it so perfectly, timing beats with footsteps and cuts, it added immensely to the experience. The mood of the music was also expertly matched with the various sections of the film. Drazin is truly great at what he does. I found a short bio of Drazin here, towards the middle of the page.

Unfortunately, owing to my shitty American education, I lack a lot of the historical context to truly appreciate this film. OK, to be honest, I probably wouldn't have paid attention even if this stuff was taught in high school. Still, you never know, and I think I have the moral high ground here. Still, on a strictly emotional level, this hit home. The stonefaced father contrasting perfectly with his handsome outspoken son, the horrified wife beating the walls when her husband is killed, the quiet peace of the dying grandfather returning to the Earth. After seeing the film, I was trying to find more information about Dovzhenko on the web, and I stumbled across a still from Earth showing a woman singing, and my heart gave a little jump. It was a totally emotional response to a single frame, and that was when I realized that whether I fully understood the context in which it was made, this film had made a real impact on me.

These emotions are all heightened by Dovzhenko's masterful filmmaking technique. The way this film is cut and put together, you would think it was modern. I'm going to try to avoid comparing the tractor montage sequence to Potemkin since I've never really seen it (I saw bits and pieces in a film class about a decade ago) but it is difficult. The tractor scenes and the later marching of the people towards a godless burial were just edited so well. Its amazing to consider that this was only Dovzhenko's third film. Then you've got closeups shot from low angles, the people towering over the tractor, their conquered slave. The son towering over his lowly father, whose time has come and gone. Someone wrote something I read recently that I haven't been able to track down, which pointed out the use of jump cuts in Earth over three decades before Godard made Breathless. The technique shown in Earth is simply astonishing, and I feel I would need several more viewings to full appreciate it, one can only hope I have the chance.

The Dovzhenko series continues into early next month, but from what I've read I've missed most of the most important works outside of Earth. An upcoming visit from my parents and a trip to Pittsburgh pretty much rules out the possibility of seeing any more films in the series. Such a shame. I can only hope that this traveling retrospective prompts a proper video release for these masterpieces since from what I gather, the films that are available on video (Arsenal, Earth and I believe Zvenigora) are of pretty spotty quality.

Further Reading:
Rosenbaum piece covering the retrospective

FIlm Society Of Lincoln Center coverage of the retrospective with small capsules of each film