Чёртово колесо
Typically of the heady days of early Soviet cinema, this is constructed according to the fast, sharp editing principles advocated by Eisenstein, complete with symbolic inserts; but in terms of subject matter, it's much less explicitly political than most movies emerging from Russia in the '20s. Chronicling a young sailor's descent into a murky, treacherous underworld of pimps and thieves, after having encountered a Louise Brooks lookalike at a fairground and missed his departing boat, it's a lively moral fable that delights in vivid visual effects and quirky characterisations. If the plot occasionally reveals gaping holes, and the tacked-on ending urging the clearance of the Leningrad slums seems to be rather gratuitous, there's enough going on to keep one attentive and amused.
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Release
1926-03-15
Frames
Cast
Пётр Соболевский
Vanya Shorin, Red fleet sailor
Людмила Семёнова
Valya
Sergei Gerassimow
The Question Man
Эмиль Галь
Koko, vaudeville performer
Antonio Tserep
Tavern Owner
Николай Городничев
House manager
V. Lande
Cafe dancer
Сергей Мартинсон
Orchestra conductor
Евгений Кумейко
Hooligan
I. Berezin
Hooligan
Янина Жеймо
Hooligan girl
Tatyana Ventsel
Виктор Плотников
Salvation army member
Арнольд Арнольд
Editor
Александр Костомолоцкий
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