Haphazard travels of Comrade Sirman Deville

[niminy-piminy]

S/
Alexander Sokurov – SCFZ Directors Poll #32 ... https://letterboxd.com/fliptrotsky/list ... s-poll-32/

T/
Andrei Tarkovsky – SCFZ Directors Poll #183 ... https://letterboxd.com/fliptrotsky/list ... -poll-183/

[niminy-piminy]

there is a buzz that comrades on acid made a film adaptation of "The Lord of the Rings" (1991) — 10 years ahead of the mainstream!
considered lost but miraculously emerged online these days (they say).
directed by Natalya Serebryakova.
first part (of the two).
https://youtu.be/vquKyNdgH3s
second part.
https://youtu.be/oLevCLNnLmg

besides, there is a "Hobbit" film with many violent battles staged as an endless swirl of the ballet pirouettes (from 1985).
https://youtu.be/ekbJdOGAxPQ

[niminy-piminy]

UKRAINIAN LITERATURE: GUIDE FOR ASSHOLES (Anatoliy Lavrenishyn, Dmytro Kolomoytsev, 2009)
https://letterboxd.com/film/ukrainian-l ... -assholes/

It was a common habit in Soviet schools to draw the intimate organs on all portraits in textbooks.

https://youtu.be/0LyWFDf2Y50

[niminy-piminy]

LORD OF THE FLIES (Vladimir Tyulkin, 1991)
https://letterboxd.com/film/lord-of-the-flies-1991/

An old man bases his livelihood on a very bizarre form of recyling, breeding maggots in his yard, which he uses to feed his animals. This model of self-subsistence serves as his vision of a perfect state. Experimental documentary made during the collapse of the Soviet Union.

https://youtu.be/FF3m5FWlm8g

[niminy-piminy]

music to the aforementioned acid version of "The Lord of the Rings" (Natalya Serebryakova, 1991) was allegedly composed by Andrey Dyusha Romanov (1956-2000) who was a member of the acid-rock/folk band called "The Aquarium" ... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquarium_(band)

random "Aquarium" tunes i just found...
(first song is called "Rock 'N' Roll Is Dead")
https://youtu.be/yzoorpBJK-Q
https://youtu.be/F5k49t8Uo-Q
https://youtu.be/HpMeLClsv9A

this website allegedly offers anything and everything about/by "Aquarium" ... https://aquarium.kroogi.com/music?locale=ru

[niminy-piminy]

allegedly, the main difference between the "mainstream" and "acid" versions is the omission of Tom Bombadil from the "mainstream" adaptation.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Bombadil
Bombadil was omitted from Peter Jackson's film trilogy, and from some other film and radio versions of The Lord of the Rings, as not essential to the story. Commentators have debated the role and origins of Tom Bombadil. A likely source is the demigod Väinämöinen in the 1849 Finnish epic poem Kalevala, with many points of resemblance. Scholars have noted that he is the spirit of a place, a genius loci.

in the comrade "acid" version, Tom Bombadil is present — he brings into the film the psychedelic vibes and breaks the unity of the story (that Jackson tried to maintain — in accordance with the prevailing Hollywood paradigm).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Bombadil
The 1969 Harvard Lampoon novel "Bored of the Rings" parodies Bombadil as "Tim Benzedrine", a stereotypical hippie married to "Hashberry".

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/ ... r-30-years
Soviet TV version of Lord of the Rings rediscovered after 30 years
... the costumes and sets are rudimentary, the special effects are ludicrous ...

[niminy-piminy]

attention, Lviv is on air.
good evening, comrades-radioviewers!

LVIV INTERVISION (Elias Parvulesco, Stanislav Menzelevskyi, Anna Onufrienko, 2018)

A found footage reminiscence of the beginnings of Ukrainian TV broadcast in 1957 and the first 20 years of its operations, when the first factory for manufacturing televisions began operating in Lviv, presents not only programs broadcast at that time, but also the way television transformed the household and family structures.

"Despite its archival form, our film is not about the soviet past but today’s virtuality — a dramatic story of the gaze and the sedation of a newly emerged TV-spectator, which continues until now." A. Onufrienko, S. Menzelevskyi, E. Parvulesco

https://vimeo.com/265157398

[niminy-piminy]

YOUNG LOVE (Mikheil Kobakhidze, 1961) ... no dialogue
https://letterboxd.com/film/young-love-1961/
https://youtu.be/gaRODPJh-Gg

[sally]

i love kobakhidze! all his shorts are lovely! i always forget about him when we're talking about the wonders of georgian cinema

[niminy-piminy]

while going through the comrade films that i watched in the past, there is also...

BALL OF YARN (Nikolai Serebryakov, 1968)
https://letterboxd.com/film/ball-of-yarn/

https://youtu.be/utq9939Xpg8

and it is a source of another riddle...

1/the name of the director Nikolai Serebryakov seemed familiar

2/ i could easily recall the name Natalya Serebryakova (allegedly, the director of the acid version of "The Lord of the Rings")

3/ my hypothesis was they must have been the couple (because brother & sister being both filmmakers is highly unusual)

4/ i checked the wiki entry of Nikolai Serebryakov...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikolay_Serebryakov
Nikolay Nikolayevich Serebryakov (1928-2005) ... was married twice. First, he married Nadia Speshnayova but she died on April 19, 1984, after that he married her sister Alina Speshnayova.

5/ so, who is Natalya Serebryakova? what is her relation to Nikolai Serebryakov? (obviously, not his wife) his daughter? niece? cousin?

[niminy-piminy]

i am looking for comrade films that i logged on KM, are online, and (based on Ltbxd) are (most likely) unseen by Superchampers.
i was surprised this Kobakhidze short was only marked by Brotherdeacon.
i expected it might be (somewhat more) popular — and it (actually) is (maybe) but only is not marked by those who have seen it.

[sally]

it's the perils of competing databases, i watched them when i was still at mubi, and i guess i forgot about them when i migrated...i'm sure there's many more than just poor kobakhidze, thanks for the reminder!

[wba]

Jiri, your threads and posts are just sooooo great!
For me they are the best SCFZ has to offer.

[niminy-piminy]

haha, well, i guess not everyone would agree...

Height with a certain Grace does bend,
But low Things clownishly ascend. - Andrew Marvell

but i feel flattered by your appreciation!
but at the same time, i really miss the (other) (strong) serious tone of Karl, f.e.

and moreover, i regret Lencho is not posting more often.
and i regret the current absence of kanafani.

and i really hope that my deranged-like lampooning is not the reason for someone else's abstaining to post in this forum.

[niminy-piminy]

your threads and posts

btw. stay tuned!

at the moment i am solving (with the English native speaker) the last problematic issue related to my upcoming subs of BE SURE TO BEHAVE and there is a good hope i will be able to share the film in Res. still today.
considering what you wrote about BAGFUL OF FLEAS i believe BE SURE TO BEHAVE is a must for you to watch! (regardless of the TV watermarks on the copy available.)

and besides in the "haphazard travels towards the blank sun" i described only my FIRSTS TRAVEL (the least dramatic).
the other two were much more adventurous and i experienced in (specifically) SLOVENIA things that you will hardly believe!
but i need to find some suitable time to be able to describe those SLOVENIA adventures at length.

[Umbugbene]

haha, well, i guess not everyone would agree...

Height with a certain Grace does bend,
But low Things clownishly ascend. - Andrew Marvell

Every time I read Karl's signature I'm bemused at how opposite it is to the spirit of Tarkovsky, whom I know Karl respects. But in nearly every Tarkovsky film characters who reach for high places are humbled, and enlightenment comes from down below. Compare the balloonist to the bellcaster (working in a mud pit) in Andrei Rublev, or Domenico on his high horse to Andrei in the swampy pool in Nostalghia, or the Stalker who's pushed so rudely into the Room. As the sacristan warns at the start of Nostalghia, "If there are any casual onlookers who aren't supplicants, then nothing happens." (Supplication being the key word, i.e. lowering yourself to the ground.)

This doesn't mean that Andrew Marvell would necessarily disagree with Tarkovsky. I'm only taking the quote out of context.

[niminy-piminy]

in my early cinephile days, i highly admired Tarkovsky (and seen all his main features).
but it is already a long time i watched my last Tarkovsky and while diverting myself more into exploring the absurd and obscure i diverted a lot from my early cinephile roots.
maybe i should step somewhat back towards my roots and become somewhat more serious (otherwise the excessive irony is gonna swallow me completely).

i was not present on this forum when Karl was posting with this signature but when i noticed the signature (after my advent here) i felt this quote is meant to me (personally).

[sally]

i forgot to post this

https://twitter.com/LRBbookshop/status/ ... 0734716931

[niminy-piminy]

oke, going now to explore who the hell is Andrew Marvell??? (about whom everyone speaks these days.)

[niminy-piminy]

mhm, titles like "Flecknoe" and "The Character of Holland" definitely sound like texts i should read!
besides "To His Coy Mistress" ofc!

[wba]

your threads and posts

btw. stay tuned!

at the moment i am solving (with the English native speaker) the last problematic issue related to my upcoming subs of BE SURE TO BEHAVE and there is a good hope i will be able to share the film in Res. still today.
considering what you wrote about BAGFUL OF FLEAS i believe BE SURE TO BEHAVE is a must for you to watch! (regardless of the TV watermarks on the copy available.)

and besides in the "haphazard travels towards the blank sun" i described only my FIRSTS TRAVEL (the least dramatic).
the other two were much more adventurous and i experienced in (specifically) SLOVENIA things that you will hardly believe!
but i need to find some suitable time to be able to describe those SLOVENIA adventures at length.

I will put it on "priority" in my watchlist, as soon as you post the film. BAGFUL OF FLEAS is really as good as it gets for me in cinema.

As for your travels in socialist utopia (aka Yugoslavia) you have me more than curious about what happened to you in weird and wonderous socialist Slovenia!

[niminy-piminy]

those were already adventures taking place in the neoliberal 1990s (first in about 1993-1994, and second in about 1997-1998).
all my direct experience with socialist Yugoslavia comes from the one and only (1987 or 1988) trip i already described (that skipped Slovenia).

[wba]

Ah, too bad. Neoliberal Slovenia is quite a different beast. But I still wanna hear all and everything of course!

[niminy-piminy]

i see comrades doing good westerns (i.e. easterns)...

THE SEVENTH BULLET (Ali Khamraev, 1974)
https://letterboxd.com/film/the-seventh-bullet/details/



preliminary side note:
1/ my attitude to monotheism is highly critical.
within my perception monotheism (of any flavor — be it Islam, Christianity, or Judaism) ultimately only backups hegemonic (totalitarian) political aspirations.
i don't see monotheism as compatible with pluralism.
2/ my attitude to revolution as a means to establish the "dictatorship of the proletariat" is also highly critical.
within my perception revolution should be conducted by the whole precariat (workers & idlers united) and its ultimate goal should NOT be a dictatorship (of any kind) but a classless (egalitarian) society.

now, notes to the film itself — that offers the fight of antipodes Khairulla & Maksumov.
1/ Khairulla is a representative of the Islamic Basmachi movement ... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basmachi_movement
2/ Maksumov is a representative of the Bolshevik Red Army.

history of the Red Army is rich and highly ambivalent.
these are a few highlights that come to my biased mind.
1917-1923 participation in Russian civil war
1939 invasion into Poland
1941-1945 heroic fight against Nazism
1956 invasion into Hungary
1968 invasion into Czechoslovakia

my first-hand experience with Red Army is related to the last entry.
coming uninvited (oke, there is a supposed "inviting letter" by a few local imbecile traitors), Red Army stayed in Czechoslovakia from August 1968 till June 1991.
i was born in the early 1970s, so i had plenty of opportunities to come in contact with several Maksumovs.
these Maksumovs were present in Czechoslovakia to back up a bunch of local senile traitorous idiots (my countrymen) that were in power because of being loyal to the Neo-Stalinist politics of comrade Brezhnev (Red Trump).
one of such Maksumovs was Eduard Vorobyov.
he participated in the 1968 invasion (allegedly being convinced he is coming to help his bros).
when the local Neo-Stalinist system collapsed and uninvited guests were asked to go home, local Red Army troops were on his command.
based on some (early 1990) negotiations, June 1991 was set up as the deadline for all the necessary logistics of the "Red Army going home" project.
however, in June 1990 a delegation of Soviet hawks arrived and tried to thwart those negotiations (and prolong Red Army's stay).
during these re-negotiations with Soviet hawks (when the atmosphere started to become tense), Maksumov (i.e. Eduard Vorobyov) heroically stood up and uttered sternly, "So far (occupant troops of) the Red Army are on my command the project of "going home" will not be delayed even for a minute!"
Soviet hawks gave up and in June 1991 took place a concert called "Red Army Adieu!" celebrating the "liberation".
as a special guest of this memorable gig, Frank Zappa appeared on stage.

obviously, i can have plenty of reasons to despise this movie.
but i must admit i quite liked it.
and my twisted reasons are as follows...

about the theme "to which degree i should take into consideration all kinds of related trivia during the evaluation of the work of art", i first seriously deliberated after reading Proust's "Contre Sainte-Beuve".

One of Sainte-Beuve's critical contentions was that, in order to understand an artist and his work, it was necessary to understand that artist's biography. Marcel Proust took issue with this notion and repudiated it in a set of essays, Contre Sainte-Beuve ("Against Sainte-Beuve").

and i must admit i solved the dilemma by misinterpretation (appropriation) of the linguistic theories by Ferdinand de Saussure.
specifically, his theory of synchrony and diachrony.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diachrony_and_synchrony
Synchrony and diachrony are two different and complementary viewpoints in linguistic analysis.

1/ making a diachronic evaluation, one is supposed to be curious about genealogy, etymology, etc.
2/ making a synchronic evaluation, one is only concerned what role the "phrase/word" plays within the current system of communication.

thus whenever i watch a film i split into two different personas.
1/ as "ickykino" i try to hoard all kinds of trivia related to the film.
because history is a mess and humanity is rotten to the bottom, most of the trivia i accumulate is horrifying & sickening.
if i would be supposed to sum up my cinematic experience only as "ickykino" i would probably dismiss 80-90 percent of the films and only 10-20 percent (mostly non-narrative abstract — possibly monochromatic — short films with occasional flicker effect) would pass through as relatively acceptable.
2/ as "tweeovalis" i don't care if the filmmaker (in question) is an abuser/criminal/racist if the content celebrates rape/murder/bigotry and the whole film is just one big dirty bloodbath/shitbath.
(taking the film as if out of context) i just observe if i can emotionally/rationally relate to the seen (for some or other (be it dirty or sublime) reason).

my final resume is then the result of my painful inner struggle — if momentary the stronger fists are those of "ickykino" or "tweeovalis".
my resume about this particular "eastern" is that i could relate to the complex story full of characters with all kinds of antagonistic aspirations and motivations.
i was submerged in the intricate plot and enjoyed the dialogues...

- How can I help you?
- You will kill Khairulla and take his head to your superior in Tashkent. Then you will marry me. And I will give birth to your child.
- It's an interesting military operation.

i also have to say that i was not surprised by the ultimate death of Aigul, because she was obviously the only relevant force capable to divert Maksumov from the path of revolution.
last but not least, if i will ever get baldhead and will eat cucumber i will definitely try this well-being practice displayed in the film.


additional side note:
speaking about synchrony and diachrony...
one can encounter on Wikipedia the following claim...

Prior to de Saussure, many similar concepts were also developed independently by Polish linguists Jan Baudouin de Courtenay and Mikołaj Kruszewski of the Kazan school, who used the terms statics and dynamics of language.

however, in the Czech version of this entry, one finds moreover something that the English version doesn't mention.
it says (my haphazard translation)...

This concept was prior to de Saussure conceived by Vilém Mathesius of the Prague Linguistic Circle.

why Vilém Mathesius was omitted from the genealogy of this concept might be as follows...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vil%C3%A9m_Mathesius

Critics maintain that Mathesius lacked refined methodology and that his observations of data could not amount to much because of his reluctance to propose unified theories to account for them. His work never achieved the international renown of that of his colleagues, possibly because he wrote almost exclusively in Czech.

by quoting the phrases about the legacy of Vilém Mathesius ("one of the founders of structural functionalism in linguistics") i feel my today's graphomania longings have been fully saturated.

[niminy-piminy]

oh, forgot to mention the following...
several local photographers captured the memorable logistic operation called Red Army going home.
my favorite is the following picture taken by Dana Kyndrová...


in the background military barracks, in the forefront a stand (probably a residue of some last "Brothers, Let Us Be Merry" party).
the inscription on the stand says, "We Are Leaving — Friendship Remains!"
it almost sounds like a replica from BE SURE TO BEHAVE when the heroine (released from prison) hears from her victimizers, "Now, go home, take a nap, tak a rest............... and be sure to behave!"

[sally]

We Are Leaving — Friendship Remains!

(sorry jiri, but i felt bad for gibbering in your thread, even if you said it was okay)

[niminy-piminy]

i believe Vilém Mathesius' main shortcomings were he "lacked refined methodology" & "his reluctance to propose unified theories".
he was clearly anti-foundationalist — convinced that solid grounds are fata morgana and all theories (rooted in shapeshifting language) shifting sands.
this thread has "comrade" in the title but can be about anything and everything.
feel free to come whenever it suits you and in the endless series of approximations attempt to shed light — from various angles (thus bringing enlightenment)!

[niminy-piminy]

your thread

it is just a thread.
when i said in the past (in one of these threads) it is "my charade" it was rather a stupid overreaction.
i wish anyone would feel free to speak on behalf of Sir John Man Deville, the fictitious character, the (ideally) many-mouthed cosmopolitan scatterbrained film critic.
i like to read your posts!
please write here (or into any of these haphazard threads) without remorse!
i will feel stupid if these threads will be one-voiced only!

[rischka]

enjoyed the seventh bullet. soviets make the best war movies! and i love stuff set in central asia! those people are so handsome

i remember karl talking about this director's works being on youtube long ago. good to see they're still there since i never checked them out

[niminy-piminy]

i don't watch war/western movies very often.
usually, i am rather indifferent to war/western tales.
so, i was surprised i can relate to THE SEVENTH BULLET.
and i forgot to mention in my aforementioned graphomania fits that during the viewing of THE SEVENTH BULLET i made a break and studied thoroughly the wiki entry "ostern/eastern", hoping to grasp why such a film seems to be appealing (to me, the Easterner) — as opposed to the traditional westerns taking place in distant places (from the Eastern perspective) called Wild West.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ostern

1/ lesson No1 that i took from the wiki entry was that i stopped calling (within my mind) THE SEVENTH BULLET "red western".
it is maybe nothing new for the western fans, but i really had no clue there is a terminological difference between "red western" and "eastern/ostern"...

1.1/ RED WESTERN

set in America's "Wild West" but involving radically different themes and interpretations than US westerns

produced in Eastern European countries like East Germany and Czechoslovakia, rather than USSR

it won't be probably a big surprise if i will say my favorite "red western" is a parody (set up in fictitious Stetson City, Arizona) called LEMONADE JOE (female antipode of the main heroine is a charming bar singer "Tornado Lou", also called "Arizona Warbler").
https://letterboxd.com/film/lemonade-joe/

A/ on the left — Tornado Lou (Arizona Warbler), the brunette (with feathers in her hairdo).
B/ on the right — Winnifred Goodman, the blond (main heroine of the tale).


1.2/ OSTERN/EASTERN

set usually on the steppes or Asian parts of the USSR, especially during the Russian Revolution or the following Civil War, but presented in a style inspired by American western films

2/ lesson No2 was there are two more specific (East made) subgenres...

2.1/ GOULASH WESTERN

The Goulash westerns are the Easterns of Hungarian director György Szomjas. He directed two films (The Wind Blows Under Your Feet and Wrong-Doers) in the 1970s.

2.2/ GIBANICA WESTERN

"Gibanica western" was a short-lived term for the Yugoslav equivalent of the Ostern, more commonly known as a partisan film and, sometimes, the Partisan western. They were made in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, and were about the partisans in World War II. The term "Gibanica" refers to a traditional Balkan pastry dish.

i must admit THE SEVENTH BULLET made me curious to explore more OSTERNS/EASTERNS and try some GOULASH WESTERN and GIBANICA WESTERN.
most probably (still have to finish the viewing of the other film — writing this in one of the breaks) i am gonna vote for it (thanks Flip for playing it!).