Repentance by Josephine Woll and Denise Youngblood, and: Bed and Sofa by Julian Graffy, and: The Mirror by Natasha Synessios (review)

Abstract

1068 Reviews Transatlantic cultural life in the firsthalf of the twentieth century to do justice to a biographical subject of Eisenstein's complexity. The author draws upon original source materials in a large variety of languages, including Russian, German, French, and English. Bulgakowa's previous work on Russian and Soviet culture in general, and on Eisenstein in particular, is well known in Germany, but only now becoming properly appreciated in the English-speaking world. Her biography takes Eisenstein's life in chronological order but manages to deduce a thematic thread from each chapter and section of his life. The biography also contains a useful chronology of Eisenstein's life,a bibliography ofworks about Eisen? stein, a list of his works, and an invaluable index of names. The English translation is regrettably much more sparsely illustrated than the German original. The translation, by Anne Dwyer, is generally excellent and a fluent rendering of Bulgakowa's somewhat terse style in the original German. Unfortunately some names have been confused and some lines omitted in error. This is,however, a minor gripe. Oksana Bulgakowa'sSergei Eisenstein: A Biography is a major contribution to our general understanding of Eisenstein's life and work. It is also a useful antidote to the recent work by Ronald Bergan, and it makes a refreshing change to find a biographical study of a Soviet film-maker that displays a real understanding ofthe complex pressures which film-makers had to work under in Stalin's cinema, which, in the dictator' s own words, 'dictated its own laws to lifeitself. University of Wales Swansea Richard Taylor Repentance. By Josephine WoLLand Denise Youngblood. (KINOfiles Film Com? panion 4) London and New York: Tauris. 2001. xi+i2ipp. ?12.99. ISBN 186064 -395-7. Bed and Sofa. By Julian Graffy. (KINOfiles Film Companion 5) London and New York: Tauris. 2001. x+i25pp. ?12.99. ISBN 1-86064-503-8. The Mirror. By Natasha Synessios. (KINOfiles Film Companion 6) London and New York: Tauris. 2001. xiv+i3opp. ?12.99. ISBN 1-86064-521-6. For all of us cineastes or film fans, teachers, students, or just plain lovers of Russian culture, the KINOfiles series with its in-depth analyses of great Russian films is a boon. This batch of KINOfiles presenting Tengiz Abuladze's Repentance, Abram Room's Bed and Sofa, and Andrei Tarkovsky's Mirror is most welcome. Josephine Woll and Denise J.Youngblood's presentation ofRepentance masterf\x\\y unties the Gordian knots of this fascinating but difficultfilm. Readers are given all they need to know in order to tackle the film. Issuing a warning as to the film's complex narrative, its chronological and surrealist turns, its slow pace, the writers provide a lucid account of the two framing stories symmetrically arranged around the 75-minute flashback at the centre of the film; perplexity and irritation now dispelled, viewers can settle down calmly to watch the filmwith concentration and comprehension. Repentance is placed in its important cultural and historical context as a crucial perestroika breakthrough. A detailed frame analysis provides a solid shot-by-shot account of image, dialogue, sound, and commentary. Two chapters complete the analysis, one on stylistic devices and the other on the filmas history. The virtue of this KINOfile is that it presents what was once a cultural happening as a film worth watching in its own right. The writers show the serious and ethical concerns ofRepentance understood as a historical reckoning with Soviet and Georgian history. The 'profound surrealism' aptly succeeds in expressing Stalinism, that cul? ture of preposterous lies and misdeeds where the bizarre and impossible did happen MLRy 98.4, 2003 1069 countless times and 'surrealisticdisassociation from reality [. . .] was an essential part of the Great Terror' (p. 104). Perhaps the title of the film is its most provocative as? pect: repentance is necessary; the past must be remembered and atoned for.Although we may well ask: how? Julian Graffy's presentation of Bed and Sofa is a true film companion. The rich information provided allows the filmto grow in all dimensions, giving readers all they need to know?with perhaps a little more to boot. Worthwhile attention is paid to the cultural and social...