Early Russian Cinema, Vol. 6: Class Distinctions

TWO CLASSIC PIECES OF EARLY RUSSIAN CINEMA, TOGETHER IN ONE PACKAGE

The Peasants’ Lot (1912) tells a short story on the subject of late-Tsarist decline, strife and economic despair with the fine touch and detail of director Vasili Goncharov and his favorite star, Ivan Mozzhukhin. When two peasants fall for each other and decide they must marry, they are hit with unexpected tragedy and forced to reckon with the value of true love. Lauded in both its heyday and more recently for its vivid depiction of “hopeless poverty contrasting with the existence of a rich family in the capital,” the film remains an urgent piece of cinema despite its hundred years of age.

Silent Witnesses (1914) steps inside the den of the bourgeoisie for an upstairs-downstairs drama on servitude. For her friend to leave work and go home to see her children, Nastya takes her shift as a maid in a wealthy household, and quickly finds herself entangled in a web of adultery and hedonism. Directed by the tireless and witty Evgeni Bauer, the film contains an undeniable edge to its portrayal of the upper classes and a marked sympathy for its servants.