Hi, genplant.

Your comments on this film are interesting, and I especially like how you noted the fascination that we are watching actors and set design from more than 100 years ago. The historical part of me loved seeing how people saw and lived in the world back then.

But-- in the most friendly way --I must disagree with many of your conclusions.

I remember reading in another of your threads that you were not very impressed with the first film in this collection ("Twilight of a Woman's Soul" [1913]), but you were impressed by the other two films it contained, including "After Death".

And yet here you are seemingly tearing it to pieces!;)

Well, to each his own. My own impressions were quite different:

First off, Vera Karalli (as Zoia Kadmina) was a freaking knockout. How she could be described as "visually unattractive" is beyond me. (By the way, the photo of her used here on TMDB does not do her justice. Interested persons really need to see her in the film itself).

Second, the use by the director, Evgeni Bauer, of multiple different tints throughout the film was a technically clever way for him to get around the creative constraints imposed by the black and white medium. I know other silent film directors did the same, but still, I found his use of these techniques in a 1915 film most impressive.

I do understand, genplant, how you could come away from this film having a difficult time describing it in terms of genre. I did, as well. To me, the film is a strange mix of drama and horror, with an almost Romeo and Juliet type of romance thrown in.

A "genre-bending" film if there ever was one, and I feel that it is to Evgeni Bauer's credit.

A little synopsis of the film, for those who haven't seen it:

A reclusive young scholar (I think I just quoted from one of the title cards) attends a one-person play/literary reading by a young actress, Zoia Kadmina. He immediately falls in love with her, but he is also very unsettled, because she bears a striking resemblance to his deceased mother.

Oh . . . did I mention that? This man, Andrei Bagrov (played by Vitol'd Polonskii), has been obsessing over a photograph of his dead mother during his self-imposed seclusion. In the photo she is quite young, so we can assume that she died when Andrei was yet a little boy.

So one could argue that Andrei has a bit of an Oedipus complex going on. (One can see why the Communists banned this film after they took power in 1917. The film in no way followed the "proper", one-dimensional view of art that the Soviets espoused).

Andrei never tells Zoia that he loves her; as it turns out, having spotted him at a pre-performance gathering before the play, Zoia has fallen in love with Andrei, too.

But when the two of them meet in a park some time after the play, Andrei rebuffs her.

Several months later, still pining for him, she commits suicide by drinking poison.

Andrei finds out, and is distraught. For the rest of the film he is haunted by her (beautiful, ethereal) ghost.

Finally, at the end of the film, Andrei begs her to embrace him, but when she does, his heart stops beating, and he dies.

A well-done film, by a very technically-proficient director; some of our modern-day cookie-cutter directors could learn a lot from Evgeni Bauer, who, in my opinion, was ahead of his time.

Greetings, northcoast. Thanksgiving best wishes to you and yours! It's great to see your excellent new post.

I didn't at all mean, in my post above, to imply that my feelings about this movie either are negative or critical, as they truly aren't either. Instead, I was aiming to convey that it leaves me at a loss for actually knowing how I feel, since it's so unusual and (later on) ethereal. When I mentioned how the camera is a time or two decidedly invasive of Miss Karalli's face (I'm sure you know which moment or moments I mean), the lens getting so overpoweringly close made me uncomfortable as a viewer. But that being taken out of my comfort zone was something I view as a positive, rather than a negative, as I like "different" and "unusual" - and a decidedly strong, memorable impression was made and left.

I totally agree with you that Miss Karalli was a beautiful woman - though I didn't so much see it or think so regarding her in this particular film. On the other hand, in The Dying Swan, she comes over thoroughly so. If you haven't yet seen that movie, I believe you'll really like it. (It's, without question, my favourite of the three in the Bauer collection.)

It's been, I think, around a year (or was it during this past April, shortly before I created the TMDb threads?) since I've seen either of the three Bauer movies in the collection we've been discussing, though I've thought about these movies a number of times throughout the year and look forward to when they each next get watched - which I'm thinking likely will be by the end of this year. I'm crazy about Silent films (and old movies in general), and these are amongst some of the older ones I've seen. Bauer definitely impresses me, and I wish there was a lot more of his work that survived.

Incidentally, in addition to the three Bauer movies we've discussed, following (listed chronologically by years) are other titles currently in my "keepers" Silent films collection. If ever wondering what Silents might be some really good ones to explore, consider all of these recommended:

https://www.themoviedb.org/list/15684

genplant--

Thank you. I hope you and your family had an enjoyable holiday, too.

And thank you for the additional silent film recommendations. I have watched "Twilight of a Woman's Soul" and "After Death" based on your initial recommendations, and will be watching the third film on the Milestone DVD, "The Dying Swan", some time this Winter. I am glad I came across your posts here on TMDB; you have greatly increased my appreciation of Silent film.

No worries over any disagreements we might have; debates without disagreement are not worth having . . . nothing is learned in such situations, and mature individuals on both sides will appreciate seeing things from a different perspective . . . though in the case of the Bauer films, it appears you and I may not disagree on much.

My apologies if I came across as harsh; such was not my intent.

There's absolutely nothing to apologize about. I knew how everything you stated was meant. And, in fact, I very much like that you expressed your solid opinions, as it illustrates your appreciation of the movie in question. That's wonderful to see. So many people nowadays aren't willing to even give Silent films a chance.

This morning, after adding my most recent post above, I checked YouTube, and turns out there are multiple Yevgeni/Evgeni Bauer films posted there: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=yevgeni+bauer At some point I'd like to check out some of them.

I also checked YouTube for whatever may be posted featuring Vera Karalli. Here's what I found: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Vera+Karalli

Regarding the ballet video (multiple different copies thereof) you'll see posted there, that's from Miss Karalli's performance in Bauer's The Dying Swan; she performs that dance in its entirety in the movie. Karalli truly was exquisitely talented.

Here, meanwhile, is her TMDb Overview page (a discussion thread I created months back is attached to it): https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1004604-vera-karalli

I've just finished rewatching this haunting film, first time since the other year. I very much was taken by, appreciated, and admired this little work of art back then, and find I, on each count, appreciate it even more now.

Not only is it very well shot for its time, and in fact, taking everything into consideration, rather advanced, but the long interior tracking shot, during the party early on during the film, is quite notable: It continuously, for a few minutes, follows the action all the way through from the two men's arrival to quite a distance further along, with the camera gently zigzagging the path, allowing for natural, breathing side-to-side action to be observed along the way. It's all very smoothly and creatively handled, and we, meanwhile, throughout it all, are able to observe casual background and periperhal activity of other guests.

Bauer shows good control, throughout the film, with his pacing and direction. His ability to convey sense of mysteriousness and haunting, and state of mind, is excellent. The performances by the players are skilled and highly effective, as well as emotionally believable.

I also appreciated, on this latest viewing, how surprisingly related the actresses look who portray Zoia's mother and sister. Neither woman was actually (as far as I'm aware) related to Vera Karalli, though each sure does look like she easily could have been.

At any rate, very good mid-1910s Russian silent film, well worth watching. It continues to hold up well to viewing even now 104 years after it was released.

Regarding the Milestone DVD release, I love the recent-years music score composed for this movie by Nicholas Brown and performed by the instrumental trio Triptych. It's the ideal pairing, and beautiful to boot.

PS: An interesting observation I've made regarding European silent films (though I don't recall similar in American silents, therefore it may have been a strictly European thing) is that it appears to have been commonplace, a century ago, for people to have long curtains across their interior doorways, and even over the interior closeable doors. I'm guessing that practice was, besides for - when desired - increased privacy, to help reduce draftiness during cold-weather months.