For most of the twentieth century, rooms film received ritual mention in soviet and western film histories, but mostly as a footnote in the development of the new art of film. According to the supplementary information in kanopy, its a satire of the housing shortage in moscow. Mar 06, 2018 1927s tretya meshchanskaya bed and sofa, screening at pacific film archive as part of the series in focus. Bed and sofa is an exceptional 1927 russian film about a love triangle involving kolia, his wife liuda and his best friend volodia. Every month the team at the calvert journal selects a favourite russian movie, from a classic of soviet cinema or a groundbreaking documentary to the latest short. Sep 18, 20 psoy korolenko, an avantbard from moscow, will perform his original soundtrack and rapstyle commentary to the russian silent movie classic bed and sofa by abram room 1927, 75 min. Every month the team at the calvert journal selects a favourite russian movie, from a classic of soviet cinema or. In fact, bed and sofa is a very human story everyone can relate to, thanks to the excellent direction by abram room who captures the moods and feelings of three people living in a small basement flat. The film s other distribution titles reveal further aspects of soviet director abram rooms most notable feature.
Bed and sofas controversy and social commentary flicker alley. Starring nikolai batalov, ludmila semenova, vladimir fogel. When volodya, a provincial printer, comes to nepera moscow for work, his civil war comrade kolya invites him to share his apartment without asking his wife liudmila. Shop furniture at 1stdibs, the leading resource for antique and modern furniture made in russian. The themes in the 1927 soviet comedy bed and sofa were daring for. It tells the story of a menage a trois a very daring plot for soviet cinema in the 1920s between one woman liuda and two men volodia and kolia. Bed and sofa is a silentfilm musical baltimore sun. Room managed to release the film because at that time, the ideals of soviet realism werent yet regulated, so there was still some time to touch the soontobeforbidden subjects. With the city experiencing a housing shortage, the authorities tell the couple they must take in a lodger, but luckily volodia fogel, an old friend of kolia s, has arrived in the city and needs a place to stay. July rain 1967, marlen khutsiyev chosen by 50 russian specialists, these are the 55 best russiansoviet films in the 20th century. Mar 23, 2015 scene from bed and sofa volodia and liuda meet. Abram rooms bed and sofa is quite different from the most famous soviet silent films such as battleship potemkin, earth or mother. As i wrote in an earlier post, the world of bed and sofa is that of the silent film. Sep 27, 2014 the film is interesting to watch as it is the most controversial and criticized film of the soviet union.
This 1927 soviet silent film by abram room was a bold move in soviet cinema. This 1927 soviet silent film by abram room was a bold move in soviet cinema for its frank and comedic themes of sexuality amongst. Russian writerdirector abram room never again made anything as goodor as highly individualas his 1927 silent film bed and sofa. This 1927 soviet film seems very modern it deals with frank sexual situations and has a. Pudovkin and other popular directors of the new soviet cinema system were glorifying the bolshevik revolution.
Successfully combining humour and pathos, the film is. A fact from bed and sofa appeared on wikipedia s main page in the did you know. Bed and sofa is a film directed by abram room with nikolai batalov, lyudmila semyonova, leonid yurenyov, vladimir fogel, year. The movie has been described as an oddball, engaging, pocketsize silent movie opera. The prints of both films are very good and much better than many soviet films i have seen from this period. Psoy korolenko, an avantbard from moscow, will perform his original soundtrack and rapstyle commentary to the russian silent movie classic bed and sofa by abram room 1927, 75 min the movie has been described as an oddball, engaging, pocketsize silent movie opera. When volodya moves to moscow to look for work, hes unable to find housing. Bed and sofa began its life as the wonderfully scandalous 1926 silent film directed by abram room and starring three of the soviet unions most popular actors.
Tretya meshchanskaya bed and sofa 1927 rotten tomatoes. Well, with many soviet movies of the twenties, simply its not the case. Bed and sofa tretya meshchanskaya 1927 movie youtube. Kolia, the husband, invites his friend to move in with them.
In 1927, abram room, released his film entitled bed and sofa, in the soviet union. Russian writerdirector abram room never again made anything as goodor as highly. Otets sergiy aka father sergius, 1917 yakov protazanov 2. In addition to the title, bed and sofa it was also released outside of the soviet union under. Soviet avantgarde tectonics first appear on film in an entirely abstract fashion, and not in the ussr at all, in the form of hans richters series of animated shorts, rhythmus, made in 192123. Bed and sofa is not about great events that shake the world, but about making do in a. Since we are trying to capture the feel of a silent film, we are setting the show. Bed and sofa and the edge of domesticity by judith mayne.
Every month the team at the calvert journal selects a favourite russian movie, from a classic of soviet. The film opens in a small, bleak onebedroom apartment in moscow in the 1920s, consisting of a bed and sofa during a very severe housing shortage. The dvd of abram rooms 1927 soviet silent classic bed and sofa includes vsevolod pudovkins comic 1925 short chess fever, which runs through a set of welltimed gags about a nation in a state of persistent distraction as its citizens stare obsessively at miniature chessboards. Lenin bed and sofa 1927 seems an appropriate title for a film whose major dramatic action features its male heroes maneuvering back and forth between a bed and a sofa in a oneroom apartment in housingshort moscow. One of the most delightful and outrageous early soviet films, bed and sofa offers a surprisingly frank look at shifting values in a society still very much in transition.
There is also a very useful commentary to bed and sofa provided by julian graffy. This dvd includes audio commentary for bed and sofa by julian graffy, professor of russian literature and cinema at the school of slavonic and east european studies, university college, london, and author of bed and sofa. The 55 best russian and soviet films movies list on mubi. Julian graffy abram rooms daring 1927 film, scripted by viktor shklovsky, is the story of a menage a trois one woman, two men set in a 1920s moscow flat. I loved the cinematography, particularly the use of shadows and. The sexual mores of the young working class were featured. This is actually a pretty good movie, although like many silent soviet films, the score, while nice, is way too dramatic. Bed and sofas controversy and social commentary flicker. He is clearly an expert on the film and speaks in an informative and entertaining way. Remarkable collection of early soviet films on dvd. The film is a comedy that shows moscows housing shortage. Bed and sofa 1927 was directed by abram room and remains his most wellknown film. A comedic 1927 silent film set in moscow during a housing shortage highlights the circumstances of life lived in close quarters. The last scene a displaced product placement in which mr garcia acts is something to be remembered because it is the most embarrassing moment in the recent film history.
Bed and sofa is a captivating study of the 1927 film by abram room about the failure of the sexual revolution in 1920s russia. A controversial and polarizing movie at the time of its release, bed and sofa is both an intimate domestic drama and a sly national satire. Bed and sofa tretya meshchanskaya, 1927 original soviet film poster by the stenberg brothers, vladimir. Yet bed and sofa was made in the same high moment of russian film production. Wed expect a soviet movie to be framed in some soviet canons. This 1927 soviet film seems very modern it deals with frank sexual situations and has a strong feminist flavor. The movie is released during the final years of the new economic plan. Scene from bed and sofa volodia and liuda meet youtube. Like many early soviet directors, room 18941976 had come to the cinema along a circuitous path. The cinema of the soviet union includes films produced by the constituent republics of the soviet union reflecting elements of their presoviet culture, language and history, albeit they were all regulated by the central government in moscow. In this oneofakind satire of the moscow housing shortage, a married construction worker invites an old pal to stay with him. Most prolific in their republican films, after the russian soviet federative socialist republic, were armenia, azerbaijan, georgia, ukraine, and, to a.
Bed and sofa abram room, 1927 bed and sofa is the only soviet film that was banned in europe because of its sexual situations. These compelling successions of polygons, intersecting, growing and pulsating, were very obviously based on the precedent of suprematism, the cult. Bed and sofa abram room, 1927 bed and sofa is the only soviet film that was banned in. Nov, 2019 a comedic 1927 silent film set in moscow during a housing shortage highlights the circumstances of life lived in close quarters. Bed and sofa 1927 was directed by abram room and remains his mostwell known film. The films other distribution titles reveal further aspects of soviet director abram rooms most notable feature. It tells the story of a menage a trois a very daring plot for the soviet cinema in the 1920s, one woman liuda and two men volodia and kolia.
In making bed and sofa, room intended to make a film that not only spoke out against abortion on demand and the sexual freedom that had come about during the revolution years, but one that also explored the social problems of urban life during the final years of the new economic policy. So, he moves in with his old army buddy kolya and kolyas wife lyuda. With vladimir fogel, nikolay batalov, lyudmila semyonova, leonid yurenev. Bed and sofa is a 1927 soviet silent film directed by abram room. Since the original film was created in moscow in 1926, we know that the look of the costumes, scenery and props will have a soviet influence. Bed and sofa and the edge of domesticity by judith mayne condensed with permission of the author from a chapter in kino and the woman question. Bed and sofa 1927 a married couple have a small apartment in moscow.
Look for instance at this bed and sofa, created by abram room in 1927. The sexual mores of the young working class were featured in this hit comedy. When an old friend of the husbands arrives in the city, he is unable to find lodgings. Bed and sofa is unlike most of the films considered the classics of soviet silent film in its subject matter as well as it its style. Not widely seen outside the soviet union due to its treatment of thentaboo. Bed and sofa 1927 march 8, 2015 march 8, 2015 nowvoyaging this post is a part of the russian in classic film blogathon hosted by fritzi from movies silently and flicker alley. Bed and sofa 1927, starring ludmilla semyonova, alexei bartalov and vladimir fogel was produced by sovkino moscow and released march 15, 1927. During the infancy of the soviet union in the 1920s, kolia batalov and his wife liuda semyonova live together in a small moscow apartment. The story of a menageatrois involving one woman and two men, and set in a 1920s moscow flat, the film is remarkable for its frankness, humor, and its caustic assessment of the new soviet society, particularly the new soviet man. Analysis of bed and sofa 819 words 4 pages in the featured film bed and sofa 1926, the director tells a story of love triangle involving ludmila, her husband nikolay, and nikolays long time comradefriend in the first world war, vladimir. Pseudoactor and tv presenter, marcio garcia directs his first feature film. The story the film opens in a small, bleak onebedroom apartment in moscow in the 1920s, consisting of a bed and sofa during a very severe housing shortage.
The film is interesting to watch as it is the most controversial and criticized film of the soviet union. Not widely seen outside the soviet union due to its treatment of thentaboo subjects, the film, directed and produced by. Bed and sofa soviet and russian movies in english online. Bed and sofa is the english name of a 1927 soviet silent film originally released in the soviet union as tretya meshchanskaya. The dvd of abram rooms 1927 soviet silent classic bed and sofa includes vsevolod pudovkins comic 1925 short chess fever, which runs. This 1927 soviet film seems very modern it deals with frank. The cinema of the soviet union includes films produced by the constituent republics of the soviet union reflecting elements of their pre soviet culture, language and history, albeit they were all regulated by the central government in moscow. The great russian silents are usually full of propaganda, with stylised characters representing archetypes rather than individuals. Based on a 1926 silent russian film by abram room, the threeperson show about a romantic triangle also examines the similarities between the. The themes in the 1927 soviet comedy bed and sofa were daring for the time or any time. This may have been the origin, but it has a hell of a lot more to say. Aug 09, 2012 soviet avantgarde tectonics first appear on film in an entirely abstract fashion, and not in the ussr at all, in the form of hans richters series of animated shorts, rhythmus, made in 192123. In the essay below, blogger liz provides insightful analysis into the message behind director abram rooms oeuvre, the female protagonist liudas agency as a woman, how this work fit or didnt fit. Soviet movies from the 1920s on russian film hub, an extensive library of free russian and soviet movies with english subtitles.
799 1224 1449 1579 900 1643 1570 367 970 837 843 1170 445 1214 1450 1437 101 227 1095 1501 616 954 1454 608 1493 439 755 486 732 1061 251