BACK IN TIME - THE 1910'S - "AND QUIET FLOWS THE DON"

I am happy to report that after much effort, I am beginning to stem my “wholesale” film watching tendencies. Take this little gem for instance. Well the point is, it is NOT a little gem; at 330 minutes long it is divided into three parts. I watched it in three days despite the temptation and am happy to say it was the RIGHT choice. Each part is about 100 minutes long, the length of a decent film and besides, so much is going on that you need the time to “digest” it all so to speak. Having shared this little personal triumph with you, I will now get on with the film.
Now, this is an adaptation from the Nobel winning novel of the same name by the Russian writer Sholokhov. I am not too worried about it being an adaptation though. It is a Russian adaptation and it was shot in 1957 and 1958; not long after the events that were depicted so we can imagine that between the book and the film we have before us quite a realistic picture of life in rural Russia at the beginning of the century. The story is set in a little Cossack village. Traditions are strong and ways of life have been handed down for generations unchanged. The year is 1914; the First World War hasn’t begun yet. Scandal hits when married woman Akseniya openly starts having an affair with Grigory a hot headed young Cossack known for his emotions and temper. Before they can think how to put their lives in order though, the war strikes and shortly afterwards, the Soviet revolution. The Great War, the internal struggles that continue long into 1919 throw our heroes and their fates around like toys; death is everywhere as neighbors are set against each other along the lines of “white” and “red”. As the entire village struggles to find its place in the new order ,can true love triumph over it all? Or is there no place for such emotions in the new world order?...
This film touched me on many levels. First of all, to restate what I said in the introduction, it was shot merely 40 years after the events described. So the whole thing was pretty much part of living memory at the time. There is one scene, for instance, of the Cossack battalion charging across the plains. Now in case you didn’t know, the Cossacks have great renown as warriors and horsemen. They charged, on horseback issuing war cries and wielding long swords. Such a sight is part of period drama for us now, but at the time, they actually remembered what this looked like. It’s as close as we will ever get to seeing such things and I think this is very sad.
The story also describes wonderfully how the common people are tossed about in turmoil, lives are ruined and destroyed as great men argue with great words… The chaos brought by the revolution is concretely Russian here but the emotion can be transposed to any country in the world and any time of political turmoil… I cried desperately on more than one occasion during the film.
I have to say though; there is a slightly more personal reason too for my liking this film. My great grandfather was Russian. At the time of the communist revolution of 1917, he and his family were what is called “kulags” ; they were landowners; the owners of a big farm with many workers on it. The communists didn’t like the idea as you can well imagine. My great grandfather and one of his brothers escaped to Turkey to save themselves. They were a large family (9 siblings in total) but my great grandfather never saw his parents or his other brothers and sisters again. Some years later, he fell out with his brother too and they didn’t speak to each other for the rest of their lives. However, the story doesn’t end that sadly. He fell in love you see, the real deal too, converted to Islam and got married. They had a son (my grandfather) who in turn had children of his own and Ayza (we think this is how his name would be spelt in the Latin alphabet) spent his twighlight years playing with his grandchildren and telling them stories of the big farm in Crimea.
Unfortunately, no one in the family remembers Ayza (later Ali Rıza Efendi)’s Russian patronymic or surname, but we do have a picture of him and his young wife in the sitting room. I thought of him a lot as I watched this film, hence the short biography. This post is dedicated to his memory…

A CLASSIC THAT NEEDS NO INTRODUCTION..."WAR AND PEACE"

OK, I hear you. Yes, there is (or should be) a limit to the phenomenon of watching the movie rather than reading the book… I hear you and understand, but I do not agree, not in this case. First, there is the practicality of it (don’t cringe, I’m a pretty average representation of the modern generation and I do NOT read as much as I should and I’m pretty sure you don’t either!). So come on, hands on hearts, it’s only us here: How many of you have actually read War and Peace? (The full four-volumes; not the abridged version.) Ok, how many of you actually got through it to the end? I thought not. I have never read it either. The second thing is, the film in question is not any old film. There are just about eight million re-makes of this one so let’s just specify; this is the 1968 film directed by Russian director Sergei Bondarchuk. Now, I can also guess your first criticism : “Essie, there you are mouthing off about the book being four-volumes long, that will NOT fit into a film, even you will agree.” Well you are right of course, but you see, this film is 405 minutes long. So actually, it’s more of a “mini-series” than a film. It’s pretty easy to watch as well, I mean it’s divided into “films” as the book is divided into “sections”. (My edition is three DVDs long, the first DVD was one film two hours long, ending at a good stopping place, making it easy to pick up later). Then there is the film itself. Despite its enormous length, this film won the Oscar® for Best Foreign Film in 1968. I was rather surprised to read this on the cover when I first got the film but by the end of the first DVD, I could see why…
Ok, so the story. Good God, where to begin? The story spans the lives of a multitude of characters in the Russian aristocracy of the 19th century. Over a seven year period we follow their lives and loves and wars… Yes, for between these dates (as some of you may know) Russia was involved in two great wars, both with the same foe : Napoleon Bonaparte… Through the multitude of characters we discuss many different topics, from the academics who “know nothing of real life” to the old aristocracy, ready to dive in swords drawn to defend Mother Russia…
Now, there is one major difficulty about watching this film. First of all, don’t make the mistake I did. Don’t try and watch it all at once. The “film” is divided into four films (four books, remember?) for a reason. I, having a lot of free time on my hands, watched three of them in a single day. Big mistake. You see, since the story is so long you just glaze over and cannot get “involved” after a while. Which is a shame – or possibly not – because the war scenes are among the most lifelike I have ever seen, i.e. absolutely horrendous. And of course there is a lot both in the story and in the film to underline the “anti-war” nature of the film. One by one they may have been more effective. Watched in bulk like I did, well… As I said, I was glazed over… On a slightly more technical note, in the 1960’s, before CGI, I absolutely shudder to think how those scenes with THOUSANDS of people were organized… Brr…
Speaking of technicalities though, within minutes of starting the film, I was bowled over sideways by the director’s use of the camera and the editing. The quality is above and beyond ANYTHING I have watched in a very long time. (This kind of mastery just fills me with the despair of knowing that I will never be this good even if I do get to make my own films one day… Ooops did I let that one slip? J ) . Just the way we pass from one scene to another, from one sequence to another is breath-taking, intelligent and in some cases deeply moving (and yes, editing CAN be deeply moving and you will see what I mean if you watch this film!). Then there is the majesty of the film itself… No expense was spared to finish this film so much so that when the budget is converted to today’s currency it ranks as the most expensive film in all of history. For the war scenes alone, 1,200 people were used to form an actual army – that should give you some idea as to the grandeur of the film. The length is no matter, the story is so strong and the representation of it so masterful that you are swept away into the story before you can know it…
There are, of course some little “kinks” stemming from the fact that this is a 60’s film… First of all, I sincerely doubt dubbing is widely available for this one so you will have to watch it in Russian. (My Mother who is among the first to throw up her hands in dismay at the idea of a film in a “foreign language” did the same for this one. I explained that the sheer number of people it would take – ever read a Tolstoy novel? – and the length of time would send the costs soaring). Then there is the fact that the director assumes a certain level of general knowledge. Now I’m not being snooty, that in fact is the whole point; I didn’t have the said knowledge either! Of course, in the 60’s the cinema was not a “pass-time” but quite an intellectual undertaking, so you were supposed to either have read the book or at least be familiar with the particulars of the Franco-Prussian war of 1805. If you were not, you were pretty much left guessing (or alternately stopping the DVD and grilling your mother /laptop/smart phone on historical and literary details; much to the annoyance of my Mother who was already disgruntled at having the TV hijacked by a Russian film I might add). I mean, you are given a vague outline but no helpful introductory “in case you hadn’t noticed” dialogue you tend to find in U.S. movies or at the ends of crime dramas. What dialogue there is, I have already explained, is in Russian. So, if you don’t speak Russian, you are left to the mercy of the subtitler, your wits, imagination, internet connection or your Mothers’ (insert any helpful and available relative) patience. This, bizarrely enough, does not put you off though. I know it should logically, but it doesn’t. The film is just so well done that you WANT to find out. You are swept up in the film, you sympathize with the characters and want to find out what the heck is happening to them… So you get a dollop of general culture, almost read one of the world’s literary classics AND watch a brilliant movie / miniseries all in one. If that isn’t a bargain I honestly don’t know what is…
P.S. If you ever get your hands on this edition (and I sincerely hope you do) for my personal favorite look out for Natasha and Prince Andrei’s waltz – and the “aftermath”. One of the best filmed love scenes I have EVER seen…