The Devil's Wheel (1926)
Synopsis
Typically of the heady days of early Soviet cinema, this is constructed according to the fast, sharp editing principles advocated by Eisenstein, complete with symbolic inserts; but in terms of subject matter, it's much less explicitly political than most movies emerging from Russia in the '20s. Chronicling a young sailor's descent into a murky, treacherous underworld of pimps and thieves, after having encountered a Louise Brooks lookalike at a fairground and missed his departing boat, it's a lively moral fable that delights in vivid visual effects and quirky characterisations. If the plot occasionally reveals gaping holes, and the tacked-on ending urging the clearance of the Leningrad slums seems to be rather gratuitous, there's enough going on to keep one attentive and amused.
Release Date: 1926-03-15
Runtime: 40 minutes
Director: Grigori Kozintsev
Top Cast
- Pyotr Sobolevsky as Vanya Shorin, Red fleet sailor
- Lyudmila Semyonova as Valya
- Sergei Gerasimov as The Question Man
- Emil Gal as Koko, vaudeville performer
- Antonio Tserep as Tavern Owner
- Nikolay Gorodnichev as House manager
- V. Lande as Cafe dancer
- Sergei Martinson as Orchestra conductor
- Yevgeniy Kumeyko as Hooligan
- I. Berezin as Hooligan
Soundtrack
Original Music Composer(s): N/A
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