Day: February 6, 2015

LFM Reviews Trial on the Road

From "Trial on the Road."

By Joe Bendel. It suggests the Red Army was often less than heroic during the Second World War, and implies treason is sometimes an understandable option during unreasonable times. You had better believe it was banned by the Soviet government. Frankly, it is hard to imagine how it was ever greenlit in the first place. Of course, by western standards, it is a relatively restrained portrayal of the absurdity and petty cruelty of war, but it was far too potent for the state authorities. There will be little glory and absolutely no fun whatsoever to be found in war throughout Aleksei Guerman’s Trial on the Road, which screens during Anthology Film Archive’s mini Guerman film series.

Red Army Sergeant Alexander Lazarev defected to the Germans, lured by the promise of an easier life. In the short term, he would have been considerably more comfortable if he had stayed with the Germans. However, he allows himself to be captured out of a rekindled sense of patriotism. Naturally, he meets with a decidedly mixed receptive. Many new comrades, including the unit’s political officer, are in favor of summary execution.

Fortunately, the nominal commanding officer has other ideas. He would much prefer to see Lazarev die a redemptive death during a recklessly dangerous assignment. While there is no shortage of peril during Lazarev’s missions, it just seems like everyone else does all the dying.

From a Communist censor’s perspective, that kneejerk political officer has to be especially problematic, but Trial is veritable minefield of objectionable material. Its entire interpretation of reality contradicts the old Soviet mother-myth of the “Great Patriotic War.” People are cheap and the Communist war machine will dispose of them as it pleases.

From "Trial on the Road."

Vladimir Zamansky is absolutely riveting as Lazarev. He is a completely convincing battle-hardened and world-weary hardnose, but when he periodically breaks down, overwhelmed by pointless barbarity of the war, it is heavy stuff. Likewise, Oleg Borisov supplies a powerful counterpunch as Solomin, one of Lazarev’s bitterest detractors, who pays dearly for a lesson in forgiveness.

Trial is an incredible film that combines tragedy and absurdity in a manner that feels so quintessentially Russian. The striking black-and-white cinematography and slightly surreal backdrops also show the early, subtle hallmarks of Guerman’s mature style. It is a shame Trial (his first sole directorial credit) and My Friend Ivan Lapshin (his third film, not released fourteen years later), were censored for so long. He was an extraordinary cinematic storyteller and stylist, but he was on the outs with the Soviet power structure during most of what should have been his peak creative years. Once again, the entire world has been impoverished by Communism. One of the best war films you will see on a New York screen this year, Trial on the Road screens again this Tuesday (2/10) as part of Anthology Film Archives’ Guerman mini-retrospective.

LFM GRADE: A+

Posted on February 6th, 2015 at 12:33pm.

LFM Reviews Concrete Love @ The 2015 Slamdance Film Festival

By Joe Bendel. Pritzker Prize winner Gottfried Böhm and his three architect sons might be the world’s preeminent modernists, but the function of many of their buildings is to harken back to the past. With churches, mosques, World War II memorials, and an Egyptology museum to their collective credit, the Böhms have built, but they find themselves at a personal and professional crossroads in Maurizius Staerkle Drux’s documentary, Concrete Love: the Böhm Family, which screened during the 2015 Slamdance Film Festival in Park City.

As the only German Pritzker laureate, Gottfried Böhm is the unquestioned head of the clan and of their family practice. His overwhelmingly dominant stature leads to issues and tensions within the family unit, particularly with respect to his wife Elisabeth. She was once a promising junior architect as well, but she permanently deferred her career to raise their children. She has long suffered from dementia when Drux starts observing the family, but she soon succumbs to age and infirmity.

Despite her failing health, the Böhm sons miss their mother’s stabilizing influence. Resentments of the patriarch start to become more pronounced, especially as the sons face their own particular professional challenges. Stephan is determined to get a toehold in the exploding Chinese market, even though he is a bit put off to learn architects are largely considered on par with contractors and workmen in the People’s Republic (arguably, a rare expression of egalitarianism in the increasingly stratified nation). Meanwhile, Paul Böhm is growing exasperated with the budget cuts and aesthetically dubious demands imposed on him by the strange network of patrons behind his mega-mosque project. Believe it or not, we sort of get the sense he is being set up to be some kind of scapegoat.

From "Concrete Love."

At least Peter Böhm sort of gets the last laugh at the opening of the Museum of Egyptian Art he designed. He had clashed with his father over its deceptively simple, boxy layout. Yet, once Drux takes his cameras inside, we get a sense of how its imposing massiveness evokes the great monumental structures of ancient Egypt and how the surprisingly airy open spaces serve the exhibitions. It really has a cool sense of place.

Of course, the elder Böhm has plenty of striking buildings to his credit as well. Indeed, seeing the family’s greatest hits is one of the best parts of Concrete. To his credit, Drux has a good eye for both architecture and familial drama. In a case of good news-bad news, his approach is probably too detached to feel voyeuristic or intrusive. As a result though, the pace can be a bit leisurely at times, but the film is clearly intended for a cultured audience with a sustainable attention span. Respectfully recommended for those interested in post-war architecture, Concrete Love will likely screen at many art-focused and German language festivals over the coming year, following its North American premiere at this year’s Slamdance Film Festival.

LFM GRADE: B

Posted on February 6th, 2015 at 12:33pm.