Film Persona

  Vsevolod Pudovkin's "Storm Over Asia" In the final film of Vsevolod Pudovkin's "revolutionary trilogy," after " Mother " and " The End of St. Petersberg ," " Storm Over Asia " deals with a different aspect of the Russian Revolution. Where the prior two films focused more on the European side of Russia, " Storm Over Asia " deals with Asian relations.  In the film, a Mongolian joins in the Soviet's fight for independence. However, after British forces capture the Mongolian, they sentence him to death. They then learn that this Mongolian is a direct descendant of Genghis Khan. After learning this information, they revive the Mongolian and put him in charge of a puppet government. The Mongolian then turns against his British oppressors in a fiery rage. This Soviet propaganda film deals with British interference in the Mongolian government. It criticized the Western capitalists and their negative influence on the East...

  Vsevolod Pudovkin's "The End of St. Petersburg" To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the October Revolution, Vsevolod Pudovkin was commissioned to make a film to celebrate the event. Another film that was commissioned for the celebration was Sergei Eisenstein's " October (Ten Days That Shook the World) ." Eisenstein's film deals more with the revolutionaries responsible for the uprising, like Vladimir Lenin. However, Pudovkin's film does not focus on political figures. Instead, he focuses more on the everyday people who went on strike, unionized, fought in the war, and overthrew the aristocracy.  The city from the film's title, "St. Petersberg" was the center of power in Russia before the Bolshevik revolution. Pudovkin's film is a dramatization of the downfall of aristocratic power and thereby, the city itself. Pudovkin uses montage to instill an image of the city and what it represents. He cuts between images of the tsar's st...

  Vsevolod Pudovkin's "Mother" After the Soviet Montage movement exploded into the world's consciousness with films like " Strike " and " Battleship Potemkin ," other Soviet filmmakers continued in its practice. One such filmmaker, Vsevolod Pudovkin, created one of the most incredible pieces of Soviet filmmaking in 1926 with " Mother ." Based on the 1906 novel " The Mother ," by Maxim Gorky, the film depicts the radicalization of a mother during the Russian Revolution of 1905. In the film, a mother's son is imprisoned after it is discovered that he leads a worker's union strike. The mother joins up with the revolutionaries to free her son from prison. The revolutionaries infiltrate the prison and free the son. While embracing his mother, the son is shot dead by the Tsarist troops. The mother, now radicalized, marches toward the troops holding a Socialist flag. After meeting her death, the film ends with a montage of fort...

  Clarence Brown's "Intruder in the Dust" Before the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, many Hollywood films did not address the injustices committed against the black community. One film, however, titled " Intruder in the Dust " raised many eyebrows. Its depiction of racism was something many had not seen before on screen. Sure, there were black films made specifically for black Americans. However, " Intruder in the Dust " was a film made for white audiences as well.  The film depicts a black man jailed after being suspected of shooting a white man in the back and killing him. However, two teenage boys, the town lawyer, and an elderly lady have a hunch that this man is innocent. After a series of investigations, it is discovered that someone removed the dead man's body from his grave so that the bullet in his back couldn't be identified. After discovering this, they lay a trap for the man to come back. He does and after arresting him, the mob...

  Clarence Brown's "National Velvet" Based on the 1935 novel by Enid Bagnold, " National Velvet " is a simple sports drama for the whole family. It stars an adolescent Elizabeth Taylor in her breakout role. What the film also represents is the national temperament that the United States would be taking on for the next decade.  The film centers on the character of Velvet, a 12-year-old horse lover. One day, she meets an ex-jockey turned drifter named 'Mi.' Mi wows about a horse that can jump over tall structures and muses that the horse could compete in competitions. Velvet enters a raffle to win the horse and winds up winning. She names the horse 'Pie' and begins to train her. Mi, whose original intentions were to steal the family's money, has a change of heart and decides to help Velvet train Pie. Nobody believes an anonymous horse with an unprofessional 12-year-old girl will win anything, but Velvet believes in herself. After pretending to ...

  Clarence Brown's "Anna Karenina" In adapting the 1877 Leo Tolstoy novel " Anna Karenina ," Clarence Brown offered another starring vehicle for famed actress Greta Garbo. In keeping with a lot of themes that can be found in his other films, this film deals with 'forbidden' love. Playing the lead role, Garbo once again gets to portray a melancholic character who must decide between love or honor. The plot centers on Anna Karenina, who is the wife of Karenin, a Czar. She falls in love with a military officer named Vronsky. The two are not so discreet about their affair, which causes Karenin to throw his wife out and forbid her to see their son. After Vronsky chooses the honor of battle over being with Anna, she decides to kill herself.  It is apparent that the source material for the film is thematically complex. However, this 1935 Hollywood romance film is only able to scratch the surface of these complexities. For example, the story of Anna Karenina is ...

  Clarence Brown's "A Free Soul" After catapulting Greta Garbo to international fame, Clarence Brown did the same for a few more actors with his 1931 film " A Free Soul ." Norma Shearer, Lionel Barrymore, and Clark Gable all benefited from the success of the film and eventually became stars in their own right.  The film stars Norma Shearer as a woman named Jan, whose father is an alcoholic defense lawyer. After falling in love with one of his defendants, Ace, her father berates her. She promises to leave Ace as long as her father stops drinking. After getting off the wagon, her father can't help but to fall back on old habits. In doing so, she goes back to Ace only to realize that her father was right about him the whole time. Jan's ex-fiance defends Jan from getting kidnapped by Ace by killing him. At the trial, along with the help of her father, Jan sets the record straight. The films that Clarence Brown chooses to direct all seem to have a common elem...

  Clarence Brown's "Anna Christie" By 1930, Greta Garbo had been the star of the silent film screen for several years. However, with the advent of the talking picture, MGM was reluctant to let its star be heard in a talking role. They were unsure what the public response would be, as the image people had created of Garbo in their minds might very well be shattered once they heard her actual voice. In order to make the transition, they needed the right film and the right director. They chose Clarence Brown to adapt a 1921 play by Eugene O'Neil called " Anna Christie ." " Anna Christie " begins with an alcoholic sailor learning that his daughter is coming to see him after he abandoned her fifteen years prior. His daughter, Anna, arrives hiding a dishonorable past. This past involves working in a brothel and being raped. Anna stays with her father on his barge. One day, they rescue a sailor displaced at sea. Anna and the sailor, Matt, fall in love. Af...

  Clarence Brown's "A Woman of Affairs" At the height of her stardom, Greta Garbo continued to make films with her frequent collaborator, Clarence Brown. With 1928's " A Woman of Affairs ," the duo continued utilizing sexual frustration with characters who 'weren't supposed to be together' either because of social acceptance or other partners. The film is based on the 1924 novel by Michael Arlen titled " The Green Hat ."  The film centers on a wealthy woman named Diana who is a part of a British aristocracy. The father of the man she's in love with opposes their relationship, so he sends his son to Egypt for business purposes. Two years later, she marries David, who is good friends with her brother Jeffry. After David commits suicide, Jeffry blames Diana for his death. Jeffry begins to slip into alcoholism while Diana becomes overly promiscuous. After Neville's return, he is set to marry another woman named Constance. Jeffry die...

  Clarence Brown's "Flesh and the Devil" After her success in the German film industry, Greta Garbo moved to California to star in Hollywood films. One of her first major breakthroughs was 1926's " Flesh and the Devil ." The film was directed by Clarence Brown, who had been a mainstay Hollywood director since he took the reigns of 1920's " The Last of the Mohicans ." " Flesh and the Devil " was Garbo's first collaboration with Brown - a collaboration that would continue for numerous films to come. The film made Garbo an international star, catapulting her to the top of Hollywood's A list.  The film centers on two friends, Leo and Ulrich, who take leave from their posts in the German army. During their leave, Leo falls in love with Felicitas, the wife of a powerful count. The count catches the two of them in an affair and challenges Leo to a duel. Leo kills the Count, hoping that he and Felicitas can finally be together. Howeve...

  Clarence Brown's "The Last of the Mohicans" After serving as a fighter pilot in the United States Army during World War I, Clarence Brown became an assistant to Maurice Tourner. Tourner, who was a French-born director working in Hollywood, started a project in 1920 called " The Last of the Mohicans ." The film was an adaptation of James Fenimore Cooper's 1826 novel of the same name. After injuring himself in a fall, Tourner had to step down from his directing duties. Clarence Brown stepped into the director's role for the first time. He then continued to make countless films for Hollywood thereafter. " The Last of the Mohicans " tells a fictional story set during the French and Indian War of 1757. After a group of Native Americans attacks a British Stronghold, members of the Mohican tribe join the British in quelling the attacks. After a Commander's daughters are kidnapped, a Mohican named Uncas led a group of men in to save them.  The fi...