Amazon.com

Sergei Eisenstein's saga of Czar Ivan IV continues with the struggle for power and the use of secret police, a controversial segment that caused the film to be banned by Stalin in 1946 (the film was not released until 1958). The predominantly black-and-white film features a banquet dance sequence incolor. Obviously the two parts must be viewed as a whole to be fully appreciated. Many film historians consider this period in Eisenstein's career less interesting than his silent period because of a sentimental return to archaic forms (characteristic of Soviet society in the '30s and '40s). Perhaps it was just part of his maturity. --Bill Desowitz ... Read more

Amazon.com

A Soviet sensation upon its heavily publicized release in 1924, Aelita, the Queen of Mars is now a curiosity of post-revolutionary Russian silent cinema, a bit laughable in its revolutionary zeal not only on Earth but on Mars as well! Despite a cool reaction from critics, the film was such a hit with the Soviet public that many Russian babies born in '24 were named Aelita, and the Cubist designs of the Martian sets--heavily influenced by the avant-garde "constructivist" style--would in turn influence science fiction films in the years to follow (most notably the Flash Gordon serials). With costume designs performances that are truly out of this world, Aelita was the 1924 equivalent of a Spielberg spectacular; now it's a museum piece, unlikely to raise anyone's pulse, but it's startling to think that this film was even possible in 1924 Russia.

The story is almost beside the point, revolving around a married Moscow engineer who dreams of Aelita, the Queen of Mars, and is obsessed with building a spaceship that will take him to her. An alleged murder, passionate jealousy, and a bumbling detective are all part of the film's portrait of hardscrabble post-revolutionary lifestyle, but they pale in comparison to the intermittent scenes on Mars, which peak with the engineer's ultimate arrival and the eruption of a Martian slave rebellion! It's pure propaganda, but agreeably light and remarkably revealing of its time and place. Anyone expecting a Soviet Metropolis will be disappointed, but if you're fascinated by imaginative films from the silent era, Aelita is must-see viewing. --Jeff Shannon ... Read more

Reviews (9)

A fascinating look at an era and style
Surprisingly watchable, for a silent film, and very well preserved. The Constructivist sets and costumes are amazing, a revolutionary art style before the later supression of expression and innovation in the Soviet Union (this film was later banned by Stalinist critics). Even the images of life on Earth, in the early days of that nation, are quite interesting.

Hokum - made in Russia!
Aelita is a spectacular failure. Made to compete with the great productions from Germany and USA, it was the Leviathan of Russian silent movies; hyper-expensive and long in the making.

It became the victim of a critical backlash (too much capitalist wishy-washying) and was quietly withdrawn from circulation soon after its bombastic premiere opening, featuring larger-than-life models of Aelita's characters outside the cinemas and advance hype of the highest order.

Soon even the rumour of it faded into obscurity, yet some remembered. The Soviet State Film archives didn't destroy the negative (apparently, they have preserved everything, however subversive!) Aelita was still mentioned fleetingly during the years (John Grierson tried to aquire a copy) but not until Glasnost was it released to new audiences. And now it's on DVD.

This is a film you will want to see just once. Oh, you can probably return to it and watch individual scenes, but I myself wouldn't ever want to see the entire film again. It's badly directed and the story is complete hokum. The special effects are perfunctory. Just take a peek at that lens or telescope the Martians use to watch life on earth. Whoever conceived that one? When Aelita looks into the telescope, it's from a distance of 50cm from the ocular, which means she can't see anything at all. The space-ship looks like a pot bellied boiler from the Titanic.
I've seen much better effects in other films from the 20ies.

The planet Mars, however, is imaginatively rendered and the costumes and make-up are a sight to behold! Check out those hair-dos!

The scenes from earth are interesting. Not for the melodramatic story, but the social aspect of it. Post-revolutionary Soviet had great housing and food supply problems and this features strongly in Aelita. If only they had got rid of that terrible counter-revolutionary villain and his obnoxious wife, Aelita would have been so much better.

Buy it only if you want to support the release of old silents on DVD, or is an avid collector of all things rare and silent.

Commies on Mars!
An early piece of science fiction cinema, Aelita is an interesting gem of a movie. It is from the silent era and will probably not gain a lot of followers from those raised on the big budget productions common from Hollywood today. It was made in Russia in 1924 and is little more than Marxist propaganda, however, as a piece of science fiction and cinema history, it is of interest.

The movie starts with radios around the world receiving a mysterious transmission. It is decided that the signal is from Mars (for no apparent reason), and a Russian scientist (Loss) decides that he will build a spaceship to travel there. (Title card: ?[Loss] works all night to construct a spaceship to take him there?!) Meanwhile, Aelita, the queen of Mars, uses a viewing device to watch the people of Earth. She sees Loss and falls madly in love with him (so much for long courtship). At the same time, we are shown the struggles of the Soviet people in the early days of Communism and a group of conspirators who prey upon the simple hardworking Soviet citizens. One of these conspirators tries to seduce Loss? wife over to the ways of the old (capitalist) society. Loss becomes enraged when he believes that his wife has cheated on him and kills her. He must now use his rocketship to escape from the law. He takes off in his craft with a Soviet soldier, Gussev, as his traveling companion (a police detective in pursuit of Loss also stows away). When they arrive on Mars, they find that the rulers there (including Aelita) are tyrants that enslave and torture the common people. Led by Gussev, the people stage a revolt to put down the tyrants and establish a socialist society on Mars. Loss kills Aelita then awakens to find that it was all a dream and that he had never traveled to Mars and that he had never shot his wife. He discovers that she did not really cheat on him and the two are reunited.

The movie is essentially a Marxist parable. It shows people who have lost faith in the ideals of the revolution but eventually are swayed back to the side of socialism. In this sense, it a less of a cinematic feature and more of a propaganda tool. It is an interesting piece of movie history though. It is an early attempt at science fiction and an interesting window into the nascent Soviet Republic. The special effects are so-so, but hey, this was made in 1924. The cubist imagery used to depict the Martian society is fascinating. And the spacecraft used to travel to Mars is actually based on sound scientific principles. It is a liquid fuel propelled rocket, though it is bloated and unwieldy in appearance. Tracking in at almost two hours (111 minutes), the movie is daunting at times even for the most dedicated of viewers. But still I would say it is worth the effort for sci fi and movie historians.

Unfortunately, the DVD version contains no additional features. It would have been interesting to see some information on early Russian cinema.

Marxist ethics on Mars
Aelita, Queen of Mars is certainly a gem of a movie. Made in 1924, it is a look at how Communist philosophy plays out in speculative fiction during the silent era. Purportedly, it was made on a fantastic budget, and the sets on Mars show it. The costuming for the Martian aristocrats concerns styles that were non-existent at the time, and seem to have arrived out of the 50's American Sci-Fi films. The Martian sets were indeed, outlandish and worth getting the DVD just to see.
The story is slightly weak, attempting to cover too much ground and too many genres for the amount of time presented. However, it does not detract from the important historic value of the picture and the simple enjoyment of watching the tale unfold.
The film displays the humorous exploits of the Bourgeoise Zie, and the stark poverty the Proletariat suffered in 1924 Russia.
In a way, this film could be an equal criticism of both. It takes an inordinately long time for the main character to reach Mars, although Mars is shown throughout the film, following Aelita, queen of Mars as she goes about.
The DVD has no special features worthy of note. The average scene selection and nothing else, but the restoration work is excellent, keeping true to even the few parts of the film that were intended to be poor quality. It is truly a film worthy of being presented on DVD.

AELITA - QUEEN OF MARS!
No, this is not some sort of 1950's space babe film! AELITA is a science-fiction SILENT film from the early days of SOVIET cinema! REALLY! The FUTURISTIC SETS here rival those of "Metropolis" (which was made three years later)! The story is quite simple! An engineer in Moscow builds a SPACESHIP to travel to MARS so he can meet the GIRL of his dreams! Of course, once he gets there, instead of romance, he becomes involved in a REBELLION by the PROLETARIATE! Are you really surprised? This is a SOVIET film from 1924! Almost TWO HOURS long! Directed by Yakov Protazenov! A FASCINATING film! This DVD also features an ORCHESTRAL score! So none of that organ music nonsense for this film! ... Read more

Amazon.com

A biography of the first czar of Russia was the final movie project of the great Sergei Eisenstein's life. It would be his undoing, as Stalin was not pleased with part II of this epic. But Ivan the Terrible, Part I still stands as a magnificent, rich, and strange achievement. This is a "composed" film to make Hitchcock look slapdash; every frame is arranged with the eye of a painter or choreographer, the mise-en-scène so deliberately artificial that even the actors' bodies become elements of style. (They complained about contorting themselves to fit Eisenstein's designs.) If you don't believe movies can be art, this could be (and has been) dismissed as ludicrous. But Eisenstein's command of light and shadow becomes its own justification, as the fascinating court intrigue plays out in a series of dynamic, eye-filling scenes. This is not a political theorist, but a director drunk on pure cinema. --Robert Horton ... Read more

Description

Two Russian Classics by Boris Barnet! Out of U.S. distribution for decades, Outskirts is an internationally renowned masterpiece of early sound cinema. In a remote Russian village during World War I, colorful and nuanced characters experience divided loyalties: family loyalty vs. personal desire, nationalism vs. transcendent humanism. Moving with the speed and grace of the best American silent comedies, The Girl with the Hat Box established Barnet's reputation. The charming Anna (Anna Sten) works in a hat shop, sharing her small apartment with a penniless student. A supposedly worthless lottery ticket from her employer turns into a gold mine, leading to a madcap chase for the ticket - and her love. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Eye-opening comedies from the USSR
As I write this the DVD is not out yet, but I have seen both films theatrically and am confident that preservationist David Shepard will bring them to DVD in fine form. Shepard has brought out several releases which would change anyone's preconception of heavyhanded, doctrinaire Soviet cinema, and this pair ranks with the remarkable comedy Bed and Sofa (also highly recommended) and establishes the little-known-outside-Russia Barnet as sort of the Billy Wilder of Soviet cinema, a cynical yet warm and funny observer of society and character with a great eye for the telling comic detail. Outskirts is an early talkie comedy, and the rougher but also the more adventurous of the two, a series of quick sketches of life in some nowhere burg as World War I breaks out a long ways away. Officially, it's set before the Revolution, and thus the cynical attitudes on display are directed at the old regime, but it's hard not to see it as a plea from the Russian peasantry for the outside world (ie Moscow and the Party) to stop messing with their lives and just let them live and let live.

The Girl With a Hatbox is a late silent and a much more fluid, absolutely delightful romantic comedy starring the much-maligned Anna Sten (victim of an unfortunate attempt by Sam Goldwyn to turn her into the next Garbo; he turned her into a Pia Zadora-like punchline instead, but as this film proves, in her native language she's quite charming and lovely). ... Read more