THE EXTRAORDINARY ADVENTURES
OF MR. WEST IN THE LAND OF THE BOLSHEVIKS
LEV KULECHOV
FILM FEST – LIVE MUSIC FILM FESTIVAL
Lev Kulechov, one of the most outstanding Soviet directors of the silent film period, delights us with a good example of an ironic Soviet propaganda film, which tells of the adventures of an American, Mr. West and his faithful bodyguard Cowboy, as they visit the land of the horrible and evil Bolsheviks.
This was the first feature film Lev Kuleshov made with a team of actors who had attended his Experimental Laboratory.
In his most famous experiment, which became known as the Kuleshov Effect, he filmed a famous actor with a neutral expression. He then glued the frame to the image of a plate of soup, a girl in a coffin and a woman on a sofa. Audiences marveled at the subtle changes in the actor’s face as he reacted with different emotions to the various images. In fact, the expression never changed, and the same frame of the actor’s face was used in the three different images.
As part of this session of Film Fest – Live Music Film Festival, the music and live performance is by the Metropolitana Soloists
Metropolitana’s Soloists
David Ascensão, Joana Dias violins
Santiago Medina viola,
Tiago Mirra cello
