Meyerhold, Theatre and the Russian Avant-garde (NTSC Version)
by Michael Craig
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: William RouseyDirector: Michael Craig
Producer: Michael Craig
Writer: Michael Craig
DVD: Region Code 0
Format: NTSC
DVD Release Date: 2007-01-30
Studio: CustomFlix
Movie Reviews of Meyerhold, Theatre and the Russian Avant-garde (NTSC Version)
Movie Review: A superb introduction to a master of theatre
Summary: 5 Stars
As its title suggests, this documentary film covers three broad strands of interest: biographical details on Meyerhold's life, his work in the theatre, and where the work stands in the broader context of the Russian Avant-garde. All three themes are interwoven into a compelling and informative narrative, illustrated with rare visual material (film and photo) from Moscow film archives.
The scope of Meyerhold's oeuvre is all too often reduced to the work on 'biomechanics' which accounts for a mere fraction of his experimentation as a director both with and after Stanislavski. Although the subject of biomechanics is clearly and cleverly addressed in the film - illustrated through contemporary studio work - it is rightly treated as a stage in the development of a life's work that, like no other, pioneered the symbolic role of the body in performance.
Sadly, as with so many artistic luminaries of his generation and provenance, Meyerhold fell prey to Stalin's purges and was executed by firing squad in 1940. With such scant English language video material on Meyerhold available in the public domain, this film offers a superb introduction to a master of theatre. I would strongly recommend it to anyone interested in Russian theatre, theatre in general, or the period of history under scrutiny.
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