Page 128 - Inside the Film Factory New Approaches to Russian and Soviet Cinema

THE RETURN OF THE NATIVE: YAKOV PROTAZANOV AND SOVIET CINEMA 109
Berlin, Protazanov had joined the ranks of established European directors. 25
There can be no doubt that Protazanov, like so many of the other Russians from
the Yermoliev and Khanzhonkov studios, could have had a successful career in
exile in the West. It is not clear, therefore, why the maker of The Keys to
Happiness and Satan Triumphant chose to return to Soviet Russia, abandoning a
lucrative European career. This decision would seem to give the lie to his own
assertion that money was one of cinema’s chief attractions for him.
In any case, he skilfully charted an independent course once back,
demonstrating yet again his tough-mindedness and adaptability in the face of
adversity. A cursory glance at his ten Soviet silents reveals an oeuvre in keeping with
the topical concerns of Soviet society in the 1920s (with the possible exceptions of
The Three Millions Trial [Protsess o trekh millionakh] and Ranks and People
[Chiny i lyudi]).
In 1924, he made Aelita, a science-fiction fantasy about a proletarian revolution
on Mars, very loosely based on Alexei Tolstoi’s novella; in 1925, His Call [Ego
prizyv], an adventure melodrama incorporating the theme of the ‘Leninist
enrolment’ in the Party, and The Tailor from Torzhok [Zakroishchik iz Torzhka],
a comedy both about the housing shortage and the state lottery. In 1926, to be sure,
he reverted to type with The Three Millions Trial, a crime caper set in Italy that
was one of several film adaptations of Umberto Notari’s play The Three Thieves.
But he returned to more typically Soviet subjects in 1927 with The Man from the
Restaurant [Chelovek iz restorana], an updating of Ivan Shmeliev’s 1911 novella
about a downtrodden waiter who saves his daughter’s virtue; and especially with
The Forty-First [Sorok pervyi], from Boris Lavrenev’s popular novella about the
Red Army sharpshooter who kills her ‘White’ lover.
In 1928, Protazanov released two pictures: The White Eagle [Belyi orel], a
controversial adaptation of Leonid Andreyev’s story about a provincial governor
who orders his troops to fire on civilians during the 1905 Revolution, and Don
Diego and Pelageya [Don Diego i Pelageya], a fresh and witty comedy attacking
the excessive bureaucratism of Soviet society. His final silent productions were
Ranks and People [1929], drawn from three of Chekhov’s slightest short stories,
and The Feast of St Jorgen [1930], an anti-religious comedy which, although
adapted from the work of the Danish writer Harald Bergstedt, was commissioned
as part of the campaign against religion taking place at the time. These ten films
conformed to generally accepted standards of narrative realism; they featured
clearly delineated and believable heroes and villains; and for the most part, they
were fast-paced and entertaining. Protazanov worked quickly and efficiently; unlike
many of his younger Soviet colleagues, he knew how to finish a film on time and
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within budget. His movies made money and were popular with audiences, at
least in the major cities, where movie theatres were concentrated.
And yet Protazanov and his films were frequently subjected to a barrage of
criticism from reviewers and from other film-makers throughout the decade. This
can be attributed in part to perception, to the fact that he symbolised the ‘Golden
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Series’. In order to understand Protazanov fully, we need to examine his films