Page 190 - Inside the Film Factory New Approaches to Russian and Soviet Cinema

INTERVIEW WITH ALEXANDER MEDVEDKIN 171

Figure 20 Medvedkin’s Happiness [1935], influenced by Lloyd, Keaton and
Chaplin.

neighbour was eating fruit dumplings while he just licked his lips in
anticipation. 7
So Happiness is a satirical picture. I made it as the nail in the coffin
of this rosy dream. I ridiculed that dream because it’s unrealistic: 999
people out of 1,000 get nothing from a dream like that. One person gets
everything and then he crows about it and tramples the others
underfoot. That’s how Happiness was conceived and I think that’s how
it worked on the peasant audience, by telling them they had a choice. It
was inspired by observations of real life and I did not skimp on tricks,
hyperbole, farce, burlesque and all the other methods to make sure that
it was very funny and at the same time very effective. It meant an end to
all the Khmyrs–and Russia was full of them.
That’s how it came about and it’s still going strong today. It’s fifty
years since I wrote Happiness and it’s still in distribution. I’ve just had a