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58 The Old and New
There are, however, some obvious continuity errors. (Eisenstein was never one to worry over such minor details.) For example, when the giant peasant raises his fist to the agricultural agent, the agent (in close-up) smiles BEFORE he knows the peasant will peaceably put the money back. In the two-shot which follows, however, the agent still looks worried, as well he might. This error is just sioppiness. But in the other sequences, Eisenstein is consciously being repetitive. When the cream-separator is being uncovered, the cloth is really thrown of! just once, but the action of uncovering is seen three times. This is Eisenstein's theory of emphasizing a shot by repeating it. Sometimes this method works, as in the fall of the statue or the raising of the bridge in October, but here it is more of an eccentricity; it does not succeed in such a realistic and matter-offact setting. By drawing attention to itself, it is more of a trick than a dramatic device.
The Old and New is, from an average audience's point of view, the least satisfactory of the three silent films made by Eisenstein. Strike, however uneven, has more drama, Potemkin a more coherent theme, and October more fertile experiments. We must keep in mind that Eisenstein's great contribution to film aesthetics lay in his WAY OF SEEING; it is his style which is important. Its crispness, clarity, and virility far surpass the subject matter. To the unsophisticated viewer who judges films purely on their story, The Old and New may appear without merit. But to those who are able and willing to discern his emphasis on form and his keen interest in exploring aesthetics, this film is one of the cinema's most significant achievements.
— A. L.
THE GHOST THAT NEVER RETURNS
(U.S.S.R., 1929)
Directed by Abram Room
Produced by Sovkino
Script by Valentin Turkin
From a novel by Henri Barbusse
Photography by Feldmann
Starring K. Kara-Dimitriev, I. Lovrov, L. Yurenev
Available from Brandon Films
BACKGROUND
There is not much information on the early career of Abram Room, except that his first film was The Death Ship (1925). Eisenstein disapprovingly comments on its long uncut "takes": "Abram Room established something of a record in this respect when he used in The Death Ship uncut dramatic shots as long as . . . 135 feet [over two minutes]. I considered (and still do) such a concept to be utterly unfilmic." (Film Form, p. 59.)
A year later Room made Bed and Sofa which became notorious because of its story of two men and one woman who live together during