koltan Reviews

Satan's Rhapsody (1917)

Simply boring

[2/10 · 7 June 2007]

There are two things you can say in favor of this film: It has a cool title - and it is mercifully short. The story is as trite as can be. Prologue: Some old countess makes a deal with the devil: She receives everlasting youth if she abjures love. Part one: Endless boring "parties" - interminably we have to watch dancing and flower throwing youths. Single small bit of plot: One of a pair of brothers falls in love with her and shoots himself. Part two: Now we have to endure her remorse in close ups and mid shots and in this gown and in that gown and some more senseless flower throwing until the predictable end releases us from this boredom.

The only somewhat interesting thing is the use of various coloring techniques: You get some green dresses, yellow butterflies in close-up and a red colored Mephisto. But the acting is mediocre and the direction is terrible: There is some unintended comedy now and then when Mephisto pops up like in a Punch and Judy show. But it's not hilariously bad enough to justify the waste of 45 minutes by watching this film.

Honor (1925)

A glimpse of a strange world

[5/10 · 10 December 2005]

I won't say this is a good film. By international standards of 1926 it is clumsy, the camera is very static, the acting is quite wooden and the timing is not very effective. But nevertheless this film is interesting in what it depicts: The world of Armenia at the beginning of the 20th century. The story seems to be melodramatic: After an earthquake two surviving families promise to marry their children when they are old enough. Instead of what you might expect these two are very much in love, so much that they meet secretly although custom forbids any meeting before the marriage. The father of the girl is enraged and fears for his "honor", so he marries the girl to a rich merchant instead of her true love. The rejected lover becomes quite mad and hints to the merchant that he has already slept with his wife. Now the "honor" of the merchant is at stake... Despite the melodramatic plot outline this is told rather matter-of-factly, interspersed with a lot of scenes of everyday life (baking bread, using leeches for medical purposes etc.). So even if it is very difficult to relate emotionally to these strange people and their weird customs you get a glimpse into a world that is quite remote from ours.