There's a slight pan to the left, then a slow dolly out to a plant, a pan right to a social encounter, another dolly out to another plant. The plants give the shot bearings. From there, the camera pans right to another greeting, as they meet the bearded man. A slow outward dolly motion and a slight pan to the right bring us to more socializing. The camera pans left briefly, with the bearded man in view, as if it's interested in the party. Next, the camera goes back to the protagonist and his old schoolmate, who is obviously enjoying himself more so; the camera follows them with its gaze as they move to the left, where Andrei, the protagonist, meets Zoya for the first time, before he cowers back to the right and sits in a chair, fixated upon her appearance. Here, the film cuts to a medium shot of him in the chair, thus ending the some three-minute tracking shot.
What a great film. Yevgeni Bauer was a genius. "After Death" is not only an astonishingly photographed motion picture; it illuminates a complex and intriguing narrative. Bauer's achievement here (and in other films) is even more amazing for its age. Based on Ivan Turgenev's novel, the protagonist is a recluse, who mostly interacts with the dead, while turning away from his aunt and old schoolmate. Bauer himself, as it becomes clear, had such morbid preoccupations and only lived until 1917. And, Russians were a people preferring tragedy, for whom other national movie industries often altered their endings to be sad.
The real trick, however, is in how Bauer brings the dead alive. There is the superimposed ghost, or just an actor supposedly as a ghost. The dreams and flashbacks are my favorite, though. Most of the flashbacks are from earlier moments we've seen in the film, but Bauer also employs a flashback to the death of Zoya on stage, which is the first time we witness the event. The dreams of his with Zoya on a path between fields of tall prairie grass, especially the first one, are exceptionally well photographed by Boris Savelyev, who worked on most of Bauer's films. The overexposed emulsion in the first one gives it more of a dream atmosphere, sun bright and blurring Zoya's hair and the background. It is one of the film's most haunting images.
In other scenes, light from a lamp glows on the actors' faces. There's a shot through a partially open door to begin the film, with a lighted background and dark foreground, a common composition in Bauer's work. Giving the protagonist an interest in photography is a nice touch for this wonderfully photographed film. I think Bauer intended it to be self-referential; the scene with the projector makes it clearer. In another scene, Zoya's ghost reads a poem, which she also reads on a stage earlier, referencing the source novel, as well as the film via theatre, which to this day remains the art that film most often emulates. Film also greatly affects our dreams, as well as being closely associative.
This eerie masterpiece features some of the best lighting and staging of the times, with other masterful uses of low-key lighting, set design and camera positioning for interesting perspectives and use of space, as well as some nice use of tinting and diegetic lighting. There are plenty of medium shots; the close-ups of Zoya on stage seem even more memorable as a result. Furthermore, shots seem to flow into the next. It's not a long film, and so fits very compactly its complexities and beauty. This elaborates upon the film's images and represents the flowing quality that dreams and memories have. Bauer is a little quick with some of the cuts, but there isn't much I can pan this film for. I actually feel rather short on words to praise it; I found this to be a wonderful film experience--one I hope to haunt me forever.
What a great film. Yevgeni Bauer was a genius. "After Death" is not only an astonishingly photographed motion picture; it illuminates a complex and intriguing narrative. Bauer's achievement here (and in other films) is even more amazing for its age. Based on Ivan Turgenev's novel, the protagonist is a recluse, who mostly interacts with the dead, while turning away from his aunt and old schoolmate. Bauer himself, as it becomes clear, had such morbid preoccupations and only lived until 1917. And, Russians were a people preferring tragedy, for whom other national movie industries often altered their endings to be sad.
The real trick, however, is in how Bauer brings the dead alive. There is the superimposed ghost, or just an actor supposedly as a ghost. The dreams and flashbacks are my favorite, though. Most of the flashbacks are from earlier moments we've seen in the film, but Bauer also employs a flashback to the death of Zoya on stage, which is the first time we witness the event. The dreams of his with Zoya on a path between fields of tall prairie grass, especially the first one, are exceptionally well photographed by Boris Savelyev, who worked on most of Bauer's films. The overexposed emulsion in the first one gives it more of a dream atmosphere, sun bright and blurring Zoya's hair and the background. It is one of the film's most haunting images.
In other scenes, light from a lamp glows on the actors' faces. There's a shot through a partially open door to begin the film, with a lighted background and dark foreground, a common composition in Bauer's work. Giving the protagonist an interest in photography is a nice touch for this wonderfully photographed film. I think Bauer intended it to be self-referential; the scene with the projector makes it clearer. In another scene, Zoya's ghost reads a poem, which she also reads on a stage earlier, referencing the source novel, as well as the film via theatre, which to this day remains the art that film most often emulates. Film also greatly affects our dreams, as well as being closely associative.
This eerie masterpiece features some of the best lighting and staging of the times, with other masterful uses of low-key lighting, set design and camera positioning for interesting perspectives and use of space, as well as some nice use of tinting and diegetic lighting. There are plenty of medium shots; the close-ups of Zoya on stage seem even more memorable as a result. Furthermore, shots seem to flow into the next. It's not a long film, and so fits very compactly its complexities and beauty. This elaborates upon the film's images and represents the flowing quality that dreams and memories have. Bauer is a little quick with some of the cuts, but there isn't much I can pan this film for. I actually feel rather short on words to praise it; I found this to be a wonderful film experience--one I hope to haunt me forever.