Director: Dimitri Kirsanoff
Country: France
Award: none
Movement: none
The film is silent and contains no intertitles. It begins with a flurry of quick shots depicting the axe murder of the parents of the protagonists, two sisters. As young women, they are portrayed by Nadia Sibirskaïa, Kirsanoff's first wife, and Yolande Beaulieu; their mutual love interest is played by Guy Belmont. Like many French silent avant-garde films, Ménilmontant uses a mixture of styles and techniques. The film also uses many techniques that were current at the time, including double exposure. The true achievement in the film, however, is in its radical editing, less ideological than the Soviet Russian films of the time, but equally powerful in its emotional effects.
Log in to comment.