The Devil's Wheel

Typically of the heady days of early Soviet cinema, this is constructed according to the fast, sharp editing principles advocated by Eisenstein, complete with symbolic inserts; but in terms of subject matter, it's much less explicitly political than most movies emerging from Russia in the '20s. Chronicling a young sailor's descent into a murky, treacherous underworld of pimps and thieves, after having encountered a Louise Brooks lookalike at a fairground and missed his departing boat, it's a lively moral fable that delights in vivid visual effects and quirky characterisations. If the plot occasionally reveals gaping holes, and the tacked-on ending urging the clearance of the Leningrad slums seems to be rather gratuitous, there's enough going on to keep one attentive and amused.

Country:

Soviet Union

Genre:

Action,

Crime

Duration:

40 minutes

Year:

1926

Director:

Grigori Kozintsev

)}

Company:

Lenfilm

Cast:

Vanya Shorin, Red fleet sailor

Valya

The Question Man

Koko, vaudeville performer

Tavern Owner

Crew:

Director

Director

Writer

Director of Photography

Production Design