Demons on Governors Island

The August issue of Open Letters Monthly is now up. There is a lot of film and theater in this issue, in addition to its usual high-quality literary reviews and literature. I offer my assessment of Peter Stein's production of The Demons, a 12-hour performance on Governors Island a few weeks ago. I learned about the play from my friend Anne Eakin Moss, a Russian literature professor at Johns Hopkins. Anne offers her two cents, as well.

Announcing the Spring Russian Film Series at UCSD

U.C. San Diego's Program in Russian and Soviet Studies is pleased to present the Monday Evening Russian Film Series, Spring 2010

(Films will be shown at 7 PM, Center Hall, Room 214. All are open to the public.)

March 29: “The Extraordinary Adventures of Mr. West in the Land of the Bolsheviks” (Kuleshov, 1924) This satire about the United States' slanted view of the Soviet Union revolves around Mr. West, president of the YMCA, and what happens on his trip to the Soviet Union.

April 5: “Dersu Uzala” (Kurosawa, 1975) In 1902, a Russian army expedition is assigned to explore Siberia under the command of Captain Arseniev. He befriends the Goldi (Nanai) hunter Dersu Uzala and invites him to guide the explorers through the stark forest up to Khanka Lake.

April 12: “Three Songs About Lenin” (Vertov, 1934) Lenin, through the eyes of the Russian people, is represented by three songs. The first, "My face was in a dark prison," concerns the life of a young Muslim woman. "We loved him" deals with Lenin's life and death. The third song, "In a big city of stone," shows the accomplishments of his rule.

April 26: “The Circus” (Alexandrov, 1936) An American circus acrobat with a mixed-race child is indentured to a German ringmaster in exchange for keeping her secret. When the circus performs in the USSR, they are surprised to learn who is welcome and who is not.

May 3: "Cossacks of the Kuban" (Pyryov, 1949) This popular musical comedy is a love story based on a collective farm in the Kuban region.

May 10: “Ballad of a Soldier” (Chukhrai, 1959) With only a few days' leave from the front, a young hero connects with a number of others, all of whom are affected by his sincerity, simplicity, and love.

May 17: “I am Cuba” (Kalatozov, 1964) Four stories show the rise of the Communist revolution in Cuba. Battista's Havana and the poverty and oppression of the Cuban people

May 24: “My Friend Ivan Lapshyn” (German, 1984) A police investigator relentlessly and mercilessly pursues a gang of criminals, but comes to realize the distance between the idealism of the revolutionaries and the grim, frightening reality of the Stalinist era.

June 7: “Little Vera” (Pichul, 1988) A sullen, sultry teenager with few goals in life tries to deal with a brooding boyfriend, an abusive alcoholic father, an ineffectual mother and the futility of a life trapped in her small industrial town.