1921-1930Dimitri KirsanoffExperimentalFranceSilent
Dimitri Kirsanoff – Ménilmontant (1926)
Dimitri Kirsanoff’s masterpiece “Ménilmontant” opens with a furiously fast edited axe murder that somehow foreshadows “Battleship Potemkin”. It then resolves to be a moving drama about two sisters, one of them played by Nadia Sibirskaia who is probably the most talented silent film actress next to Lillian Gish. Kirsanoff tells his poetic story without intertitles and knows exactly that the facial expressions of his actors reveal everything we have to know about the emotional states of the characters.
Menilmontant.1926.DVDRip.x264-HANDJOB.mkv
General
Container: Matroska
Runtime: 37mn 53s
Size: 719 MiB
DXVA: Compatible
Minimum settings: Met
Video
Codec: x264
Resolution: 706x480 ~> 706x529
Aspect ratio: 4:3
Frame rate: 29.970 fps
Bit rate: 2 409 Kbps
Audio
English 2.0ch AC-3 @ 192 Kbps
https://nitro.download/view/44D635DF48AF88B/Menilmontant.1926.DVDRip.x264-HANDJOB.mkv
Language(s):Silent
Subtitles:English
![Sergei M. Eisenstein - Bronenosets Potyomkin AKA Battleship Potemkin [2005 Restored Version] (1925)](https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/640x480q90/716/big841lecuirassepotemki.jpg "Sergei M. Eisenstein - Bronenosets Potyomkin AKA Battleship Potemkin [2005 Restored Version] (1925)")
This is one of the great feats of world cinema. Even those who think silent films are out of date and no longer entertaining should try this film. It crackles with innovation–not only in montage, but also in shot composition, and use of visual cues to drive narrative. But it is Nadia Sibirskaia who really propels this film. I don’t think I have ever seen an actor with a more expressive face. And she uses it to greatest advantage during the two scenes where she wonders in despair with the baby in hunger and the scene in the park with the old man. Kirsanoff’s composition, his “objective” view of working class characters in extremis and his ability to draw from the actors means of engaging are empathy is remarkable. Highly recommended. You may wish to see other French Impressionist Cinema as a result.
Thanks for your comment, DK Fennell. There should be more comments like yours, adding to a wider comprehension and a full appreciation of the movie. Let me just add one significant opinion: Pauline Kael – one of the most influential American movie critics of all times – said Ménilmontant was her favourite movie.
One of the peaks of the Seventh Art, and nothing less.
Dear Worldscinema, if you ever find it in a better quality, now or in the future, this masterpiece would fully deserve it. And thanks for your work from one of your supporters!
Thank you so much for this movie!!!