Synopsis
Romance sentimentale is a 1930 French film directed by Grigori Aleksandrov and Sergei M. Eisenstein. A short, experimental, slightly poetic montage of city and abstract images.
1930 ‘Romance sentimentale’ Directed by Sergei Eisenstein, Grigori Aleksandrov
Romance sentimentale is a 1930 French film directed by Grigori Aleksandrov and Sergei M. Eisenstein. A short, experimental, slightly poetic montage of city and abstract images.
Romance sentimental, Сентиментальный романс, 情感罗曼诗, Romance Sentimental
Montage of nature, music and emotion. Tears fall; it rains. The heart yearns; the wind howls. And, like the seasons, this sorrow will one day pass.
An emotional journey that languishes around a lovely piano recital before flowing into the aftermath of a storm. Perhaps a paean to music and nature as well, an encapsulation of turbulence and tempering, a short and simple tale told with careful craft by Eisenstein, who could be seen to be showing off here, really. Those storms especially look incredible, vivid in black-and-white.
With Misery And Fortune Of Women, while delivering a just message, it felt like Eisenstein’s technique had regressed by about fifteen years. Then, in his next short, Eisenstein propels his montage work forward by about twenty years. Lyrical, elemental, everything you need to know about the universality of heartbreak in twenty minutes.
I see nothing. We may sink and settle on the waves. The sea will drum in my ears. The white petals will be darkened with sea water. They will float for a moment and then sink. Rolling over the waves will shoulder me under. Everything falls in a tremendous shower, dissolving me.
Virginia Woolf
Woah. The influence of Disney on Eisenstein is becoming more apparent the further down into his work I go, some of these shots look ripped straight out of Snow White and I am living for it.
Also not to be That Guy but while watching I couldn't help but wonder how hard the world would've imploded if Eisenstein had access to current 3D tech for this.
- Volviendo atrás un segundo, a la revolución de Stan con Anticipation of the Night… Le pregunté: «Stan, tu película es tan revolucionaria… ¿De dónde crees que viene? Conozco algunos lugares de los que creo que puede proceder, pero nunca escuché a alguien mencionarlos». Entonces comencé a sugerirle algunas cosas. ¿Conocéis ese filme de Sergei Eisenstein llamado Romance sentimentale?
+ Sí, es una película muy inventiva.
- Creo que fue el primer video musical. Ya sabéis que en la película hay una cantante. Ves a la intérprete, después la película se va alejando de ella y luego vuelve. Es el video musical seminal. Pero hay también un preludio en el que vemos una serie de árboles en invierno filmados desde…
"Autumn... sadness... dead love... such are the themes of this old Russian song."
Dynamic editing highlights this experimental short -- Eisenstein's first to have a soundtrack -- and is there anybody who's surprised by this?