Yesterday the Cinémathèque presented a new tinted and toned print of
Le Brasier Ardent (The Burning Brazier, 1923), a film directed, scripted and played by Ivan Mosjoukine. Its storyline is very difficult to summarize as Mosjoukine created a kind of movie-UFO. A woman (Nathalie Lissenko) is having a terrifying nightmare where she is pulled towards a man (I. Mosjoukine) chained to a stake. Later in her dream, she encounters the same man in various guises. Waking up safely in her bed, she realises it was a fantasy as a result of some pulp fiction she was reading. Her husband (N. Koline) meanwhile is worried that he is losing his wife's affection. He goes to strange club where he hires a detective to get back his wife's soul. The detective Z (I. Mosjoukine) happens to be the same man she was dreaming about... The film mixes part melodrama, serial and surrealism. Its storyline is meandering but one thing is certain: Mosjoukine fills the screen with his intense charisma beautifully. Whether a begger, a bishop or a man-about-town, he is convincing in all parts. He didn't direct many films only two. The first one,
L'Enfant du Carnaval (1920) is a charming bitter-sweet comedy.
Le Brasier Ardent is more ambitious in its scope trying to use the latest advances in cinema at the time.
La Roue was released a few months before this one and it's easy to see that film-makers adopted some of Gance's ideas quickly. The scene in a Montmartre dive where Mosjoukine plays a furious piece of music asking women to dance for a 1000 F bill is really the climax of the film. Its rapide cutting gives it a real edge. Volkoff will reuse it also for
Kean (1924) with again Mosjoukine. I had so far seen the film only in B&W and this new tinted and toned print from the Belgian Cinémathèque gave it an extra glow. Unfortunately, as it often the case, the scene toned blue for night lost their contrast. But the real highlight of the evening was the piano playing by Neil Brand. The French cinémathèque has no tradition in terms of music for silents. So it was gratifying to see that many people came to the screening (whereas before I had seen the same film in complete silence in a 3/4 empty room). Brand created a great score that gave the film an irresisitible dynamic. He managed to highlight the comic and the tragic with great skill. A really enjoyable evening.
Actually, the Cinémathèque shows silents irregularly, but I cannot complain as a full season of Albatros pictures is starting tomorrow. The Albatros production company in Paris was run by Russian emigres from 1919 until 1929. They produced some fabulous pictures by Feyder, Clair, Epstein, Volkoff and Tourjansky with often Ivan Mosjoukine heading the cast. Even better, we are going to get some music! British pianist Neil Brand is playing tomorrow on Le Brasier Ardent (1923, I. Mosjoukine). Can't wait!!!
I think you'll have to come at some point to enjoy a few silents in Paris. 
