ENTRY NO. 1 - Dimitri Kirsanoff...

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As I begin this entry I will admit that I have only seen two of his films; Menilmontant and Brumes l'automne, both masterpieces in their own right. The latter is a kind of impressionistic poem about emotional decay that uses the Autumn season as a metaphor for this, and Menilmontant; equally impressionistic yet with more gravity; tells the story of two sisters and their struggles through life from their idyllic childhood, to the murder of their parents at the hands of a madman, to their seduction at the hands of a Parisian thug.

Little is known about Kirsanoff the man. He was born in Estonia in 1899 and later moved to Paris where he made many short films, including Menilmontant. For a short while before making films he attended the "Ecole Normale de Musique" in Paris, working as a violinist in a movie house. Then he married actress Nadia Sibirskaia, who starred in both Menilmontant (1927) and Brumes l'automne (1929). Later in his career it seems he was forced into more commercial works. He divorced Nadia Sibirskaia and had a second wife; Monique Kirsanoff. He died in 1957.

The story of Menilmontant is ripe, if melodramatic cinematic material, yet what sets Kirsanoff apart from other directors of the time is his unmistakeable and revolutionary style; using jump-cuts, close-ups, transitions and kinetic camera movement that fully immerses and emotionally involves the viewer in the story, not to mention the beautiful and emotive violin music. That said, from what I've seen of his, very few shots he could sustain for very long, but that might only annoy the tracking shot-junkies among film buffs. One thing about Kirsanoff's style is certain - it was fuelled by a strong and powerful visual imagination. Indeed the images in both films are incredible, from the frantic tugging of the curtains in the opening to the two girls frolicking amongst the trees, to the bare expanse of dead trees in Brumes l'automne.

If one were to watch Brumes l'automne after Menilmontant, with no idea the same man directed it, they would be able to tell it was a Kirsanoff film, yet as distinct as his style was, the two films are very different. Menilmontant is quite melodramatic and frantic, whereas Brumes l'automne is more naturalistic and meditative. Brumes l'automne hasn't much of a story, it's more about mood and tone. Both feature fantastic performances, especially from Nadia Sibirskaia, his muse and wife for a short while. I'm not sure which one I prefer. I've seen Brumes l'automne twice and Menilmontant three times. As much as I love Menilmontant, I'm leaning towards the sorrowful Brumes l'automne. Whichever one I love most, rest assured, both are films to be seen and experienced. They are like distant memories or dreams of the past; at once beautiful and at once sad...