The New Babylon is a department store, where the oppressed underclass serves the privileged rich bourgeoisie. The Franco-Prussian war is being waged, and the Paris of the hedonists is crying out for Prussian blood. A saleswoman loves a soldier, revolution is in the air. The tensions escalates and breaks out in liberating laughter, but the tragedy builds to an unbearable scale. History is reaching a breaking point, and the individuals witnessing it drift over to different sides of the rift. The direction pays homage to 19th century French literature and painting.
Grigori Kozintsev and Leonid Trauberg‘s collective named FEKS (1921–26), the Factory of the Eccentric Actor, was creating the avant-garde of Soviet cinema. In addition to Sergei Eisenstein‘s montage developments the spirit of history was stylized with methods of acting and rhythms of movement. The New Babylon was considering a challenging work already by contemporaries, and the film is easier to follow for a viewer with basic information on the Paris Commune. This 1871 uprising was repressed bloodily, and the last rebels were executed at the wall of the Père-Lachaise cemetery.
Dmitri Shostakovich composed his first feature-length film score for this movie and provided live piano accompaniment in its two preview screenings. (Mia Öhman)
Language: Russian, subtitles: English
Introduced (in Finnish) by Aapo Kukko
