In July 2016, four reels of "Derevensky Detektiv", a 1969 Russian film starring the Soviet-era character actor Mikhail Zharov (1899-1981), were found in a fisherman's net trawling the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, 20 miles off the Icelandic coast. The recovered footage is combined with original music by David Lang, and interwoven with interviews and clips from Zharov's lengthy filmography to form a song cycle, reflecting how life, history, and art intersect and endure on cell... (Full plot summary below)
Enjoy FREE movies and series with your Prime (USA) subscription or when you start a 30-day free trial!
In July 2016, four reels of "Derevensky Detektiv", a 1969 Russian film starring the Soviet-era character actor Mikhail Zharov (1899-1981), were found in a fisherman's net trawling the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, 20 miles off the Icelandic coast. The recovered footage is combined with original music by David Lang, and interwoven with interviews and clips from Zharov's lengthy filmography to form a song cycle, reflecting how life, history, and art intersect and endure on celluloid.
Leave your thoughts about The Village Detective: A Song Cycle.
| The New York TimesGlenn KennyMorrison, who is the producer, director and editor of this strangely intoxicating film, is a cinematic investigator of the first stripe. |
| The Film StageDan MeccaWhat starts as a documentary about film reels discovered near the Mid-Atlantic Ridge becomes a chronicle of the Soviet Union through the lens of a popular actor’s successes and failures. |
| Film ThreatAlex SavelievThe director speaks to the beauty and longevity of cinema and the power and resilience of our past. But it's that interplay between sound and sight that proves the most penetrating. No talking head, or eloquent analysis, could be as powerful as that uncanny synthesis. |
