''Ménilmontant '' () is a 1926 film written and directed by
Dimitri Kirsanoff
Dimitri Kirsanoff (russian: Димитрий Кирсанов, né Markus David Sussmanovitch Kaplan, Маркус Давид Зусманович Каплан; 6 March 1899 – 11 February 1957) was an early film-maker working in France, somet ...
that takes its name from the
Paris neighborhood of the same name.
Summary
The film is
silent and contains no
intertitle
In films, an intertitle, also known as a title card, is a piece of filmed, printed text edited into the midst of (i.e., ''inter-'') the photographed action at various points. Intertitles used to convey character dialogue are referred to as "dialo ...
s. It begins with a flurry of quick shots depicting the axe murder of the parents of the protagonists, two sisters. As young women, they are portrayed by
Nadia Sibirskaïa
Nadia Sibirskaïa (born Germaine Marie Josèphe Lebas, 11 September 1901 – 14 July 1980) was a French film actress.Sultanik p.263 She was married to the Russian-born director Dimitri Kirsanoff and appeared in several of his early films.
Filmogr ...
, Kirsanoff's first wife, and Yolande Beaulieu; their mutual love interest is played by Guy Belmont.
Style
Like many of the early French avant-garde films, ''Ménilmontant'' uses a mixture of styles and techniques. The film also uses many techniques that were relatively new at the time, including
double exposure
In photography and cinematography, a multiple exposure is the superimposition of two or more exposures to create a single image, and double exposure has a corresponding meaning in respect of two images. The exposure values may or may not be ide ...
.
Reception
Film critic
Pauline Kael
Pauline Kael (; June 19, 1919 – September 3, 2001) was an American film critic who wrote for ''The New Yorker'' magazine from 1968 to 1991. Known for her "witty, biting, highly opinionated and sharply focused" reviews, Kael's opinions oft ...
wrote that ''Ménilmontant'' was her favorite film of all time.
References
External links
*
''Ménilmontant'' at Internet Archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Menilmontant (film)
1926 films
French silent short films
Films directed by Dimitri Kirsanoff
French black-and-white films