The Last Bolshevik (Le Tombeau d'Alexandre). Chris Marker, 1993.
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Edition screened: Icarus 2-DVD set, released 2008. English, French, and Russian languages with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 120 minutes.
Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.
Details: If you’re not paying attention, final scenes in The Last Bolshevik appear to show a dog being gassed and other systematic forms of animal torture. In fact, these are excerpts from a late Medvedkin film about ecology, and the images show animals being cleaned and detoxified after environmental mishaps.
Marker shows his genius in helping us understand an artist, a political era, and the historical recoloring of both. This exposé on the great Russian filmmaker Alexander Medvedkin is enjoyable and essential edification.
The Icarus DVD set also includes Medvedkin’s full-length feature Happiness, as well as several short films.