Well, if one has to foreground an experience, that is when a work I suppose is not terribly important, can have another medium illuminate it for him. What I mean is that, while watching this short, I could relate to it via Frank O'Hara's poetry, which owes a lot to and is inspired by Rachmaninoff's music, which is akin to the film's soundtrack.
Perhaps words, as in poetry, can delineate better the import of camp one wants to give: O'Hara certainly could, but I am not certain how much was voluntary camp in this film. Lacking any knowledge of Russian, I could not appreciate the lyrics, and obviously a big part is lost for me.
Yet the impression of kitsch remains. Eizenstein's notebooks show us that his sketches were equally imbibed by a homosexual (camp) sensitivity, and an epic, mischievous scale of revolutionary, ahem, comradeship: that is what makes it for me a sly pleasure. But if I were to look for a film that combines high camp and artistic achievement, I would try elsewhere, say in "Lot in Sodom".
Perhaps words, as in poetry, can delineate better the import of camp one wants to give: O'Hara certainly could, but I am not certain how much was voluntary camp in this film. Lacking any knowledge of Russian, I could not appreciate the lyrics, and obviously a big part is lost for me.
Yet the impression of kitsch remains. Eizenstein's notebooks show us that his sketches were equally imbibed by a homosexual (camp) sensitivity, and an epic, mischievous scale of revolutionary, ahem, comradeship: that is what makes it for me a sly pleasure. But if I were to look for a film that combines high camp and artistic achievement, I would try elsewhere, say in "Lot in Sodom".