A scene from Jean Renoir masterpiece "Les bas-fonds"
Romantics, history buffs, feminists and those who just happen to love movies will have their various appetites satisfied this week in two of the city's movie theaters.
Undoubtedly, these very people contributed to the success of last year's European film festival held in St Petersburg in honor of the 100th anniversary of Russian film, which was so successful and popular among movie-goers that the organizers vowed to make the event a yearly happening.
Their dream will come true at when the Second European Union Film Festival opens this Saturday on March 30 in the Kolizey Theater.
The festival, which will run until April 6, features films from seven European Union members. Austria, Denmark, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Finland and Sweden have each contributed two films -- one with a Russian theme, one never before screened in Russia -- to be shown during the festival.
Movie buffs are being presented with a true smorgasbord of the best of European film.
Well-known classics such as "Les bas-fonds," (France, 1936; directed Jean Renoir, with Louis Jouvet, Jean Gabin and Suzy Prim), the story of a ruined Russian baron based on a Maxim Gorky play, and "Der Postmeister," (Germany, 1940; directed by Gustav Ucicky, with Heinrich George, Hilde Krahl, Siegfried Breuer and Hans Holt), the story of a stationmaster who loses his only daughter, based on Alexander Pushkin's short story.
They will be joined by more recent works, including a Finnish version of Dostoevsky's "Crime and Punishment" (1983, directed by Aki Kaurismyaki) and "Revolt in Sobibor" (Holland, 1989; directed by Pavel Kogan and Lily van den Bergh, with four survivors of the revolt).
Last year entry to all films was free; this year a purely symbolic sum of 1,000 roubles (20 cents) per showing is being charged, making it an absolute bargain of a festival; one can view the entire festival for a grand total of 14,000 roubles ($2.80).
With films being shown late afternoon at the Leningrad and evenings at the Kolizey, the film buff will have just enough time to run from one to the other for the evening films.
Two films, "Revolt in Sobibor" and "The Shadow Walkers" (Holland, 1995) will be shown with English subtitles; all films will be dubbed into Russian from their original languages to make them more accessible to the Russian-speaking public.
St Petersburg was chosen as the site for the festival in part due to its unique relationship with Western Europe, according to St Petersburg Mayor Anatoly Sobchak.
After stunning St Petersburg with its amazing selection of films, the festival will move north in the second week of April to Petrozavodsk in an effort to spread culture to other parts of Russia.