Translation. Region: Russian Federation –
Source: Mosfilm Film Concern – An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
Red Bells. Film 1. Mexico on Fire (Mosfilm, First Creative Association, Kanoshite-2, Vides International – Mexico, Italy, 1982)
Director: Sergey Bondarchuk Screenwriters: Valentin Yezhov, Sergey Bondarchuk, Antonio Saguera, Ricardo Garibay Composers: Georgy Sviridov, Joaquin Eras Cinematographer: Vadim Yusov Production Designers: Levan Shengelia, Giantito Burkiellaro, Francisco Magayon Cast: Nero Franco, Irina Skobtseva, Andres Ursula, Bogdan Stupka, Vytautas Tomkus, Yulien Balmusov, Alexander Saiko, Jorge Luque, Blanca Guerra, Eraclio Cepeda, Petr Vorobyov, Tengiz Daushvili, Anatoly Ustyuzhaninov, Sidney Romm Duration: 135 min Countries: USSR, Mexico, Italy Language: Russian
PLOT
1913. Mexico. Civil war is raging across the country. Two peasant armies, led by Emiliano Zapata in the south and Francisco "Pancho" Villa in the north, are advancing through heavy fighting toward the capital, which has been occupied by the forces of dictator General Huerta. At the height of the fighting, American journalist John Reed arrives with the northern army to interview Pancho Villa, the leader of the rebellious peasants.
HISTORY OF CREATION AND FILMING
The film's concept matured over seven years. Amid the Cold War, Sergei Bondarchuk's "Red Bells" duology became a kind of "Soviet response" to Warren Beatty's 1981 film "Reds," which also chronicled the life of American journalist, writer, and communist John Reed. Bondarchuk's sprawling historical film consists of two large, two-part parts—"Mexico Burning" and "I Saw the Birth of a New World." The first part recounts Reed's trip to Mexico in 1913–1914, during the revolutionary events that erupted there, which have shaped the country today. The second part draws heavily on the book "Ten Days That Shook the World."
Filmmakers from Italy and Mexico were actively involved in the film's creation. In addition to Sergei Bondarchuk, the screenplay was written by Italian playwright Antonio Saguera and Valentin Yezhov. The music was written by renowned Soviet composer Georgy Sviridov, and Vadim Yusov served as cinematographer.
Camera operator Vadim Yusov and director Sergei Bondarchuk on set
Filming of the American and Soviet films proceeded almost simultaneously. Bondarchuk began work on the second part of his film during the US premiere of "Reds." The greater importance he attached to the section of the film dealing with the October Revolution is demonstrated by the fact that he acted as an actor, whose voiceover was heard off-screen, highlighting and reinforcing various points in the film's narrative.
It's worth noting that Bondarchuk's portrayal of Reed was preceded by a Soviet filmmaker, S.D. Vasiliev, who directed the 1958 film "In the Days of October." John Reed (played by A. Fedorinov) and his wife, Louise Bryant (played by G. Vodyanitskaya), appeared as supporting characters. As American correspondents, these characters appeared in no fewer than six episodes. In the film, Reed was portrayed as a young, elegant, and intelligent observer of the revolution, sympathetic to the Bolsheviks and an idolizer of V.I. Lenin.
Reed was played in Bondarchuk's film by the renowned Italian actor Franco Nero. Unlike the American film's portrayal of the protagonist, who wears a Russian kosovorotka (a Russian peasant shirt) under his jacket while in Russia, Nero's character closely resembles an elegant gentleman in a fashionable suit, a "young lion" actively observing and absorbing the events of the revolution in Petrograd. Certainly, in some ways, this image was reminiscent of Reed in the film "In the Days of October." Viewers of "Red Bells" often see the protagonist holding a notebook. His credo is voiced in the first part of the film:
"It's my job to be in the thick of things, not to write about them from hearsay. I'd just look ridiculous if I wrote about something I didn't see myself."
Actor Franco Nero
In Red Bells, Reed is both an observer and an active participant in the revolutionary events. Unlike Beatty, Bondarchuk focuses primarily on historical events rather than the personal experiences of the characters. Lenin is rarely seen in close-up, with the emphasis being on the mass movements and the general mood of the revolution.
The first part of the film, "Mexico on Fire," was released in 1981, and the second, "I Saw the Birth of a New World," in 1982. In 1984, the film's creators were awarded the USSR State Prize. Sergei Bondarchuk's duology remains a significant contribution to Soviet cinema, demonstrating the scope and seriousness of the director's approach.
*Source: E.V. Volkov's article "He Burned Out Like a Candle." John Reed in Revolutionary Russia: Screen Images of American and Soviet Cinema
RESTORATION
Frame-by-frame image and sound restoration was performed by specialists at PC Telekino. The restorers had to remove numerous film damage, glue marks on the splices between shots, numerous spots and scratches—both thin and wide—and remove interframe "hairlines." Image stabilization and the elimination of flickering, a common occurrence in old films, were a separate task.
"The main difficulty in the restoration was that the film is very dynamic. Horse chases, explosions, fire, frequent changes of shot. This necessitated painstaking manual labor. Automatic restoration is simply impossible! Furthermore, it's difficult to 'clone' lost frames, and there were some," noted restorer Ekaterina Solovieva.
As a reminder, the restoration process is divided into two parallel stages: image and sound. Initial digitization of the material is used for sound processing: removing clicks and extraneous noise, thereby clearing the soundtrack of various audio defects that arose both on set and during film storage. Then, the image is transferred from the film to a digital medium. Computer restoration of the film's video sequences takes longer than that of the audio sequences, lasting approximately a month (depending on the complexity of the material). Restorers are tasked with determining the film's color scheme and performing color correction. Various defects caused by mechanical stress on the film, such as scratches, are removed using computer cleaning and image stabilization. The restored audio and image are then merged.
Frame before restoration
Frame after restoration
Frame before restoration
Frame after restoration
The following artists worked on the restoration of the film: E. Solovieva, M. Tusmatov, M. Aleksakhina, and V. Shakhnazarov (frame-by-frame image restoration), E. Verlochev (scanning), I. Agafonova (color correction), and I. Valiev (sound). A. Senkovsky also contributed to the restoration. The restoration producer was Karen Shakhnazarov.
The restoration work is now fully completed, and starting at 7:00 PM (Moscow time) on January 16, the film will be available for free viewing on Mosfilm's official YouTube channel in 4K format. The film will also be available to view on all official online resources of the film studio (VK Video, Rutube, and the Mosfilm online cinema).
Please note that today, the restored war film "The End of Saturn" (1968) by Villen Azarov will appear on the international YouTube channel of Mosfilm with Spanish subtitles.
Mosfilm restores classic films in partnership with the Russian State Film Fund, which houses the original film masters (the studio holds the legal rights to the films). Mosfilm Film Concern carries out all restoration work entirely at its own expense, without government or sponsorship funding. Films are available for free viewing on Mosfilm's online cinema and on the studio's official YouTube channel, as well as on other online resources (VK Video, Rutube).
Photo: Mosfilm-Info
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