Aleksandr Medvedkin’s 1935
Masterpiece of Soviet Slapstick Performed with a live soundtrack by Mark Haney
Sunday, July 28 at 7:30pm
VIFF Vancity Theatre, 1181 Seymour St, Vancouver
Partnering with VIFF, we are proud to present a lost classic of silent cinema with a brand new music score composed by Mark Haney, performed live for the first time!
Happiness, aka A Tale of a Hapless Mercenary Khmyr, His Horse-Wife Anna, His Well-Fed Neighbor Foka and Also of a Priest, a Nun and Other Old Relics, is best known to cinephiles through the efforts of Chris Marker, who eulogized director Aleksandr Medvedkin in his brilliant documentary The Last Bolshevik (also showing at VIFF Vancity Theatre).
A surreal, absurdist satire chock full of memorable images, Happiness was the film that Medvedkin himself considered his greatest achievement. It is a cinematic folktale in which a poor, idle peasant is sent out by his wife, Anna, to find happiness. Unfortunately, his quest is hampered by priests, officials and other freeloaders along the way.
Denounced by the Soviet press as “a libel against the Russian peasantry”, the film offended Stalin, and was banned for 40 years – only re-emerging in the West thanks to Marker’s efforts.
This performance features the premiere of the Little Chamber Soundtrack Ensemble: Dory Hayley (soprano), Mark McGregor (alto flute), Saina Khaledi (santour), Adrian Verdejo (classical guitar), Julie Hintz-Barrera (vocal percussion/looping) and Mark Haney (double bass).
