At the height of the October Revolution during the 1919 allied intervention in Arkhangelsk, the exploits of one-legged Canadian soldier Lt. John Boles are told, after he is taken in from the cold by a dysfunctional Russian family and mistakes a local woman for his presumed dead lover.
Cinematography
Glorious decayed monochrome, like a rotting photograph.
Direction
Maddin's dream-logic storytelling at its most hypnotic.
Score
Haunting orchestral mood that refuses comfort.
Director
Guy Maddin
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Shot in grainy black-and-white 16mm with rapid-fire intertitles mimicking 1920s Soviet montage.
The 1919 Archangel intervention was a real, doomed Allied campaign—Maddin treats it as collective hallucination.
CA
