5.0 out of 5 stars
Incredible, Dec 23 2002
This review is from: Storm Over Asia (DVD)
I can't really add much to the only other review, but I, too, find it unfortunate that this film and much of Pudovkin's work has been largely made invisible due to the glare of Eisenstein (or if you're into cultural studies during the New Economic Policy, Protazanov and the other 'commercial' directors at Mezhrabprom-Rus). While this film represents Pudovkin at his peak, awash as it is in ethnographic detail, a real human story (instead of Eisenstein's cardboard cutouts), and the completely sublime use of his trademark 'bricking' montage, his other films (especially less famous ones like 'Chess Fever' and 'Deserter') deserve a look, too.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Dazzling editing in powerful Soviet masterpiece, Mar 16 1999
Storm Over Asia/The Heir to Genghis Khan is one of those titles frequently seen in film history books but rarely seen on a screen. Good to have it at last, then, because it's one of the best films to come out of the Soviet 1920s-- a work of rat-a-tat editing on a par with Gance's Napoleon and an example of slowly-smoldering drama finally delivering with a vengeful wallop worthy of The Godfather. Pudovkin consistently displayed the human touch that colleagues such as Eisenstein and Dovzhenko lacked, and the story of a Mongolian peasant who is used as a puppet ruler by the British until he finally unleashes the force of his people upon them is gripping throughout. In short, a masterpiece that is also a cracking good movie.
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