From Tromsø to Russia with silent film concert
Tromsø International Film Festival tours Russia with a unique concert production of the 1927 Soviet silent film Bed and Sofa.
Bed and Sofa (Tretya Meshchanskaya) is recognized as one of the masterpieces of Soviet silent films. Tromsø International Film Festival (TIFF) has produced a film concert where the movie is accompanied by live music written and performed by musicians from Norway and Russia.
Bed and Sofa is a movie about the young married couple Kolya and Lyuda, who live with their cat in a small apartment in Meshchanskaya 3 Street in Moscow. He is goofy, with a strong macho streak; she is bored and trapped in her wifely role. One day Kolya runs into homeless army buddy Voldoya and offers him to sleep on the couch. This hardly improves the atmosphere, but while Kolya is away on business, sparks start to fly between Voldoya and Lyuda and now Kolya ends up on the couch. The mènage á trois settles into a daily routine, but everything is upturned when Lyuda announces that she is pregnant.
The music for the concert is written and performed by Ola Asdahl Rokkones from Norway, Vladimir Volkov from Russia, Jakop Janssønn from Norway and Andrey Kondakov from Russia.
Bed and Sofa boldly breaks with “official” Soviet film by showing social problems and portraying the lives of individuals. In addition, it is cheeky and entertaining also for modern audiences. A “household of three”, with two dumb men and one strong woman still holds irresistible appeal, TIFF writes in a press release.
The film concert will be played in Murmansk (Sept. 12), Apatity (Sept. 13), Moscow (Sept. 16), Petrozavodsk (Sept. 18), Saint Petersburg (Sept 19) and Arkhangelsk (Sept. 20).
