Deep Archive Finds in the Vein of Sorok pervyy: Cult Guide

Dir: Yakov Protazanov

The Kostomarov family falls apart when a female relative joins the household.

Dir: Robert N. Bradbury

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Into the Light perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

A simple country girl, brutally mistreated by her stepfather, awakens first the sympathy, then the love, of The Boy. The Spider, who lusts after The Girl, makes a bargain with the stepfather and takes her to the city where, kept prisoner, she is soon broken in health and spirit. Cast out and near death, she is taken in by The Boy. Following the demise of The Spider, The Boy takes her to church, where he prays, and after many hours she is restored to health.

Dir: Yakov Protazanov

Pastor Talnox furiously urges the flock to fight temptations, but he himself becomes a victim of temptation. In his house appears Satan, pushing the hero to theft and spiritual fall.

Dir: Yakov Protazanov

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Satana likuyushchiy perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Prince Kasatsky is a just and proud youth, shock and disappointment with the world bring him to church, he becomes father Sergius. It is a story of his piety and temptation.

Dir: Edward LeSaint

When famous opera singer Elinore Duane undergoes an operation on her throat, she has a series of ether-induced visions. In one, she is transported to ancient Rome where she appears as a much-admired woman in love with Paul, a young heretic, and at odds with Lutor, the high priest. To save her love, she poisons Lutor with her ring. After several other visions which involve variations on this love triangle, Elinore awakens to discover that Lutor is actually her doctor, Sascha Jaccard, and that Paul is the son of a friend who has come to visit the recovering prima donna.

Dir: Yakov Protazanov

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Otets Sergiy perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Ivan Savonsky, popular society artist, meets Olga Kartoff, a young woman high in social circles, and while she is instantly attracted by him, he sees in her only the perfect model for his picture, "The Dagger Woman." Studying her, and by carefully playing on her emotions he gains her confidence, and afterward she consents to pose for him. The picture completed, she is grieved and then angered to discover that Ivan's interest rests solely in it, and how it will fare at the exhibition. She pleads with him in vain. The picture is pronounced a masterpiece, and Ivan is in his triumph as he returns to his studio. Here Olga has secreted herself. Humiliated by the reports circulated regarding herself and the artist, and unable longer to bear his disinterest she plunges a dagger to his heart and kills him.

Dir: Yakov Protazanov

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: Yakov Protazanov

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of A Sister to Salome perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

While hosting a game of cards one night, Narumov tells his friends a story about his grandmother, a Countess. As a young woman, she had once incurred an enormous gambling debt, which she was able to erase by learning a secret that guaranteed that she could win by playing her cards in a certain order. One of Narumov's friends, German, has never gambled, but he is intrigued by the story about the Countess and her secret. He soon becomes obsessed with learning this secret from her, and he starts by courting her young ward Lizaveta, hoping to use her to gain access to the Countess.

Dir: Yakov Protazanov

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: Yakov Protazanov

Adaptation of Thurston's Irish novel, "Masquerader". Tells the sinister story of a distinguished British gentleman (Mosjoukine), who, while serving as a member of the House of Commons, also becomes a morphine addict and is tormented by a double of himself.