News

Flicker Alley's release 0f The House of Mystery (La maison du mystère) restores to light a major movie serial almost lost forever, and allows us again to appreciate the talents of the White Russian filmmakers who greatly energized French filmmaking in the 1920s. In particular, star Ivan Mosjoukine and director Alexander Volkoff, who would also collaborate on Kean (1924) and Casanova (1927) are approaching the height of their powers.The plot is pure melodrama: a mill owner is framed for murder, escapes from a penal colony, and spends years trying to clear his name, while the real killer woos his wife. But the ten episodes use their extended cumulative running time to explore nuances of character rather than to pile on implausible escapes and battles (though there are a few extremely impressive examples of those). The result is a tale of injustice that grips and satisfies, while displaying a highly sophisticated cinematic sense.

"Take a close look at the lineup the Telluride Film Festival," advises Eugene Hernandez at indieWIRE. "These are films you’ll be hearing a lot about over the next few weeks during a fall festival swing that begins in Venice, travels to Telluride and continues through to big-city fests in Toronto and then New York. For many movies on the roster, the journey even dates back to Cannes in May."

The festival opens tomorrow and runs through Labor Day; meantime, here's the Show:

Viviana García Besné's Perdida, a look at the Calderon family, a cinema dynasty in Mexico.

Dr. Biju's The Way Home. See the description from the London Indian Film Festival.

Joseph Cedar's Footnote. See the Cannes roundup.

Mark Cousins's The Story of Film: An Odyssey. Trailer (scroll down about halfway).

David Cronenberg's A Dangerous Method. Premieres tomorrow (Friday) in Venice.

Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne's The Kid with a Bike.