RUSCICO's DVD release of Aleksandr Medvedkin's 1934 film 'Happiness' with Hyperkino commentary

RUSCICO's Academia series has released a DVD edition of Aleksandr Medvedkin's 1934 silent film 'Happiness', featuring the innovative Hyperkino system developed by Nikolai Izvolov and Natascha Drubek-Meyer. This interactive feature provides scholarly notes and director's remarks in Russian and English, enhancing the viewing experience with background on production and context. The film, a 95-minute work produced by Moskombinat and Vostokfilm Mosfil'm, blends slapstick, farce, and surrealism to satirize Soviet collectivization through a folk tale about a peasant named Khmyr and his wife Anna. Banned for twenty years due to its ridicule of Soviet policy, it became the last silent film of the Soviet era. The DVD package includes two region-free disks, with the second offering subtitles in multiple languages, and boasts high transfer quality. Greg Dolgopolov, who teaches Film Studies at the University of New South Wales, reviewed the release, noting its value for students and broader audiences. Medvedkin's work gained recognition through Chris Marker's documentary 'The Last Bolshevik', highlighting the director's ambivalent humor during a repressive period.