This cliché, long the favourite of grumpy old-timers and wistful drunkards, is all too appropriate when describing The New Babylon, the 1929 Russian silent film that was produced before Josef Stalin began to strictly censor Russian culture. The CLoSer film series will be screening the movie, along with a live performance of the score by the City of London Sinfonia, at Village Underground on 23 October.

The film is set in 1871 Paris during the time of the Paris Commune. This brief period of upheaval was a time when a socialist group took control of the Parisian government and later proclaimed themselves rulers of all of France. Needless to say, the ruling French government quickly took action and two months later, thousands were killed and order restored.
This whirlwind background is the setting for The New Babylon’s tale of a shop girl and soldier who meet and fall in love. With so much taking place around them, the lines between their personal and political passions get blurred. In place of the actors’ voices, Dmitri Shostakovich’s score moves the emotional piece along. Shostakovich’s only silent film score is full of lush jazz melodies, as well as sultry cabaret tunes—unexpected for something produced during Stalin’s regime. Film score and jazz fans alike have long considered The New Babylon’s soundtrack to be one of the standout pieces of the silent film era.

Attendees of the CLoSer screening will have a chance to travel back in time and see the film much like Russian movie goers would have experienced almost a century ago (though the Village Underground is likely to provide a few more comforts that Soviet-era movie houses!) (Words: Barbara Cole) 

For more info, visit: www.villageunderground.co.uk/events/new-babylon

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Ignaty Dyakov is the founder and director of ‘Russian in London’, a language boutique that specialises in intensive learning for all proficiencies. Classes never number more than five students at a time and last approximately one hour; in fact, Ignaty is adamant that his clients learn better in a one-on-one environment. And it’s true; with Ignaty’s instruction, I not only grasped the pronunciation of 21 consonants, 10 vowels and a number of useful words, but also successfully transposed the Cyrillic version of my name (which is ФЛОРА БЭЙКЕР, if you’re interested).

Ignaty’s students study for a variety of reasons. For many, it’s for business purposes, either with native Russians or within the country itself, while others require extra tuition for university, or purely have an interest in the language, like me.  Ignaty focuses his students with additional weekly emails or phonecalls so they can practice their writing or speaking skills. He feels that if Russian remains a primary focus for the student, then there’s a greater chance of steady improvement – and it’s a testament to his teaching style that one client, a British expat, chooses to learn Russian online at the school, despite currently living in Moscow!

Russian is an extremely creative language, where the speaker is able to structure sentences and exchange words depending on their personal feelings. For example, knowing how my name should sound in English means I choose the corresponding Cyrillic sounds, instead of the ‘correct’ spelling. This means a word is written exactly how you, specifically, want it to be read.

Ok, so it still makes my head go a bit fuzzy, but the concept is certainly fascinating, and after a single hour of learning Russian I’m even more set on visiting the country. If you’d like to have a go at learning Russian, visit www.russianinlondon.com for more info. (Words: Flora Baker) 

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Price: £££££

For more information, visit www.bobbobricard.com

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