First published nearly 200 years ago (1819), Washington Irving's beloved narrative has become a cherished chapter in American folklore. In an odd way, the story of Rip Van Winkle probably helped inspire lyricist/librettist Alan Jay Lerner and composer Frederick Loewe when they created 1947's Brigadoon, a musical in which two American tourists become lost in the Scottish Highlands and happen upon a mysterious village on the one day out of 100 years that it emerges from the mist.
A popular narrative device involves a person who loses his memory after being hit on the head or suffers amnesia as a result of a wartime injury. The protagonist of Fridrikh Ermler’s last silent film (1929's Fragment of an Empire) is a non-commissioned Russian army officer who, while fighting during World War I, suffers from shell shock with a resulting loss of memory. By the time he starts to pierce through the cloud of amnesia, the Tsar is gone, the Russian Empire has faded, World War I has ended, and his country has been reshaped by the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917.
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| A scene from Fridrikh Ermler's 1929 film, Fragment of an Empire |
Unaware of the sociopolitical changes that have rocked his homeland, Filimonov (Fyodor Nikitin) is haunted by two images: a medal in the shape of a cross and the face of a mysterious woman whom he cannot identify. In 1928, when returns to his home town in search of more clues to his identity, he discovers that Saint Petersburg has undergone a radical makeover. The city he once knew as Petrograd is now called Leningrad, boasts a new style of architecture, and has women dressed in radically different fashions. Upon trying to find a job at his former place of employment, Filimonov learns that the factory is now run by a workers collective and that peasants and factory workers are now running the Soviet Union.
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| A scene from Fridrikh Ermler's 1929 film, Fragment of an Empire |
With help from some co-workers and new friends, Filimonov is able to track down his former wife, Natasha (Lyudmila Semyonova), only to discover that she is now married to a rising apparatchik (Valeri Solovtsov) who profusely praises Lenin in public but clings to suffocating and extremely sexist attitudes at home. Shocked by Natasha’s submissiveness, Filimonov is forced to acknowledge that he and his ex-wife have essentially been reduced to fragments of an empire that no longer exists. As film scholar Ellina Sattarova explains:
"The use of memory loss and recovery as a plot device reconciles the two as it simultaneously creates a formalist defamiliarizing effect and serves as a basis for the classic coming-to-consciousness narrative of socialist realism. Fragment of an Empire starts with scenes from the Civil War. The shell-shocked Filimonov does not fight for either side but he witnesses the effects of the war. As he is walking across a field covered with dead and dying soldiers, the woman who has given him shelter is collecting the boots of the deceased men. The camera captures the bodies in fragmentary fashion: feet, legs, closeups on the faces of the suffering men. The Civil War comes to an end and the film skips ahead to 1928 (the narrative is itself fragmented), when Filimonov begins to recover his memory. His recollections are incomplete and disconnected, triggered by a visual resemblance with the objects surrounding him. The painful process of recollection is captured in a beautiful montage sequence that is considered by many to be among the most memorable in the film and in Soviet avant-garde cinema in general."
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| A scene from Fridrikh Ermler's 1929 film, Fragment of an Empire |
"Prior to Filimonov’s realization of the true scale of the revolution, he is continuously compared to a helpless and clueless child. Everything around him appears new and intimidating. A statue of Lenin towers over him just as an adult towers over a five-year-old; revolving doors and loudspeakers terrify him; his remarks are out of place and are received with a roar of laughter that in turn cause childlike outbursts of rage on his part. As he matures politically, however, he learns to control his emotions (when his wife refuses to leave the material comforts of life with her new, abusive and opportunistic husband, Filimonov remains composed and takes his leave after referring to the couple as pathetic fragments of an empire). As the protagonist adjusts to the new environment, he gradually loses his personality. The man with an unkempt beard and lively eyes eventually merges with the crowd -- his beard has been trimmed, his emotions brought under control. Filimonov no longer needs the viewer’s compassion, but he does not evoke any other feelings either. In Ermler’s rendition, the new empire, built amidst the ruins of the old one, may be empty inside."
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| A scene from Fridrikh Ermler's 1929 film, Fragment of an Empire |
The 2018 San Francisco Silent Film Festival included a screening of a newly-restored print of Ermler’s masterpiece accompanied by Stephen Horne and Frank Bockius. Although barely known in the West, the Russian filmmaker has long been hailed as a genius.
- Film archivist Peter Bagrov claims that Ermler "was one of the greatest masters in the history of Soviet and world cinema. This was acknowledged by such filmmakers as Eisenstein, Chaplin, and Pabst. Why he is unknown in the West is a mystery.”
- Denise J. Youngblood (author of Movies for the Masses) states that “Fragment of an Empire is the most important film in Soviet silent cinema. If influence is the criterion for determining the significance of a film director, then Fridrikh Ermler is perhaps the most important director in Soviet film history.”
- Film scholar Jay Leyda calls Fragment of an Empire “a model of realism, presented without any sophistication, almost as if Ermler were telling a parable, though its technique recalls both Eisenstein and Dovzhenko.”
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| A scene from Fridrikh Ermler's 1929 film, Fragment of an Empire |
Although the film's intertitles are in Russian (not English), you can watch an unrestored print of Fragment of an Empire in the following clip:
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There are nights when, just as I'm reaching the end of a video and getting ready to head off to bed, YouTube's algorithms cough up some irresistible options. One thing leads to another and, before I know it, I've spent an extra hour or two in front of the computer. On some evenings, I might be watching videos of opera singers and jazz artists from days gone by while thinking that, after this one, I'll go to bed. It's like that old marketing campaign for Lay's potato chips.The other night led me down a virtual rabbit hole into a highly entertaining yet sobering hour spent revisiting America's recent history. I found myself watching President Barack Obama's final monologue at a White House Correspondents' Dinner, followed by his presentation of the Presidential Medal of Freedom with Distinction to Vice President Joe Biden. Those two videos demonstrated, with remarkable clarity, just how much our nation has changed in the two years since Obama and Biden left the White House. However, it was a third video, in which Obama's former speechwriter, Jon Favreau, was presented with the James Joyce Award from the UCD Literary & Historical Society at the University College Dublin, that contained a poignant story which should warm the heart of every American.
If you take the time to watch Favreau's speech, I strongly suggest following it up by reading John Pavlovitz's recent article entitled We Could Really Use A President.
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First published in 1921, "There'll Be Some Changes Made" was composed by William Benton Overstreet with lyrics by Billy Higgins. Initially recorded by a 24-year-old Ethel Waters, it holds the distinction of being the first song created entirely by African American artists (the song's production is identified by historians as a notable part of the Harlem Renaissance). In the past 97 years, it has been sung by artists such as Shelley Winters, Billie Holliday, Peggy Lee, Dinah Washington, Julie London, Ann-Margret, Tony Bennett, and countless others.As one ages, it becomes increasingly obvious that change is the only constant upon which anyone can rely. The sun may come up in the morning and go down at night, but its visibility cannot prevent hurricanes from forming, volcanoes from erupting, politicians from lying, or people from dying. While one might refer to a proverbial line in the sand or a red line, a simple provocation (like a 10-year-old boy standing in the doorway to his sister's bedroom and quietly whispering "I've got one toe in your room") can lead to a major fracas.
Though many kinds of change impact our lives, infidelity and territoriality are two of the most volatile violations of an assumed trust. The fury that can be unleashed in supposedly reasonable people by a sense of betrayal provides the foundation for a new play by Karen Zacarias which is receiving its regional premiere from TheatreWorks Silicon Valley. Directed by Amy Gonzalez, Native Gardens pits two well-educated and well-intentioned couples against each other in an irrational confrontation. The play painfully brings to life the suspicion that white privilege is not just about following the rules when you feel like it, but using those exact same rules to attack non-white people while suddenly playing victim.
Following its 2016 world premiere at the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Native Gardens has gained popularity on the regional theatre circuit while helping audiences to confront and laugh at their own prejudices. Set in the back yards of two neighboring brick houses in an upscale neighborhood of Washington, D.C., the play begins with a retired government worker named Frank Butley (Jackson Davis) lovingly spraying the plants in the flower boxes he has built. His back yard gives Frank a hobby, a sense of structure, a devotion to discipline, and the reward of shaping the floral beauty of a pristine English garden.
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| Virginia Butley (Amy Resnick) and her husband, Frank (Jackson Davis) are long-term residents of a neighborhood in Native Gardens (Photo by: Kevin Berne) |
Under normal circumstances, Frank considers himself to be a fairly reasonable person. However, any mention of his rivals in the Potomac Horticultural Society's annual judging of local gardens is guaranteed to raise his blood pressure. Frank's wife, Virginia (Amy Resnick), is a Polish-American executive who has spent many years working for Lockheed Martin in a work environment dominated by male engineers. Fiercely loyal to her husband, Virginia is quick to defend their turf from a perceived threat.
For the past few years, the building next door has been occupied by the son of the house's deceased original owner (a man who did little to maintain the property). His departure has been a source of joy for the Butleys. As Native Gardens gets under way, Frank and Virginia are about to meet their new neighbors -- a younger couple who are thrilled to have purchased a "fixer-upper" that will allow them to own their first home.
Born into a wealthy family in Chile, Pablo Del Valle (Michael Evans Lopez), is a successful, social-climbing attorney who aspires to become a partner at his law firm. His extremely pregnant wife, Tania (Marlene Martinez), grew up in New Mexico and can trace her family's roots back to a time when the area was not even part of the United States. Currently working toward a doctorate degree in sociocultural anthropology, she is eager to begin reshaping the home's garden with flora native to the mid-Atlantic area and has fallen in love with the old oak tree which stands on the property.
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| Tania (Marlene Martinez) and Pablo (Michael Evans Lopez) are new homeowners in Native Gardens (Photo by: Kevin Berne) |
The two couples meet on friendly terms but, once the initial introductions have been made, old biases start to surface. The Butleys keep stereotyping Pablo and Tania as Mexicans while maintaining a palpable air of superiority. Though the people-pleasing Pablo tries to be as affable as possible, he and Tania begin to worry that some friction might develop with the Butleys as a result of Frank's obsession with his garden.
Much to Tania's surprise, Pablo has impulsively invited nearly 60 people from his law firm to a backyard barbecue on only four days' notice. When mention is made of Robert Frost’s famous poem (“Mending Wall”) and its assertion that “good fences make good neighbors,” both couples are relieved to discover that they hate the chain-link fence that separates their gardens. In order to prepare for the barbecue, Pablo sets about hiring a contractor who can quickly build a more attractive, wooden wall that will set the proper earthy tone for Tania's "native garden."
While the concept of native gardening does not sit well with Frank (Pablo's barbecue will fall on the same weekend as the Potomac Horticultural Society's competitive judging), the bigger problem is the discovery that a two-foot-wide strip of Frank's beloved garden lies on the Dell Valle side of the property line.
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| A set model for Native Gardens |
As a result, about 80 square feet of the property purchased by Pablo and Tania has been used by the Butleys for many years. Tempers flare as Virginia starts to research whether Frank can claim adverse possession (squatter's rights) of the land under his garden. In true lawyerly fashion, Pablo counters by offering to sell the strip of land to Frank at market price, which infuriates his new neighbor.
Whereas most white people would have had trouble finding a contractor to build a wall on such short notice, Pablo's fluency in Spanish allows him to contact a local business that will handle the job at less cost than the competition. Meanwhile, Frank has threatened to sue the Del Valles (who have already brought in a surveyor to verify the property line). The two adjoining gardens soon become a miniature war zone as Pablo's contractors start tearing up Frank's precious plants and Virginia emerges from her home and starts heading for Tania's oak tree with a chainsaw.
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| Jackson Davis, Amy Resnick, Michael Evans Lopez, and Marlene Martinez in a scene from Native Gardens (Photo by: Kevin Berne) |
At this point, Zacarias employs a simple gimmick to show how ridiculous each couple's insults have become. As the level of anger escalates and accusations fly back and forth, the writing intentionally becomes more labored until Tania's water breaks and she goes into actual labor. Her physical crisis calls for immediate attention, causing Virginia to quickly switch to a more matronly mode and defuse the situation in order to establish priorities for getting Tania to the hospital.
In an epilogue addressed to the audience, Pablo reveals that he has, indeed, become a partner at his law firm. Tania is pregnant with a second child (which draws a snarky comment from Virginia about how that used to be called "Irish twins"). Frank explains that Virginia's wish to see their grown son get married in their garden has finally come true, except that he's marrying another man.
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| Virginia Butley (Amy Resnick) and Tania Del Valle (Marlene Martinez) are new neighbors in Native Gardens (Photo by: Kevin Berne) |
Working on Andrea Bechert's handsome unit set, Amy Gonzalez's ensemble is assisted by three non-speaking actors who appear as surveyors and the work crew hired to erect the wall between the two gardens. I was particularly impressed by Amy Resnick's Virginia and Michael Evans Lopez's portrayal of Pablo.
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| Jackson Davis (Frank) and Marlene Martinez (Tania) in a scene from Native Gardens (Photo by: Kevin Berne) |
Performances of Native Gardens continue through September 16 at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts (click here for tickets).
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