SYNOPSIS: Husband agrees to board his best friend (who is looking for work) in his small Moscow apartment. While husband is away, best friend and wife play.
COMMENT: Startling at times, bur more often dull, this movie certainly commences most promisingly. I love the inventively lyrical camera-work of the scenes on the train and our hero's first glimpses of Moscow. Once the movie settles down, however, it's a different story. Miss Semyonova is a fine actress, but there's no disguising the fact that she's way too chubby for the part of a siren. True, photographer Gregori gives it a good try, but you can't focus on a person's face all the time. Our heroine's make-up, hair style and clothes are also remarkably plain. The men, on the other hand, could easily stand in for the heroes of any Hollywood picture you like to name. However, although the story strains credulity on this score, it could have been put across with such style that it wouldn't matter whether the wife looked like Comrade Semyonova or Fraulein Marlene Dietrich. But after the fascinating allure of the opening scenes, for the most part, both direction and camera-work settle down into the rigidly routine. True, the concluding scene promises a repeat of the opening, but this promise is not realized either. In fact, the movie abruptly finishes before we have even got our bearings in this sudden change-of-scene.
SUMMING UP: Good in parts but on the whole, somewhat disappointing, Bed and Sofa is a movie that – on the whole – doesn't live up to its reputation.
COMMENT: Startling at times, bur more often dull, this movie certainly commences most promisingly. I love the inventively lyrical camera-work of the scenes on the train and our hero's first glimpses of Moscow. Once the movie settles down, however, it's a different story. Miss Semyonova is a fine actress, but there's no disguising the fact that she's way too chubby for the part of a siren. True, photographer Gregori gives it a good try, but you can't focus on a person's face all the time. Our heroine's make-up, hair style and clothes are also remarkably plain. The men, on the other hand, could easily stand in for the heroes of any Hollywood picture you like to name. However, although the story strains credulity on this score, it could have been put across with such style that it wouldn't matter whether the wife looked like Comrade Semyonova or Fraulein Marlene Dietrich. But after the fascinating allure of the opening scenes, for the most part, both direction and camera-work settle down into the rigidly routine. True, the concluding scene promises a repeat of the opening, but this promise is not realized either. In fact, the movie abruptly finishes before we have even got our bearings in this sudden change-of-scene.
SUMMING UP: Good in parts but on the whole, somewhat disappointing, Bed and Sofa is a movie that – on the whole – doesn't live up to its reputation.