I saw the Armenian comedy 'Shor and Shorshor' in October 2007 at the Cinema Muto festival in Pordenone, Italy; the festival screened a new 35mm print struck from a 28mm diacetate.
I didn't think much of this film: it's an extremely crude comedy; so very crude that I was surprised to learn that its year of production was 1927 rather than circa 1912. Readers of this site may feel that I'm unfairly comparing an Armenian movie to contemporary product from Hollywood (or Britain) made on a much bigger budget, with higher production values. In fact, although I recognise that Armenian film-makers in the 1920s did not have loadsadosh, there were quite a few other nations in Central Europe (and Asia) making far more sophisticated movies by 1927, often with no more money to spend than was splashed out here.
IMDb's synopsis is accurate. The two friends get drunk and have various hallucinations, including an appearance by the Devil. (Priests don't come off very well here either.) Inanimate objects misbehave, but who cares? Georges Melies was doing this sort of thing much better back in 1903. In fact, the Devil had a more interesting costume in Melies's movies too. I'll rate this one just barely 3 out of 10; I would have rated it even lower, but I expect that this movie deserves extra credit for being made in such an impoverished place. And the exteriors offer us a few pleasant views of the Armenian countryside.
I didn't think much of this film: it's an extremely crude comedy; so very crude that I was surprised to learn that its year of production was 1927 rather than circa 1912. Readers of this site may feel that I'm unfairly comparing an Armenian movie to contemporary product from Hollywood (or Britain) made on a much bigger budget, with higher production values. In fact, although I recognise that Armenian film-makers in the 1920s did not have loadsadosh, there were quite a few other nations in Central Europe (and Asia) making far more sophisticated movies by 1927, often with no more money to spend than was splashed out here.
IMDb's synopsis is accurate. The two friends get drunk and have various hallucinations, including an appearance by the Devil. (Priests don't come off very well here either.) Inanimate objects misbehave, but who cares? Georges Melies was doing this sort of thing much better back in 1903. In fact, the Devil had a more interesting costume in Melies's movies too. I'll rate this one just barely 3 out of 10; I would have rated it even lower, but I expect that this movie deserves extra credit for being made in such an impoverished place. And the exteriors offer us a few pleasant views of the Armenian countryside.
