Bulgarian
screenwriter-novelist Angel Wagenstein was sort of like the Alexander Dubček of
Soviet-era cinema. He really believed in Socialism with a “human face” and frequently
criticized the oppressive excesses of Soviet Socialism. His films were often
hailed abroad but censored at home—always a sure sign of quality. Andrea Simon
profiles the nonagenarian filmmaker in Angel
Wagenstein: Art is a Weapon (trailer here), which screens
with the Wagenstein-scripted Stars as
part of this year’s New York Jewish Film Festival.
Wagenstein
served with the Bulgarian Partisans, trained in Moscow, and worked with the
illustrious DEFA studio in East Germany (the classic Eolomea was based on his novel). He should have been a valued
member of the establishment, but the criticisms of Stalinist Communism he not
so subtly buried in his films led to his expulsion from the Party on more than
one occasion.
Still
sharp as a tack at ninety-four, Wagenstein has never had any illusions
regarding the Soviet Union. However, as an original red diaper baby, whose revolutionary
parents were exiled to Paris before WWII, Wagenstein maintains his early faith
in socialism. Frankly, Simon rather glosses over his time as a member of
parliament for the Bulgarian Socialist Party (the reconstituted Communist
Party), merely characterizing it as “frustrating.” However, the Socialists (and
absolutely the Communists before them) bear a great deal of responsibility for
the current depressed and depressive state of things in Bulgaria, but Simon
lets Wagenstein off the hook for legitimizing them through his well-earned
prestige.
Of
course, it is hard to fault Simon’s somewhat deferential treatment when
Wagenstein takes viewers on a tour of prisons he had been incarcerated within.
The clips from his films are also quite illustrative of Wagenstein as an artist
and a political thinker. They will definitely leave viewers wanting to see
more, but the festival has happily obliged by presenting Simon’s documentary on
a double-bill with Stars, arguably
his most historically important film.
