Perhaps "Stenka Razin" is such a popular Russian story that audiences of the day could follow along with what is happening, but I found this early film pretty incomprehensible much of the time. The first several minutes consists of some rather static vignettes (folks in boats, folks in the woods cheering a lot, etc.)...followed towards the end with LOTS of explanatory info on the screen....though NONE of this stuff you actually see and the long, long note in Russian is translated into a brief line or two in English!. Now this style of silent isn't unprecidented...I've seen a few early films from various countries which are more like tableaus...showing a few scenes but not a complete story. It makes watching the film today a bit difficult and unfulfilling. Unless you are a film student or historian, this one is pretty skippable.
Review of Stenka Razin
