Torn Boots
6.4
Working with children led Barskaya to create superb direct sound and an inspired style of shooting. Don’t look for conventional cinematic syntax here. The film is chaotic in the way that Soviet films still knew how to be, and Langlois couldn’t help but be seduced by its rebellious spirit, its anarchy and love of children, comparable to Vigo’s Zero de conduite. As well as being a film made with and for children, it offers a complex take on Western society. Pre-Nazi Germany is not named as such but is carefully reconstructed, possibly under advice from Karl Radek, and children offer a playful reflection of class struggle – doubly excluded, as proletarians and as minors. “They play in the same way that they live”, one intertitle says. The interaction between their comical games and the yet more ludicrous ones played by adults is developed on several levels.
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Not on any streaming service in United States, and not available to rent.
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Cast
22 people
Mikhail Klimov
Pastor
Also in
Treasure Island
St. Jorgen's Day
Ivan Novoseltsev
Valter's father
Also in
The Thirteen
The Great Consoler
Michail Klimov
Religion professor
Also in
Without Dowry
Margarita Barskaya
Also in
Love's Berries
The Exile
Georgi Bobrov
Varvara Alyokhina
School teacher
Also in
The Bear's Wedding
Nastenka Ustinova
Sarkis Gevorkyan
Klavdiya Polovikova
Blind woman
Known for
War and Peace, Part II: Natasha Rostova
Vera Alehina
Child
David Blok
Vladimir Uralskiy
Police agent
Known for
Strike
Mother
Vissarion Shebalin
Margarita Barskaya Director · Vissarion Shebalin Composer David Blok Composer
United States release March 29, 1934 · Produced in Russia · Production Soyuzkino
Production
Mezhrabpomfilm
Production
Soyuzkino
Production
Russia
Produced in
Languages
Original title
Рваные башмаки
Original language
Russian
Spoken on screen
Russian
Release dates
Russia · December 17, 1933
Theatrical
United States · March 29, 1934
Limited theatrical
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Some details come from TheTVDB.