Synopsis
At the height of the October Revolution during the 1919 allied intervention in Arkhangelsk, the exploits of one-legged Canadian soldier Lt. John Boles are told, after he is taken in from the cold by a dysfunctional Russian family and mistakes a local woman for his presumed dead lover.
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Cast
- Michael GottliJannings
- David FalkenburgGeza
- Michael O'SullivanDoctor
- Margaret Anne MacLeodBaba
- Ari CohenPhilbin
- Sarah NevilleDanchuk
- Kathy MarykucaVeronkha
- Kyle McCullochLt. John Boles
- Victor CowieSea Captain
- Ihor ProcakMonk
Recommendations
- 88
Chicago Tribune
Archangel is a perfectly self-contained aesthetic object, maddening in its arbitrariness and opacity, yet wholly absorbing in its flurry of urgent yet incomprehensible significations. - 88
The Seattle Times
Archangel, defying every contemporary cinema convention as it does, won't be to everyone's taste. But for those interested in the wilder possibilities of what film can do, it's an absolute must - 75
Chicago Reader
What comes across is a fascinating fetishist delirium, where memories of remote war movies get recycled into something that's alternately creepy and beautiful. - 70
Time Out
The war scenes are extraordinary, although thrown in far too liberally; even better are the daft tableaux vivants which seem to comprise Archangel's only entertainment. - 70
Los Angeles Times
So much for the plot; what's important is Maddin's witty, knowing evocation of vintage movie kitsch. [11 Dec 1991, p.F11] - 60
The New York Times
From its flickering, inky cinematography to its wavering late 1920's-style sound track, to Veronkha's kohl-eyed vampish look, the movie is an expert parody of a period movie style. - 50
Austin Chronicle
At once perplexing and joyous, Maddin has crafted a film that, for all the confusion inherent in the tale, unfolds on its own unique (and rather tedious) terms. Love it or hate it, this is one film that just doesn't give a damn what you think. - 50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
Wonderfully theatrical in conceit and frequently beautiful to look at, Archangel is nevertheless choppy and listless in pace, and has little of the surrealist zing of the earlier film (Tales from the Gimli Hospital). [03 Sep 1990]
