L'infanzia di Gorki

Apparently, this is one of the most esteemed of movies in film history. Or was. The first of a trilogy, but what about the other two? Shouldn't a trilogy be a triptych, incomplete in just one third? But whatever, it's a 1930s Soviet movie and it is full of casual cruelty, envy, mischance, violence, anguish, and stubborn fortitude. Life is cruel and one must simply soldier on, at least until such time as one gathers the strength to give the rascals the slip. Don't let them grind you down, Alexei.

It's foolish of Hollywood, for example, to remake celebrated classics, movies that succeeded, for inferior copies are just that. Consign all the lousy spin-offs, reboots, prequels, sequels and the like to the oblivion bin likewise. But a movie like this? It could really use a rethink and a refreshment. It's just too antiquated, and too relentlessly depressing. A remake couldn't change that without becoming disreputable, but at least we could have colour and maybe more directorial vitality, even if that did soften the impact of the story's miseries.

I watched this because Youtuber Moviewise referenced it, and he hated it, but it is, one must allow, an esteemed film, but it ain't no Ivan's Childhood (still, for me, Tarkovsky's best). Now, I just have to go on wondering, who exactly is Maxim Gorky anyway?