History and memory: the left melancholy in The Last Bolshevik by Chris Marker

Abstract

The image of the history in the fi lm The last Bolshevik by Chris Marker consists of a double act of remembrance: remembering the friend and deceased fi lmmaker, Alexandre Medvedkin, as well as reviewing the history of communism as it succumbs. I discuss the fi lm in the perspective of Enzo Traverso's notion of "left melancholy." The melancholy in the fi lm seeks to redeem the insurgents who have succumbed by fi ghting for an authentic utopia. In making the double mourning, The Last Bolshevik assumes the pathos of defeat, but aims to save the victims by remembering the idea of the Medvedkin for a cine-train, almost forgotten were it not for the pages celebrated by Jay Leyda in his book Kino: History of Russian cinema and Soviet Union.