goEast Film Festival Day Three: Resilient Faces in Broken Places
Keeping it going, despite all the odds
High above Wiesbaden, perched on the Neroberg, is the Russian Orthodox church — a little slice of Moscow tucked away in a sleepy corner of Germany. I made the short hike up the hill to observe the marvellous frescos, marble flooring and various icons, as well as survey the city from up high. Like many grand buildings, it’s a monument to a man’s wife, built by Duke Adolf of Nassau after the love of his life, Elizabeth Mikhailovna, died in childbirth. It serves as a clunky metaphor for the festival as a whole. Russia looms over the whole thing.
This is far from the only Russia-Wiesbaden connection. Down in the city is the Kurhaus Wiesbaden, home of the Grand Casino. It is here that Fyodor Dostoyevsky devised his terrible method of successfully gambling on roulette (a perhaps mathematically impossible task), and almost bankrupted himself. In the end, he managed to rustle up some cash by writing a book about it: The Gambler, an excellent read and far from a minor work. This book in turn inspired James Toback’s The Gambler (1974) and Rupert Wyatt’s lesser-yet-still-enjoyable 2014 remake.
The building itself boasts a similarly holy interior to the Orthodox Church, only God has been replaced by money. Several lads were sauntering in and out, told that the casino doesn’t open for another hour. Wedding couples posed for pictures outside, a strange yet satisfying incongruity. As unless you are in an extremely wealthy place — say Cannes, Monaco or Locarno, places where no one cares if they win or lose — casinos represent some of the most depressing, soul-sucking places on earth. Yet the grandest ones are dressed up in immense glamour and glory, expertly hiding their aim to extract all your wealth.
Thankfully for Wiesbaden, the surrounding area — neatly arranged parks, fancy cafes, smartly dressed people out and about on a beautiful Saturday — is anything but miserable. Especially when you compare it to the three excellently-rendered locales in the three films I saw today.
Read the rest over at Journey Into Cinema!