297 - EISENSTEIN SERGEI: (1898-1948) Soviet film director & film theorist, a pioneer in the theory and practice of montage. A rare A.L.S.,

EISENSTEIN SERGEI: (1898-1948) Soviet film director & film theorist, a pioneer in the theory and practice of montage. A rare A.L.S., S Eisenstein, three pages, 4to, from Cherbourg and `on the way to Bremen´, 24th April 1932, to young Renaud Jouvenel, the son of Colette´s husband Henry de Jouvenel, in French. The Soviet director writes a friendly letter trying to re-establish regular writing contact with his correspondent, stating in part ` Probablement vous avez grandi pendant ces deux années qui viennent d´écouler de notre entrevue dernière. Vous êtes probablement un "guy" (lisez en anglais) tout fait et en train de devenir "the perfect grown up son of a bitch"! Si vous avez grandi , comme j´ai vieilli pendant ce temps-ci cette formule ne vous est aucunement applicable! Anyhow, j´espère que maintenant que je serai sur le même continent que vous, notre correspondance se régularisera de plus en plus - mon amitié envers vous n´a jamais changé.´ (Translation: " You've probably grown up in the two years since our last interview. You're probably a fully-fledged guy (read: in English) and on your way to becoming "the perfect grown-up son of a bitch"! If you've grown up, as I've aged during this time, that phrase doesn't apply to you at all! Anyway, I hope that now that I'll be on the same continent as you, our correspondence will become more and more regular—my friendship with you has never changed.") Further, Eisenstein refers to the film he has been working on, probably the unfinished film !Que Viva Mexico!, and reports that he is now back from America, and sends his address in Moscow, saying ` Nous surmontons à présent les dernières difficultés autour du film et espérons que dans plusieurs mois vous l´allez voir. J´espère que vous l´aimerez, j´y ai fourré plus de moi que dans aucun de mes autres films...´ (Translation: " We're now overcoming the last few difficulties surrounding the film and hope that in a few months you'll see it. I hope you'll like it; I've poured more of myself into it than into any of my other films...") EX Eisenstein signed in November 1930 the film contract for Que Viva Mexico, included that the film would be completed by April 1931, and would show or imply nothing that could be construed as insulting to or critical of post-Revolution Mexico, a condition imposed by the Mexican government before it would allow the Soviets entry into their country. Filmed material was also to be subject to censorship by the Mexican government, at first after it was filmed and printed, and later in 1931 during shooting via an on-site censor. Although the film was to have been completed by April 1931, it wasn't until about that time that Eisenstein even settled on the basic idea of a multi-part film, an anthology with each part focused on a different subculture of the Mexican peoples. the Mexican Film Trust stopped production having run out of money and patience with Eisenstein's unwillingness to complete the film expeditiously, and Eisenstein having received orders for his "speediest return" to the USSR from which he had been absent since 1929. Although the original intent was for Eisenstein to proceed from Mexico to California and edit the film he had taken, he was not allowed to re-enter the United States by the Department of Immigration, nor later could any agreement be reached by the Trust with USSR which would have allowed the footage be sent to the USSR for completion by him there.