One day, at the Colisée movie theatre, I saw Le Brasier ardent directed by Mosjoukine and produced by the brave Alexandre Kamenka of Films Albatros. The audience was yelling and whistling, shocked by this motion picture that was so different from their usual fodder. I was thrilled… I decided to give up my profession in ceramics and set about making films.

Jean Renoir

Certain historians consider Ivan Mosjoukine the first male star in the history of cinema. Born in Kondol in the Saratov Governorate (present-day Penza Oblast in Russia), he abandoned his law studies to pursue acting and received training at the Stanislavski school. Ladislas Starevich (Władysław Starewicz) gives the actor some of his first roles, followed by directors Vasily Goncharov and Evgeni Bauer. The latter allowed Mosjoukine to reveal his powerful character and achieve great restraint in dramatic, satanic, decadent melodramas with sophisticated lighting and scenery. As a member of the Ermolieff company, and under the direction of Yakov Protazanov (Pikovaja dama/The Queen of Spades, Otec Sergij/Father Sergius), Mosjoukine cemented his status as the greatest and most celebrated actor in Russian cinema. After departing his homeland, Mosjoukine valiantly tolerated the use of his recurring image in Lev Kuleshov’s psychological experiment, the Kuleshov Effect, which illustrated the importance of film editing. His exile in Montreuil did not disrupt his career; Mosjoukine rapidly established himself as the most famous French actor in the world, starring in Kean, Le Lion des Mogols and Feu Mathias Pascal under the banner of Films Albatros. In 1924, Jean Tedesco wrote, “It is essential to have seen Sarah Bernhardt die. Tomorrow we will say to those who wish to know the pinnacle of cinema that it is essential to have seen Mosjoukine die.” Le Brasier ardent, which he directed in 1923, takes us on a dreamlike and psychoanalytical delirium which will make audiences regret that he did not direct more films.

Émilie Cauquy