This film’s title, Sasa, is a Russian pet name for “Aleksandra,” and one wonders if it was entirely by chance that Aleksandra Hohlova who directed the film named its heroine after herself. Kuleshov’s student and wife, also the star of some of his best films, Hohlova was as admired among critics and filmmakers (Ejzenstejn and Sklovskij even published a booklet called Hohlova) as she was mistreated by producers and studio bosses whose male instincts prompted them that more conventional beauties and less eccentric talents might attract more money to the box office. The only feature Hohlova directed – a sad story about a peasant girl’s hard way up in the male town – shows her as one of those proverbial students who had it in them to outdo their revered teacher. A simple, compassionate, realist crime story with a number of Kuleshov perfect shot compositions, and a sure discovery for those interested in women in film. Crime solvers and happy ending lovers, beware: the film’s last reel (reel six) is missing.
Yuri Tsivian