Zina (1985)

I saw this film when it first came out and never after that. I miss it, and remember it because of the sense of suffocation that the juxtaposition of lighting, images, rhythms and situations drapes over you. I remember the deep sense of ungraspable, inescapable tragedy conveyed as the Stalinist persecution closes in on members of the Trotsky circle, and Zina's own psychological encirclement, isolation and descent, which of course mirrored that of her father as he neared his own assassination. It was a superb film, and Graziano's Tarkovskian air helped in no small measure. But to appreciate the film you actually have to know something about history and politics, and better still, the evolution of socialism after the rise of Stalin. If you don't, and I'm afraid that is the case with the overwhelming majority of American viewers, you are unlikely to understand what is going on.

ZINA is one of McMullen's best films because of Domiziana Giordano's acting and Loftus' photography. McMullen has a terrible habit of not giving credit to his crew members and that is completely unprofessional in the business. He makes the same mistake on the film GHOST DANCE. It is an oversight that the filmmaker needs to sit down with his psycho-analyst and figure out what his problem is... the oversight is unforgivable. Obviously influenced by one of the greatest filmmakers in the history of cinema and brilliant transcendental visualist Andrei Tarkovsky and borrowing Giordano after the Russian's (Belarus) striking Italian internal landscape film NOSTALGHIA where Giordano puts in a fierce and commanding performance, McMullen hoped to capture the internal emotional and psychological state of Trotksy's daughter. What McMullen lacks in narrative abilities, he makes up for with a strong sense of visual juxtaposition

an excellent film (with just some little historical errors about Prof. Kronfeld, the perhaps most important and well-known psychotherapist in berlin at this time, who died himself by common suicide with his wife in his exile in Moscow on October, 16. 1941:

McMullen's art of photographing and blending scenes into each other is incredible. I've never seen a similar way to create a dreamlike atmosphere or to build up tension when showing only two people talking. Of course, no mainstream bull**** can compete. But it requires concentration - I saw it many times, but it is still not easy. You want to know the contents? Me too! Some parts are about a daughter trying to understand her important father. But maybe understanding takes place between the lines and is not obvious. Forget "Octopussy" as recommandation - it's bull****, like every James Bond. Check out "Ghost Dance" instead, by McMullen, too.