As most regular readers probably know, I am a big fan of adventure stories and some time ago came across this animated version of Corto Maltese in Siberia, adapted from the famous comic book series. I present it here for those similarly interested, though with a word of warning for those of you in Kansas, there is brief cartoon nudity. This chapter is my favorite for featuring some real-life historical figures MM readers will remember such as General Semyonov and the "Mad Baron" himself, Roman von Ungern-Sternberg. The movie is in French but subtitled in English:
Wonderful!
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An excellent movie, thank you for sharing it.
ReplyDeleteWas the Mad Baron really a shamanist then? And it is rather coincidental that the plot involves exiled Russian duchesses and money, because I have recently watched the film (a comedy) called "Ninothcka", where the plot centers around Bolsheviks trying to get legal possession of the jewels of a grand-duchess.
The actual religious beliefs of the Baron would probably be only understood by himself. He did make use of Mongol shamans, some said he was a Buddhist, others a Christian. Whatever the truth, he certainly had an interest in a range of religious beliefs but when he was executed he gave his religion as Lutheran -the Church he was raised in back in Estonia. The implied shooting of the woman fortune-teller would never have happened.
ReplyDeleteThat aside, it should be noted that Sukhbator, Choibalsan, Semyonov and the Baron were all real people in history and the use of armored trains with mounted canon was also true, they were the "tanks" of the Russian Civil War in the far east.