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Bed and Sofa (PG*)

Silent Film & Live Music

,Cinema 1
A woman looks out of a window, peering round the corner, in a black and white image.

This wry sex comedy offers fascinating insights into male-female relations in the supposedly post-bourgeois communal society of Soviet Russia.

Arriving in Moscow to take up a new job, but with nowhere to stay, Volodya looks up his old army buddy Kolya. Kolya offers him the sofa in the tiny one-room flat he shares with his wife Lyuda, only to have his generosity betrayed a while later when he is away on a business trip. When he returns home, Volodya has moved into the bed, and it’s Kolya’s turn on the sofa. But how satisfactory is this arrangement for Lydua? Has she perhaps only acquired two husbands to cook and clean for?

Once believed lost, the film was rediscovered in the 1970s and has since become regarded as a Russian masterpiece of the silent era, notable for its unusual frankness, naturalistic performances and sympathetic female character.

Bed and Sofa screens here with music by the Electronic & Produced Music Department at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama.

Tagged with: Cinema Silent Film & Live Music

USSR 1927 Dir Abram Room 86 min Digital

Executive Producer: Mike Roberts Director and Music Supervisor: Barbara De Biasi Sound Projectionist: Sam Dinley

Cinema 1

Location
Barbican Cinema 1 is located within the main Barbican building on Level -2. Head to Level G and walk towards the Lakeside Terrace where you’ll find stairs and lifts to take you down to the venue floor.   

Address
Barbican Centre
Silk Street, London
EC2Y 8DS

Public transport
The Barbican is widely accessible by bus, tube, train and by foot or bicycle. Plan your journey and find more route information in ‘Your Visit’ or book your car parking space in advance.