Come take an avant-garde walk in the Montparnasse of the late 1920’s. This district of Paris, filmed in a most unusual way, shows how dedicated it is to art. Visit its art galleries and exhibitions, take a glimpse of famous painter Fujita, of Luis Buñuel eying the legs of beautiful Parisian passing the terrace of the café where he is sitting, of three Italian futurists, Marinetti, Prampolini and Russolo. But besides being a cosmopolitan hub for creators, Montparnasse is also a popular quarter, busy with the lives of its ordinary inhabitants, with its markets and flea markets, with its brats looking at a street circus show. Don’t miss the goats crossing the street for the unexpected is always possible. And complete the visit with a good cup of coffee at the Rotonde or at the Sélect on the Boulevard du Montparnasse. —IMDb
Little is known on the life of Eugene Deslaw. He was born in Tahantcha (Ukraine), emigrated to Czechoslovakia in the 20’s were he met filmmaker Zet Molas. He then joined the Czech vanguard movement. He did very little work, in which he explored modern preoccupations:
-Machine poetry (La Marche de machines, 1929)
-Fascination for cities and artificial life (Les nuits electriques, 1929)
-Exploration on the possibilities of the plastic medium (Negatif, 1930)
He also had a morbid tendency towards the dark side of modern life, deformity and decomposition (Montparnasse)
After doing an experimental documentary on the shoot of Abel Gance’s “La fin du Monde”, Deslaw was forgotten with the arrival of sound in cinema.
He died in 1966.