The Devil’s Wheel (1926)

Directed by Grigory Kozintsev and Leonid Trauberg; script by Adrian Piotrovsky; camera by Andrei Moskvin.

The film was shot by Grigory Kozintsev (1905–1973) and Leonid Trauberg (1902–1990) and had the alternative title of The Sailor from the Aurora. Based on Valentin Kaverin’s The End of the Den, it tells the story of a Red sailor who finds himself in the company of thieves. He finds the courage to leave the robbers, return to his ship and accept the judgement of his comrades.

The two young directors from Leningrad attempted to create a Soviet melodrama, contrasting good and evil in a moralist film on modern life.