52 min. Computer engineered vid. to trks: The Hacker, Sound Mirror, Man-Amplified, more.

Alexander Dovzhenko's films are composed of astounding images and exciting dramatic moments, often in hard-to-follow narratives. Arsenal is no exception, a cinematically thrilling but narratively confusing story of a small band of factory workers who rise in rebellion and hole up in the Kiev munitions plant as nationalist troops surround the city. Based on a true story, the film explores conflicts in the Ukraine between the White Russians and the communist Bolsheviks during the Russian Revolution. Worker Tymish (Semyon Svshenko) breaks with his fellow citizens to join the people's army and returns to face his countrymen in an impossible battle. A true document of the Soviet avant-garde at its most idiosyncratic, the film doesn't always make the finer points clear to the non-Soviet audience, but the stunning images and expressionist moments-as when Tymish miraculously survives point-blank fire from the enemy, symbolic of the enduring revolution in the face of sacrifice-give it a powerful cinematic life. Dovzhenko, considered by many critics to be the poet of Soviet cinema and a Ukrainian himself, invests the film with a sense of purpose and an astounding visual beauty. Kino's new edition, digitally mastered by David Shepard, presents the most complete version of this Soviet masterpiece ever seen. -Sean Axmaker.

If one were to gather the hundreds of books written about Ludwig van Beethoven, sift through each with a fine-tooth comb, and extract every simple mistake, wild speculation, and outright falsehood, the result would still be nowhere near as fabulous and artificial as this 1936 biopic, which rewrites the composer's life story into a throbbingly melodramatic tale of genius ignored and love unrequited. Director Abel Gance, best known for his expansive silent classic Napoleon, wasn't interested in the truth of Beethoven's life, but instead the romantic ideal of a great man tormented by history; Gance's Beethoven is merely a variation of the filmmaker's beloved Bonaparte, triumphant yet scorned by his inferiors in the artistic realm rather than the political. (Needless to say, among the film's many omissions is Beethoven's bitter rededication of the "Eroica" Symphony. ) Beginning where every portrait of Beethoven the man must, with the identification of the Immortal Beloved, the film nominates (wrongly) Giulietta Gallenberg, née Guicciardi, reconstructing their brief passion as a lifelong obsession. During each of Beethoven's struggles-with love, poverty, deafness-thunder cracks against the sky and the opening notes of the Fifth burst onto the soundtrack to punctuate the action. Meet the film on its own novelette-like terms, however, and it can be quite moving, not least for the magnificent presence of Harry Baur in the lead, who captures to perfection the tortured nobility the film foists upon its protagonist. Baur's conception is as outsized as Gance's, but also gentler and less sentimental; he humanizes what could have been a treacly salute to a marble statue. An unusual final credit places the actor's name alongside the director's, a touching admission by Gance at how indebted his film was to its star. -Bruce Reid The silent epic and international cinema legend Abel Gance is most celebrated for his sweeping and pioneering biography masterpiece "Napoleon. " But this touching and tortured document of the legendary Beethoven's creative genius deserves equal tribute and attention. [+]

Imagine, if you will, the visual cacophony of Fellini (director of 8 1/2 and Juliet of the Spirits), the over-the-top action of Jerry Bruckheimer (producer of Armageddon and Gone in 60 Seconds), and the manic emotions and frenetic editing of Russ Meyer (Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!)-you have just gotten an inkling of the glorious pop cinema of Hong Kong. Deadful Melody, starring Brigitte Lin, one of the most magnetic actresses in the world, is a prime example. The ancient Chinese world of martial arts is ruled by six clans, the leaders of which all want to get their hands on the Magic Lyre, a musical instrument of near-apocalyptic destructive power. In their ruthless pursuit, they murder the entire family of the Lyre's guardian-all except for the youngest daughter, Snow, who falls down a waterfall clutching the Lyre. This sequence starts the movie with a bang, for kung fu in HK movie terms means much more than it did to Bruce Lee; the clan leaders are virtually supernatural beings, with names like Master Ghost and the whip-wielding Cold Hearted Seductress. Anyone properly trained in martial arts can fly and explode things from afar, which results in some pretty spectacular battles. Snow, of course, returns to take revenge after learning to play the Lyre and gaining enormous power. Brigitte Lin is never less than hypnotic; while this role isn't as complex as Asia the Invincible in Swordsman II, it's cut from the same cloth: imperious, cool, yet aching with loss and grief. The plot is a dizzying web of Machiavellian scheming and surprisingly rich emotions that will keep you riveted; if you can't follow it, don't worry-flying warriors clash and explode every few minutes. -Bret Fetzer.