Nail in the Boot (Lursmani cheqmashi Gvozd’v sapoge), 1930/32, Michail Kalatosow (1903–1973), film, black/white, no sound, 53 min.
During a war, a group of armored trains is attacked. The trains are carrying soldiers and decorated workers of a shoe factory. A single worker is dispatched to deliver an important message. The protagonist finds himself on enemy’s ground, and fails to fulfill his mission due to a nail in his boot.
It appears that he has been framed by his own people – the workmen that made the defective boots and have been killed in the train attack. Nail in the Boot is a parable on the defective Soviet industry. As such the film was immediately banned upon its premiere.
Film still, Nail in the Boot (Lursmani cheqmashi Gvozd’v sapoge), 1930/32, Michail Kalatosow (1903–1973), film, black/white, no sound, 53 min.
The film Salt for Svaneti (Jim Shvante), presented as part of the exhibition at Kunsthalle Zürich, is another of Michail Kalatosow‘s films.