It wasn't until the crushing end of the Soviet regime that Bauer's work was rediscovered and celebrated. Although he made 80 films before his untimely death in 1917 only 20 or so have survived and this tape showcases three. His masterful use of deep-focus photography is demonstrated in Twilight of Woman's Soul (1913). After Death (1915) is an adaptation of Turgenev and displays the psychological hold that the dead have over the living (apparently one of Bauer's favorite themes). The final installment, The Dying Swan (1917), takes a sardonic view of the popular obsession with morbidity and gives us a chilling dream sequences. Fans of early cinema will surely be impressed.