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Article about Odessa
When in 1925 Eisenstein shot his dramatic scene on the Potemkin Steps in Odessa, he never suspected that his famous shot would become a regular item in slapstick comedies.
Life like a movie
In an exceptional film set in Odessa, the comedy of errors by Juliusz Machulski (1989), things are taken one step further. Thus in the mid 20s, a gangster from Chicago, lands the job of finding the mafia's betrayer who has hidden in Soviet Russia. Totally unprepared for the revolutionary reality, he wanders in circles around Odessa, reaching the Potemkin stairs where Eisenstein shot his film. Dragged in front of a camera, he is shown on television, and his Italian bosses in America see him and believe he has also betrayed them. The funny film immediately gained cult status. The restaurant Deju Vu which opened two years ago, is an attempt to transfer the film's scenery and atmosphere into real life. Waiters are dressed in the uniforms of soviet pioneers, and authentic accessories adorn the room, designed to reflect the scenery in the film. Slogans on the walls remind diners that he who doesn't work doesn't eat.
Odessa hits
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The Potemkin Steps (officially known as the Primorski steps), the most famous steps in the world, known from Eisenstein's film. The view from the port might be a little disappointing, but climbing the 200 steps is a must
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In the Deju Vu restaurant and casino, close to the famous steps, the styling is impressively consistent and amusing (1 Ekaterinskaya St.)
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The Flea Market at the City Gardens (Deribasovskaya street), where you can buy oil paintings with Odessa themes and other handicrafts
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The Opera House, a monumental building in Viennese Baroque style. At the top is a viewing platform giving an excellent panoramic view of the whole of Odessa. The city's opera is said to have one of the five most acoustically perfect halls in the world (along with such as the La Scala and the Opera in Melbourne)
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The monument to the famous Cossack "Ataman Golovatiy"on Alexandrovski av., recalling the traditions of Ukraine
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The catacombs of Odessa, gouged out of the sandstone, and which were never used as burial chambers; during World War II they were a base for the partisans. Today the catacombs contain the Museum of Partisan Glory
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The Museum of Literature, celebrating its 25th birthday, with an exhibition dedicated to Isaac Babel and other brilliant minds from Odessa: Pushkin, Gogol, and Mayakovski, (2 Lastochkin St.)
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Isaac Babel's home on 17 Rishzelevska St. - anybody who loves this writer's works ("Odessan Tales", "Mounted Army") should visit. Babel lived in flat number 10.
Odessa is a beautiful port city. I recommend a stroll along Deribasovskya avenue, especially at night when its cafes and pubs are so full of life. The seaside promenade takes one to the famous Potemkin Steps, and on the way you can see the Opera building. Enthusiasts of culinary art must pay a visit to the Hutarok restaurant, situated right by the water. As for those in search of nightlife, there is the Arcadia complex; people say that he who hasn't seen it hasn't been in Odessa.
Kaleidoscope July/2003 (p. 26-28)
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