High Treason, Gaumont-British’s first sound film (a silent version was also made to accommodate theatres still not equipped to handle sound) and directed by Maurice Elvey, was to be Britain’s answer to Metropolis, Fritz Lang’s science fiction masterpiece from 1926. Based on a play by Noel Pemberton-Billing, it depicts a not so distant future (1950) where the two main powers are the Federated States of Europe, which include Britain, and the Atlantic States.

This rift between what is in fact Europe and the USA is one of several ideas that seem quite pertinent today in a film that has often been accused of containing too much naïve pacifist propaganda. For High Treason is indeed very much a film about pacifism, drawing on the fears and anxieties that continued to haunt the British public since the end of World War I. As Dr Seymour, the lead character and head of the Peace League, replies when told that people are now too sensible for war, “that’s what they said in 1914!”. Yet, the bombing of the channel tunnel as part of an overall plan by the agitators to use terror to influence the two governments and the comment by the President of the Atlantic States that “We must strike the first blow”, demonstrate that perhaps High Treason may not have been as naïve as was often thought.

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I am extremely fond of the Russian Avant-Garde movement that took place in Russia at the beginning of the 20th century, especially between 1905 and 1920. This was a period of great upheaval and changes. And change usually leads to the creation of rich and interesting experiences. Painters of that time such as Kandinsky, Rodchenko, Malevich, Goncharova, Shevchenko, Chagall, Exter, Rozanova created a mix of French Cubism and Italian Futurism which reflected their desire to blend folk culture with modernism and the pursuit of abstraction. It is beautiful to see how the architects and designers of that time came up with the most amazing visions and representations of the future, most of which would unfortunately remain at the concept stage. But ultimately, what interests me the most in this movement is the artists’ thirst for the future, their desire to reach and give their Utopia a meaning.