This is one of the official typefaces used for Martin Scorsese’s iconic 1973 film Goncharov, arguably one of the finest Mafia movies ever made. The font first appeared as a calligraphic page in German type designer Rudolf Koch’s 1934 book Das ABC Büchlein published in Leipzig by Insel-Verlag. While other fonts were eventually used for titling and poster design, Scorsese was especially drawn to the chunky rawness of Koch’s design and found ways to incorporate the lettering into the film.
Our sample is from a 1976 facsimile The Little ABC Book of Rudolf Koch, published in America by David R. Godiine in an edition of 1000 copies designed and with a preface by Warren Chappell, a memoir by Koch’s colleague Fritz Kredel, and printed by the Meriden Gravure Company.
I've been really excited to rewatch Goncharov as it's on the streaming platform I use again, so I thought I'd share my favourite song from the soundtrack. Absolute gem.
So I just found something out WARNING GONCHAROV SPOILERS AHEAD!!
We all know of the scene in Goncharov (1973) when Goncharov kisses Audrey, although it is in the solitude of his study after the gathering and they have a heated argument in which ends with Audrey cursing Goncharov making it all romantic in a melodramatic sense, the kiss they shared may have actually been a russian kiss, since Goncharov is prominently Russian.
This would also make sense as to why before hand Audrey said "kiss me as though we're friends.".
A scene similar to this can be found in another one of Scorsese's films "Raging Bull" in which he kisses his brother, Scorsese would often use intimacy between purely platonic male companions as a way to cringe viewers. Audrey's hate and jealousy toward Goncharov even prior to the kissing scene and especially during the scene where he kills Goncharov would explain Martin's style of directing
It can be argued Audrey always loved Goncharov, and Goncharov was canonically Bi, but I think it shallows out the film to make it a tragic love story, just my opinion though.
Finding Goncharov | A documentary looking at the birth of this recently unearthed Scorsese classic.
If you want to see the full doc happen, please let me know! It would be a pleasure to get this off the ground and really explore the history of the world's greatest Mafia movie.
Thanks to @caramiaaddio, @mortal-ghost, @beelzeebub, @perplexingly, @rabdoidal and @merualeden for permission to use their excellent Goncharov content!