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Early Russian Cinema, Vol. 8: Iakov Protazanov

Directed by Yakov Protazanov, Elizaveta Thiman

Release: 2002
Runtime: 94
Country: Russia
Language: English

TWO FILMS FROM THE ESTEEMED RUSSIAN DIRECTOR

Nothing in Yakov Protazanov’s career hinted at his provocative originality until The Departure of a Great Old Man (1912). For this dramatization of Leo Tolstoy’s last days, Protazanov did not only use his collection of documentary footage and authentic locations to capture the man's life, he went so far as to depict the great writer being received into heaven.

By 1916, Protazanov had become one of the most commercially successful directors in Tsarist Russia, as well as a leader of what was termed the “braking school” of directors, famous for controlling his actors’ rhythm with a conductor’s baton. Years later, his collaborators recalled how he “demanded unity between the visual and artistic design" and how everything was bent towards “revealing the characters’ psychological essence by visual means.” For his adaptation of Alexander Pushkin’s novella, The Queen of Spades (1916), Protazanov used all these expressive and musical devices at his disposal to incredible results.

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Technical Info

  • Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
  • Color: B&W