Yakov PROTAZANOV
Яков ПРОТАЗАНОВ
Yakov PROTAZANOV
Russia, 1916, 2300m 
Black and white, fiction
Pikovaya dama
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Пиковая дама

 

 The Queen of Spades

 La Dame de Pique

 
Directed by : Yakov PROTAZANOV (Яков ПРОТАЗАНОВ)
Writing credits : Fyodor OZEP (Федор ОЦЕП), Yakov PROTAZANOV (Яков ПРОТАЗАНОВ)
Based on Pushkin's novel
 
Cast
Tatyana DUVAN (Татьяна ДУВАН)
Ivan MOZZHUKIN (Иван МОЗЖУХИН)
Vera ORLOVA (Вера ОРЛОВА)
Nikolay PANOV (Николай ПАНОВ)
Polikarp PAVLOV (Поликарп ПАВЛОВ)
 
Cinematography : Yevgeni SLAVINSKY (Евгений СЛАВИНСКИЙ)
Produced by : Iosif ERMOLIEV (Иосиф ЕРМОЛЬЕВ)
Companies : I. Ermolieff
 

DVD with subtitles
Editor : Bach Films

Plot synopsis
The second of a series of Russian films picked up for distribution by Pathe is adapted from the story by Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin. When he hears that the Countess Fedotovna has a secret formula to win at cards, Russian army officer Herman (Ivan Mozzhukhin) is determined to get it. He tries to meet her through her niece, but when he finally comes face to face with the old woman, his forceful tactics make her die of shock. She comes to him in a dream, however, and tells him which cards of the formula, warning him to play only twice. After he wins the first two times, though, he can't resist going for number three and betting all. But when he turns over the card he has chosen, instead of the ace he expects, it is the queen of spades -- with the countess' face. As a result, Herman goes insane and winds up in a madhouse (going mad seemed to be a common theme in Russian cinema at the time -- see also The Painted Doll).
Janiss Garza, www.allmovie.com
 

commentaries
La dame de pique (1916) - La critique, Claude RIEFFEL, avoir-alire.com, 2001
 

Selected in the following festivals or events :
- 'Il Cinema Ritrovato' Festival, Bologna (Italy), 2016
- Fondation Jérôme Seydoux. L'âge d'or du cinéma muet russe (1908-1934), Paris (France), 2015
- International Film Festival Tarkovski, Ivanovo (Russia), 2008
- Images Russie 1908-1930 au musée d'Orsay, Paris (France), 2005
- Moscow International Film Festival (MIFF), Moscow (Russia), 2004