Polikushka
{{Short description|1922 film by Aleksandr Sanin}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2020}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Polikushka
| image = Polikushka.jpg
| caption = Film poster
| director = Alexander Sanin
| producer =
| writer = Fedor Ozep
Nikolai Efros
Leo Tolstoy (story)
| narrator =
| starring = Ivan Moskvin
Vera Pashennaya
| music =
| cinematography = Yuri Zhelyabuzhsky
| editing =
| distributor =
| studio = Russ
| released = {{Film date|1922|10|31|df=yes}}
| runtime = 50 minutes
| country = Soviet Union
| language = Silent film
| budget =
}}
Polikushka ({{langx|ru|Поликушка}}) is a 1922{{Citation |last=Sanin |first=Aleksandr |title=Polikushka |date=1922-10-31 |type=Drama |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0013501/ |access-date=2024-04-15 |others=Ivan Moskvin, Vera Pashennaya, Evgeniya Raevskaya |publisher=Mezhrabpom-Rus, Torgovy dom Rus'}} Soviet drama film directed by Alexander Sanin, based on Leo Tolstoy's 1863 story of the same title: Polikúshka: The Lot of a Wicked Court Servant.{{cite book|title=Historical Dictionary of Russian and Soviet Cinema|author=Peter Rollberg|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|year=2009|place=US|ISBN=978-0-8108-6072-8|pages=538–539}}{{cite book|author=Jacek Klinowski, Adam Garbicz|title=Feature Cinema in the 20th Century: Volume One: 1913-1950: a Comprehensive Guide|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lpp93FevM2cC&q=Polikushka+Sanin&pg=PA1919-IA2|year=2012|publisher=Planet RGB Limited|isbn=978-1-624-07564-3}} It features the famous Moscow Art Theatre actor Ivan Moskvin in his first on-screen role.{{cite book|author=Denise J. Youngblood|title=Movies for the Masses: Popular Cinema and Soviet Society in the 1920s|url=https://archive.org/details/moviesformassesp00youn|url-access=registration|quote=Polikushka starring Ivan Moskvin.|year=1993|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-46632-5|page=[https://archive.org/details/moviesformassesp00youn/page/164 164]}} The filming was completed in 1919 but the release was delayed till 1922 because of the Russian Civil War.
Plot
Peasant Polikushka is as Tolstoy described him, "an insignificant man and a little flyblown", he is good-natured but weak-willed. He spends most of his time in a tavern, but cannot find a meeting among minds even among the other regulars. He commits petty theft to buy vodka.
Once he is summoned to a manor house and is charged to go to the city to bring money. Polikushka receives an opportunity for the first time to "demonstrate himself" and intends to make the most out of this opportunity. He feels that this could be the beginning of a new life for him.
Arriving in the city Polikushka receives an envelope with the money which becomes a source of constant worry for him – he is terribly afraid that something happens to the envelope. In the end he hides it in his hat and goes back to the village. As he is lulled to sleep by the wagon's rocking the cap slides from his head with the envelope falling to the wayside. Polikushka dreams that he gloriously enters the mistress's house, gives over the envelope, receives thanks and the reward, and becomes elevated in his own eyes.
Waking up Polikushka detects the loss of the envelope and is gravely dejected. He ambles down the road in search of his loss but to no avail. Polikushka falls into deep despair. Returning home, he takes the rope from the child's cot and hiding from his wife goes up to the attic and hangs himself.
Cast
- Ivan Moskvin - Polikushka
- Vera Pashennaya - Akulina, Polikushka's wife
- Yevgeniya Rayevskaya - The Lady
- Varvara Bulgakova - The Lady's niece
- Sergey Aydarov - Steward
- Dmitry Gundurov - The gardener
- Sergey Golovin - Dutlov
- A. Istomin - Ilyukha
- Nikolai Znamenskiy - Alyokha
- Varvara Massalitinova - The joiner's wife
- Nikolai Kostromskoy - Barman
Production
The film was Ivan Moskvin's film debut and he had to readjust his overly theatrical acting style to a more realistic and reserved manner.{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/stream/kinohistoryofrus00jayl#page/146/mode/2up/|publisher=George Allen & Unwin|author=Jay Leyda|author-link=Jay Leyda|title=Kino: A History of the Russian and Soviet Film|year=1960|pages=146, 147}}{{cite web|url=http://www.vokrug.tv/product/show/polikushka/|publisher=VokrugTV|title=Поликушка}}
Filming was done in a difficult period when there was a severe shortage of film stock. Reshoots were done only in exceptional circumstances.
Reception
Moskvin's naturalist acting was praised by many critics.{{cite web|url=http://2011.russiancinema.ru/index.php?e_dept_id=1&e_person_id=10992|publisher=Encyclopedia of Native Cinema|title=Иван Москвин|access-date=28 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202124035/http://2011.russiancinema.ru/index.php?e_dept_id=1&e_person_id=10992|archive-date=2 February 2017|url-status=dead}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb title|id=0013501|title=Polikushka}}
Category:1920s historical drama films
Category:Soviet historical drama films
Category:Soviet black-and-white films
Category:Soviet silent feature films
Category:Gorky Film Studio films
Category:Films based on short fiction
Category:Films based on works by Leo Tolstoy
Category:Silent Soviet drama films
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