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Life, Works & Adaptations in Literature, Opera, Cinema and TV

According to en.wikipedia as in January 2013

A compilation by Tatiana Polo

Nikolai Gogol

Daguerreotype of Gogol taken in 1845 by Sergey Lvovich Levitsky (18191898)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Born Died Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol 31 March 1809[1] (N.S.) Sorochyntsi, Russian Empire (now Ukraine) 4 March 1852 (aged 42) Moscow, Russian Empire

Occupation Playwright, short-story writer, and novelist Nationality Russian Ethnicity Period Ukrainian 184051

Influences Miguel de Cervantes, Alexander Pushkin Influenced Aleichem, Dostoyevsky, Nabokov,[2] Saramago,[3] Stanislavski, Tolstoy, Turgenev, Andrei Biely, Eugene Htz

Signature

Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol (Russian: , tr. Nikolay Vasilyevich Gogol; IPA: [n k laj v s il j v t gog l ]; Ukrainian: , Mykola Vasyliovych Hohol; 31 March [O.S. 19 March] 1809 4 March [O.S. 21 February] 1852[4]) was a Ukrainianborn Russian dramatist, novelist and short story writer.[4]

Considered by his contemporaries one of the preeminent figures of the natural school of Russian literary realism, later critics have found in Gogol's work a fundamentally romantic sensibility, with strains of Surrealism and the grotesque ("The Nose", "Viy", "The Overcoat," "Nevsky Prospekt"). His early works, such as Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka, were influenced by his Ukrainian upbringing, Ukrainian culture and folklore.[5][6] His later writing satirised political corruption in the Russian Empire (The Government Inspector, Dead Souls), leading to his eventual exile. The novel Taras Bulba (1835) and the play Marriage (1842), along with the short stories "Diary of a Madman", "The Tale of How Ivan Ivanovich Quarreled with Ivan Nikiforovich", "The Portrait" and "The Carriage", round out the tally of his best-known works. Early life Gogol was born in the Ukrainian Cossack village of Sorochyntsi,[4] in Poltava Governorate of the Russian Empire, present-day Ukraine. His mother was a descendant of Polish landowners. His father Vasily Gogol-Yanovsky, a descendant of Ukrainian Cossacks, belonged to the 'petty gentry', wrote poetry in Ukrainian and Russian, and was an amateur Ukrainian-language playwright, who died when Gogol was 15 years old. As was typical of the left-bank Ukrainian gentry of the early nineteenth century, the family spoke Russian as well as Ukrainian. As a child, Gogol helped stage Ukrainian-language plays in his uncle's home theater.[7] In 1820 Gogol went to a school of higher art in Nizhyn and remained there until 1828. It was there that he began writing. He was not popular among his schoolmates, who called him their "mysterious dwarf", but with two or three of them he formed lasting friendships. Very early he developed a dark and secretive disposition, marked by a painful self-consciousness and boundless ambition. Equally early he developed a talent for mimicry, which later made him a matchless reader of his own works and induced him to toy with the idea of becoming an actor. In 1828, on leaving school, Gogol came to St Petersburg, full of vague but glowingly ambitious hopes. He had hoped for literary fame, and brought with him a Romantic poem of German idyllic life Hans Kchelgarten. He had it published, at his own expense, under the name of "V. Alov." The magazines he sent it to almost universally derided it. He bought all the copies and destroyed them, swearing never to write poetry again. Gogol was one of the first masters of the short story, alongside Alexander Pushkin, Prosper Mrime, E. T. A. Hoffmann, Edgar Allan Poe, and Nathaniel Hawthorne. He was in touch with the "literary aristocracy", had a story published in Anton Delvig's Northern Flowers, was taken up by Vasily Zhukovsky and Pyotr Pletnyov, and (in 1831) was introduced to Pushkin. Literary development In 1831, he brought out the first volume of his Ukrainian stories (Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka), which met with immediate success. He followed it in 1832 with a second volume, and in 1835 by two volumes of stories entitled Mirgorod, as well as by two volumes of miscellaneous prose entitled Arabesques. At this time Russian editors and critics such as Nikolai Polevoy and Nikolai Nadezhdin saw in Gogol the emergence of a Ukrainian, rather than Russian, writer, using his works to illustrate supposed differences between Russian and Ukrainian national characters, a fact that has been overlooked in later Russian literary history.[8] The themes and style of these early prose works by Gogol, as well as his later drama, were similar to the work of Ukrainian writers and dramatists who were his contemporaries and friends, including Hryhory Kvitka-Osnovyanenko and Vasily Narezhny. However, Gogol's satire was much more sophisticated and unconventional.[9] At this time, Gogol developed a passion for Ukrainian history and tried to obtain an appointment to the history department at Kiev University. Despite the support of Pushkin and Sergey Uvarov, the Russian minister of education, his appointment was blocked by a Kievan bureaucrat on the grounds that he was unqualified.[10] His fictional story Taras Bulba, based on the history of Ukrainian

cossacks, was the result of this phase in his interests. During this time he also developed a close and lifelong friendship with another Ukrainian, the historian and naturalist Mykhaylo Maksymovych.[11] In 1834 Gogol was made Professor of Medieval History at the University of St. Petersburg, a job for which he had no qualifications. He turned in a performance ludicrous enough to warrant satiric treatment in one of his own stories. After an introductory lecture made up of brilliant generalizations which the 'historian' had prudently prepared and memorized, he gave up all pretense at erudition and teaching, missed two lectures out of three, and when he did appear, muttered unintelligibly through his teeth. At the final examination, he sat in utter silence with a black handkerchief wrapped around his head, simulating a toothache, while another professor interrogated the students."[12] This academic venture proved a failure and he resigned his chair in 1835. Between 1832 and 1836 Gogol worked with great energy, and though almost all his work has in one way or another its sources in these four years of contact with Pushkin, he had not yet decided that his ambitions were to be fulfilled by success in literature. During this time, the Russian critics Stepan Shevyrev and Vissarion Belinsky, contradicting earlier critics, reclassified Gogol from a Ukrainian to a Russian writer.[8] It was only after the presentation, on 19 April 1836, of his comedy The Government Inspector (Revizor) that he finally came to believe in his literary vocation. The comedy, a violent satire of Russian provincial bureaucracy, was staged thanks only to the intervention of the emperor, Nicholas I. From 1836 to 1848 Gogol lived abroad, travelling through Germany and Switzerland. Gogol spent the winter of 18361837 in Paris, among Russian expatriates and Polish exiles, frequently meeting the Polish poets Adam Mickiewicz and Bohdan Zaleski. He eventually settled in Rome. For much of the twelve years from 1836 Gogol was in Italy. He studied art, read Italian literature and developed a passion for opera. He mingled with Russian and other visitors, and in 1838 met Count Ioseph Vielhorskiy, the 23-year-old son of the official who had brought Gogol's Government Inspector to the attention of the emperor. Vielhorsky was travelling in hopes of curing his tuberculosis. Gogol became deeply attached to the young man and attended him in his illness, but in 1839 Vielhorsky died. Gogol left an account of this time in his Nights at the Villa. Pushkin's death produced a strong impression on Gogol. His principal work during years following Pushkin's death was the satirical epic Dead Souls. Concurrently, he worked at other tasks recast Taras Bulba and The Portrait, completed his second comedy, Marriage (Zhenitba), wrote the fragment Rome and his most famous short story, The Overcoat. In 1841 the first part of Dead Souls was ready, and Gogol took it to Russia to supervise its printing. It appeared in Moscow in 1842, under the title, imposed by the censorship, of The Adventures of Chichikov. The book instantly established his reputation as the greatest prose writer in the language. Creative decline and death After the triumph of Dead Souls, Gogol came to be regarded by his contemporaries as a great satirist who lampooned the unseemly sides of Imperial Russia. Little did they know that Dead Souls was but the first part of a planned modern-day counterpart to The Divine Comedy. The first part represented the Inferno; the second part was to depict the gradual purification and transformation of the rogue Chichikov under the influence of virtuous publicans and governors Purgatory.[13] From Palestine, Gogol returned to Russia, and passed his last years in restless movement throughout the country. While visiting the capitals, he stayed with friends such as Mikhail Pogodin and Sergei Aksakov. During this period, he also spent much time with his old Ukrainian friends, Maksymovych and Osyp Bodiansky. More importantly, he intensified his relationship with a starets or spiritual elder, Matvey Konstantinovsky, whom he had known for several years. Konstantinovsky seems to have strengthened in Gogol the fear of perdition by insisting on the sinfulness of all his imaginative work. His health was undermined by exaggerated ascetic practices and he fell into a state of deep depression. On the night of 24 February 1852, he burned some of his

manuscripts, which contained most of the second part of Dead Souls. He explained this as a mistake, a practical joke played on him by the Devil. Soon thereafter, he took to bed, refused all food, and died in great pain nine days later. Gogol was mourned in the Saint Tatiana church at the Moscow University before his burial and then buried at the Danilov Monastery, close to his fellow Slavophile Aleksey Khomyakov. In 1931, Moscow authorities decided to demolish the monastery and had his remains transferred to the Novodevichy Cemetery. His body was discovered lying face down; which gave rise to the story that Gogol had been buried alive. A Soviet critic even cut a part of his jacket to use as a binding for his copy of Dead Souls. A piece of rock which used to stand on his grave at the Danilov was reused for the tomb of Gogol's admirer Mikhail Bulgakov. The first Gogol monument in Moscow was a Symbolist statue on Arbat Square, which represented the sculptor Nikolay Andreyev's idea of Gogol, rather than the real man.[14] Unveiled in 1909, the statue was praised by Ilya Repin and Leo Tolstoy as an outstanding projection of Gogol's tortured personality. Joseph Stalin did not like it, however, and the statue was replaced by a more orthodox Socialist Realism monument in 1952. It took enormous efforts to save Andreyev's original work from destruction; it now stands in front of the house where Gogol died.[15] Style D.S. Mirsky characterized Gogol's universe as "one of the most marvellous, unexpected in the strictest sense, original[16] worlds ever created by an artist of words".[17] The other main characteristic of Gogol's writing is his impressionist vision of reality and people. He saw the outer world romantically metamorphosed, a singular gift particularly evident from the fantastic spatial transformations in his Gothic stories, A Terrible Vengeance and A Bewitched Place. His pictures of nature are strange mounds of detail heaped on detail, resulting in an unconnected chaos of things. His people are caricatures, drawn with the method of the caricaturist which is to exaggerate salient features and to reduce them to geometrical pattern. But these cartoons have a convincingness, a truthfulness, and inevitability attained as a rule by slight but definitive strokes of unexpected reality that seems to beggar the visible world itself.[18] The aspect under which the mature Gogol sees reality is expressed by the untranslatable Russian word poshlost', which is perhaps best rendered as "self-satisfied inferiority", moral and spiritual, widespread in some group or society (from Russian, poshlo, meaning "went"). Like Sterne before him, Gogol was a great destroyer of prohibitions and romantic illusions. It was he who undermined Russian Romanticism by making vulgarity reign where only the sublime and the beautiful had reigned.[19] "Characteristic of Gogol is a sense of boundless superfluity that is soon revealed as utter emptiness and a rich comedy that suddenly turns into metaphysical horror."[20] His stories often interweave pathos and mockery, while "The Tale of How Ivan Ivanovich Quarreled with Ivan Nikiforovich" begins as a merry farce and ends with the famous dictum, "It is dull in this world, gentlemen!" Politics Gogol was stunned when The Government Inspector came to be interpreted by many, despite Nicholas I's patronage of the play, as an indictment of tsarism. In reality, Gogol himself was an adherent of the Slavophile movement and believed in a divinely inspired mission for both the House of Romanov and the Russian Orthodox Church. Similarly to Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Gogol sharply disagreed with those Russians who preached constitutional monarchy and the disestablishment of the Orthodox Church. After defending autocracy, serfdom, and the Orthodox Church in his book Selected Passages from Correspondence with his Friends, Gogol was attacked by his former patron Vissarion Belinsky. The

first Russian intellectual to publicly preach the economic theories of Karl Marx, Belinsky accused Gogol of betraying his readership by defending the status quo. Influence and interpretations Even before the publication of Dead Souls, Belinsky recognized Gogol as the first realist writer in the language and the head of the Natural School, to which he also assigned such younger or lesser authors as Goncharov, Turgenev, Dmitry Grigorovich, Vladimir Dahl and Vladimir Sollogub. Gogol himself seemed to be skeptical about the existence of such a literary movement. Although he recognized "several young writers" who "have shown a particular desire to observe real life", he upbraided the deficient composition and style of their works.[21] Nevertheless, subsequent generations of radical critics celebrated Gogol (the author in whose world a nose roams the streets of the Russian capital) as a great realist, a reputation decried by the Encyclopdia Britannica as "the triumph of Gogolesque irony."[22] The period of modernism saw a revival of interest in and a change of attitude towards Gogol's work. One of the pioneering works of Russian formalism was Eichenbaum's reappraisal of The Overcoat. In the 1920s, a group of Russian short story writers, known as the Serapion Brothers, placed Gogol among their precursors and consciously sought to imitate his techniques. The leading novelists of the period notably Yevgeny Zamyatin and Mikhail Bulgakov also admired Gogol and followed in his footsteps. In 1926, Vsevolod Meyerhold staged The Government Inspector as a "comedy of the absurd situation", revealing to his fascinated spectators a corrupt world of endless selfdeception. In 1934, Andrei Bely published the most meticulous study of Gogol's literary techniques up to that date, in which he analyzed the colours prevalent in Gogol's work depending on the period, his impressionistic use of verbs, expressive discontinuity of his syntax, complicated rhythmical patterns of his sentences, and many other secrets of his craft. Based on this work, Vladimir Nabokov published a summary account of Gogol's masterpieces in 1944. Gogol's impact on Russian literature has been enduring, yet his works have been appreciated differently by various critics. Belinsky, for instance, berated his horror stories as "moribund, monstrous works", while Andrei Bely counted them among his most stylistically daring creations. Nabokov especially admired Dead Souls, The Government Inspector, and The Overcoat as works of genius, proclaiming that "when, as in his immortal The Overcoat, Gogol really let himself go and pottered happily on the brink of his private abyss, he became the greatest artist that Russia has yet produced. [23] The Overcoat was traditionally interpreted as a masterpiece of "humanitarian realism", but Nabokov and some other attentive readers argued that "holes in the language" make the story susceptible to interpretation as a supernatural tale about a ghostly double of a "small man."[24] Of all Gogol's stories, The Nose has stubbornly defied all abstruse interpretations: D.S. Mirsky declared it "a piece of sheer play, almost sheer nonsense." Gogol's oeuvre has also had a large impact on Russia's non-literary culture, and his stories have been adapted numerous times into opera and film. Russian Composer Alfred Schnittke wrote the eight part Gogol Suite as incidental music to The Government Inspector performed as a play, and composer Dmitri Shostakovich set The Nose as his first opera in 1930, despite the peculiar choice of subject for what was meant to initiate the great tradition of Soviet opera.[25] Most recently, to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Gogol's birth, Vienna's renowned Theater an der Wien commissioned music and libretto for a full length opera on the life of Gogol from Russian composer and writer Lera Auerbach.[26] Some attention has also been given to the apparent anti-Semitism in Gogol's writings, as well as those of his contemporary, Fyodor Dostoyevsky.[27] Felix Dreizin and David Guaspari, for example, in their The Russian Soul and the Jew: Essays in Literary Ethnocentricis discuss "the significance of the Jewish characters and the negative image of the Ukrainian Jewish community in Gogol's novel Taras Bulba, pointing out Gogol's attachment to anti-Jewish prejudices prevalent in Russian and Ukrainian culture."[28] In Leon Poliakov's The History of Antisemitism, the author mentions that

"The 'Yankel' from Taras Bulba indeed became the archetypal Jew in Russian literature. Gogol painted him as supremely exploitative, cowardly, and repulsive, albeit capable of gratitude. But it seems perfectly natural in the story that he and his cohorts be drowned in the Dniper by the Cossack lords. Above all, Yankel is ridiculous, and the image of the plucked chicken that Gogol used has made the rounds of great Russian authors."[29] Despite his problematic portrayal of Jewish characters, Gogol left a powerful impression even on Jewish writers who inherited his literary legacy. Amelia Glaser has noted the influence of Gogol's literary innovations on Sholem Aleichem, who "chose to model much of his writing, and even his appearance, on Gogol... What Sholem Aleichem was borrowing from Gogol was a rural East European landscape that may have been dangerous, but could unite readers through the power of collective memory. He also learned from Gogol to soften this danger through laughter, and he often rewrites Gogol's Jewish characters, correcting anti-Semitic stereotypes and narrating history from a Jewish perspective."[30] Gogol in popular culture
Gogol has been featured many times on Russian and Soviet postage stamps; he is also well represented on stamps worldwide.[31][32][33][34][35] Several commemorative coins have been issued from Russia and the USSR. On 19 March 2009, the National Bank of Ukraine issued a commemorative coin dedicated to Gogol.[36] Streets have been named after Gogol in Moscow, Lipetsk, Odessa, Myrhorod, Krasnodar, Vladimir, Vladivostok, Penza, Petrozavodsk, Riga, Bratislava, Harbin and many other towns and cities. Gogol is referenced multiple times in Fyodor Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment and Chekhov's The Seagull. More than 35 films have been based on Gogol's work, the most recent being The Girl in the White Coat (2011). BBC Radio 4 made a series of six Gogol short stories, entitled Three Ivans, Two Aunts and an Overcoat (2002, adaptations by Jim Poyser). In music, the gypsy punk band Gogol Bordello is named after Gogol. A song by Joy Division, "Dead Souls" (1980), is named after his novel. The band "Moon&Melody" performed a musical version of Nikolai Gogol's Viy (story) at the "Museum fr Sepulkralkultur", Kassel, Germany (2011). James Bond's competitor (and occasional ally) is named General Gogol. Gogolfest is the annual multidisciplinary international festival of contemporary art held in Kiev, Ukraine. Gogol is the name of a Russian criminal organization in the TV series Nikita. The protagonist of the novel The Namesake, Gogol Ganguli, is named after Nikolai Gogol.

See also Nikolai Gogol bibliography Notes and references

1. 2. 3. 4. ^ Some sources indicate he was born 20 March/1 April 1809. ^ Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov, Nikolai Gogol, New Directions Publishing, 1961. ^ FT.com "Small Talk: Jos Saramago". "Everything Ive read has influenced me in some way. Having said that, Kafka, Borges, Gogol, Montaigne, Cervantes are constant companions."
a b c ^ "Nikolay Gogol". Encyclopdia Britannica. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/237143/Nikolay-Vasilyevich-Gogol. Retrieved 31 December 2010.

5. 6.

^ Ilnytzkyj, Oleh. "The Nationalism of Nikolai Gogol': Betwixt and Between?", Canadian Slavonic Papers SepDec 2007. Retrieved 15 June 2008. ^ Karpuk, Paul A. "Gogol's Research on Ukrainian Customs for the Dikan'ka Tales". Russian Review, Vol. 56, No. 2 (April 1997), pp. 209232.

7. 8. 9.

^ Edyta Bojanowska. 2007). Nikolai Gogol: Between Ukrainian and Russian Nationalism. Cambridge Mass: Harvard University Press. ^ a b Edyta M. Bojanowska. (2007). Nikolai Gogol: Between Ukrainian and Russian Nationalism. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. pp. 7888 ^ Richard Peace (30 April 2009). The Enigma of Gogol: An Examination of the Writings of N. V. Gogol and Their Place in the Russian Literary Tradition. Cambridge University Press. pp. 151152. ISBN 978-0-52111023-5. http://books.google.com/books?id=thki88thwNgC&pg=PA152. Retrieved 15 April 2012.

10. ^ Luckyj, G. (1998). The Anguish of Mykola Hohol, a.k.a. Nikolai Gogol. Toronto: Canadian Scholars' Press. p. 67. ISBN 1-55130-107-5. 11. ^ Welcome to Ukraine 12. ^ Lindstrom, T. (1966). A Concise History of Russian Literature Volume I from the Beginnings to Checkhov. New York: New York University Press. p. 131. 13. ^ Gogol declared that "the subject of Dead Souls has nothing to do with the description of Russian provincial life or of a few revolting landowners. It is for the time being a secret which must suddenly and to the amazement of everyone (for as yet none of my readers has guessed it) be revealed in the following volumes..." 14. ^ , . . (Russian) , : . . (Russian) and , , , : (Russian)

15. ^ For a full story and illustrations, see , , ,

16. ^ Gogol's originality does not mean that numerous influences cannot be discerned in his work. The principle of these are: the tradition of the Ukrainian folk and puppet theatre, with which the plays of Gogol's father were closely linked; the heroic poetry of the Cossack ballads (dumy), the Iliad in the Russian version by Gnedich; the numerous and mixed traditions of comic writing from Molire to the vaudevillians of the 1820s; the picaresque novel from Lesage to Narezhny; Sterne, chiefly through the medium of German romanticism; the German romanticists themselves (especially Tieck and E.T.A. Hoffmann); the French tradition of Gothic romance a long and yet incomplete list. 17. ^ D.S. Mirsky. A History of Russian Literature. Northwestern University Press, 1999. ISBN 0-8101-1679-0. p.155. 18. ^ Mirsky, p.149 19. ^ According to some critics, Gogol's grotesque is a "means of estranging, a comic hyperbole that unmasks the banality and inhumanity of ambient reality." See: Fusso, Susanne. Essays on Gogol: Logos and the Russian Word. Northwestern University Press, 1994. ISBN 0-8101-1191-8. p.55. 20. ^ "Russian literature." Encyclopdia Britannica, 2005. 21. ^ "The structure of the stories themselves seemed especially unskilful and clumsy to me; in one story I noted excess and verbosity, and an absence of simplicity in the style". Quoted by Vasily Gippius in his monograph Gogol (Duke University Press, 1989, page 166). 22. ^ The latest edition of the Britannica labels Gogol "one of the finest comic authors of world literature and perhaps its most accomplished nonsense writer." See under "Russian literature." 23. ^ Nabokov, Vladimir (1961). Nikolai Gogol. New York: New Directions. pp. 140. ISBN 0-8112-0120-1. 24. ^ At least this reading of the story seems to have been on Dostoevsky's mind when he wrote The Double. The quote, often apocryphally attributed to him, that "we all [future generations of Russian novelists] emerged from Gogol's Overcoat", actually refers to those few who read The Overcoat as a double-bottom ghost story (as did Aleksey Remizov, judging by his story The Sacrifice). 25. ^ Gogol Suite, CD Universe 26. ^ ORF (sterreichischer Rundfunk) (German) 27. ^ Vladim Joseph Rossman, Vadim Rossman, Vidal Sassoon. Russian Intellectual Antisemitism in the PostCommunist Era. p. 64. University of Nebraska Press. Google.com 28. ^ Antisemitism in Literature and in the Arts 29. ^ Leon Poliakov. The History of Antisemitism. p. 75. University of Pennsylvania Press, Google.com

30. ^ Amelia Glaser. "Sholem Aleichem, Gogol Show Two Views of Shtetl Jews." The Jewish Journal, 2009. Journal: Jewish News, Events, Los Angeles 31. ^ "2009. , 1. 200 . . (18091852), . . art.ru/catalogs/StampSeries.jsp?id=11543339. Retrieved 3 April 2009. 32. ^ "2009. , 1. 200 . . (18091852), . . art.ru/catalogs/StampSeries.jsp?id=11543433. Retrieved 3 April 2009. 33. ^ " 200. . http://www.kraspost.ru/node/1357. Retrieved 3 April 2009. 34. ^ " 200. 35. http://www.stamp.kiev.ua/ukr/stamp/observe.php?coupl_id=104. Retrieved 3 April 2009.[dead link] 36. ^ " 200". 2006. http://www.otpusk.com/news/17064.html. Retrieved 3 April 2009. . .com. 28 August (18091852)" (in uk). . ". ". http://www.marka". http://www.marka. .

37. ^ Events by themes: NBU presented an anniversary coin Nikolay Gogol from series "Personages of Ukraine", UNIAN-photo service (19 March 2009)

This article incorporates text from D.S. Mirsky's "A History of Russian Literature" (1926-27), a publication now in the public domain.

External links
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Nikolai Gogol

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Nikolai Gogol Wikisource has original works written by or about: Nikolai Gogol Works by Nikolai Gogol at Project Gutenberg Gogol : Magical realism Some photos of places and statues that are reminiscent of Gogol and his work Biography at kirjasto.sci.fi Nikolay Gogol in Encyclopdia Britannica Works by or about Nikolai Gogol in libraries (WorldCat catalog)

Cover of the first edition of The Government Inspector (1836).

Portrait of Gogol by Anton Moller

Gogol, painted in 1840.

Gogol burning the manuscript of the second part of Dead Souls by Ilya Repin

The house in Moscow where Gogol died. The building contains the fireplace where he burned the manuscript of the second part of Dead Souls.

Commemorative plaque on his house in Rome

Gogol's grave at the Novodevichy Cemetery

The first Gogol memorial in Russia (an impressionistic statue by Nikolay Andreyev, 1909).

A more conventional statue of Gogol at the Villa Borghese, Rome.

A lithograph portrait of Nikolai Gogolpublished by Vezenberg & Co., St. Petersburg, between 1880 and 1886 Postage stamp, Russia, 2009. See also: Gogol in philately, Russian Wikipedia

Nikolai Gogol bibliography

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Drama
Decoration of Vladimir of the Third Class, unfinished comedy (1832).[1] Marriage, comedy (1835).[1] The Gamblers, comedy (1836).[1] The Government Inspector, also translated as The Inspector General (1836).[1] Leaving the Theater, (After the Staging of a New Comedy) (1836)

Essays
Woman, essay (1830) Preface, to first volume of Evenings on a Farm (1831) Preface, to second volume of Evenings on a Farm (1832) Selected Passages from Correspondence with Friends, collection of letters and essays (1847).[1] Meditations on the Divine Liturgy

Fiction
Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka, volume I of short story collection (1831):[1] The Fair at Sorochints St John's Eve May Night, or the Drowned Maiden The Lost Letter: A Tale Told by the Sexton of the N...Church

Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka, volume II of short story collection (1832):[1] Christmas Eve A Terrible Vengeance Ivan Fyodorovich Shponka and His Aunt A Bewitched Place

Arabesques, short story collection (1835):[1] The Portrait A Chapter from an Historical Novel (fragment) Nevsky Prospect The Prisoner (fragment) Diary of a Madman

Mirgorod, short story collection in two volumes (1835):[1] The Old World Landowners Taras Bulba Viy The Tale of How Ivan Ivanovich Quarreled with Ivan Nikiforovich

The Nose, short story (1836-1836)

The Carriage, short story (1836) Rome, fragment (1842) The Overcoat, short story (1842) Dead Souls, novel (1842), intended as the first part of a trilogy.[2]

Poetry
Ode to Italy, poem (1829) Hanz Kchelgarten, narrative poem published under the pseudonym "V. Alov" (1829)

Adaptations Film 1913: The Night Before Christmas, a 41-minute film by Ladislas Starevich which contains some of the first combinations of stop motion animation with live action 1926: The Overcoat, a Soviet silent film directed by Grigori Kozintsev and Leonid Trauberg 1945: The Lost Letter, the Soviet Union's first feature-length traditionally-animated film 1949: The Inspector General, a musical comedy and very loose adaptation directed by Henry Koster and starring Danny Kaye. 1951: The Night Before Christmas, an animated feature film directed by the Brumberg sisters 1952: Il Cappotto, an Italian film directed by Alberto Lattuada 1959: The Overcoat, a Soviet film directed by Aleksey Batalov 1962: Taras Bulba, a Yugoslavian/American film directed by J. Lee Thompson 1963: The Nose, a short film by Alexandre Alexeieff and Claire Parker using pinscreen animation 1967: Viy, a horror film made on Mosfilm and based on the Nikolai Gogol story of the same name. 1984: Dead Souls, directed by Mikhail Shveytser 1997: The Night Before Christmas, a 26-minute stop-motion-animated film [1] 20??: The Overcoat, an upcoming film by acclaimed animator Yuriy Norshteyn, being worked on since 1981

Opera
1874: Vakula the Smith, an opera by Pyotr Tchaikovsky 1880: May Night, an opera by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov 1885: Cherevichki, Tchaikovsky's revision of Vakula the Smith 1906: Zhenitba, an unfinished opera begun in 1868 by Modest Mussorgsky 1917: The Fair at Sorochyntsi, an unfinished opera begun in 1874 by Modest Mussorgsky and first completed by Csar Cui - many different versions exist 1930: The Nose, a satirical opera by Dmitri Shostakovich 1976: Dead Souls, an opera by Russian nationalist composer Rodion Shchedrin 2011: Gogol, an opera by Russian composer Lera Auerbach commissioned by Vienna's

Radio
2006: Dead Souls, a BBC radio adaptation

Sources
Golub, Spencer. 1998. "Gogol, Nikolai (Vasilievich)." In The Cambridge Guide to Theatre. Ed. Martin Banham. Cambridge: Cambridge UP. 431-432. ISBN 0-521-43437-8.

Dead Souls
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Cover page of the first edition of Dead Souls. Moscow, 1842.

Author(s) Original title Country Language Genre(s) Media type Followed by

Nikolai Gogol , Myortvyje dushi Russian Empire Russian Political, Satire Hardback and paperback Dead souls 2 (destroyed by the author before his death)

Dead Souls (Russian: , Myortvyje dushi) is a novel by Nikolai Gogol, first published in 1842, and widely regarded as an exemplar of 19th-century Russian literature. Gogol himself saw it as an "epic poem in prose", and within the book as a "novel in verse". Despite supposedly completing the trilogy's second part, Gogol destroyed it shortly before his death. Although the novel ends in mid-sentence (like Sterne's Sentimental Journey), it is usually regarded as complete in the extant form.[1] Title In the Russian Empire, before the emancipation of the serfs in 1861, landowners were entitled to own serfs to farm their land. Serfs were for most purposes considered the property of the landowner, and could be bought, sold or mortgaged, as any other chattel. To count serfs (and people in general), the measure word "soul" was used: e.g., "six souls of serfs". The plot of the novel relies on "dead souls" (i.e., "dead serfs") which are still accounted for in property registers. On another level, the title refers to the "dead souls" of Gogol's characters, all of which visualise different

aspects of poshlost (an untranslatable Russian word which is perhaps best rendered as "self-satisfied inferiority", moral and spiritual, with overtones of middle-class pretentiousness, fake significance and philistinism). Background The first part of the novel was intended to represent the Inferno of the modern-day Divine Comedy. Gogol revealed to his readers an encompassing picture of the ailing social system in Russia after the war of 1812. As in many of Gogol's short stories, the social criticism of Dead Souls is communicated primarily through absurd and hilarious satire. Unlike the short stories, however, Dead Souls was meant to offer solutions rather than simply point out problems. This grander scheme was largely unrealized at Gogol's death; the work was never completed, and it is primarily the earlier, darker part of the novel that is remembered. In their studies of Gogol, Andrey Bely, D. S. Mirsky, Vladimir Nabokov, and other modernist critics rejected the commonly held view of Dead Souls as a reformist or satirical work. For instance, Nabokov regarded the plot of Dead Souls as unimportant and Gogol as a great writer whose works skirted the irrational and whose prose style combined superb descriptive power with a disregard for novelistic clichs. True, Chichikov displays a most extraordinary moral rot, but the whole idea of buying and selling dead souls is, to Nabokov, ridiculous on its face; therefore, the provincial setting of the novel is a most unsuitable backdrop for any of the progressive, reformist or Christian readings of the work. Structure The structure of the novel follows a circle, as Chichikov visits the estates of landowners living around the capital of a guberniya. Although Gogol aspired to emulate the Odyssey, many critics derive the structure of Dead Souls from the picaresque novels of the 16th and 17th centuries in that it is divided into a series of somewhat disjointed episodes, and the plot concerns a gentrified version of the rascal protagonist of the original picaresques. Konstantin Aksakov was the first to bring out a detailed juxtaposition of Gogol's and Homer's works: "Gogol's epic revives the ancient Homeric epic; you recognize its character of importance, its artistic merits and the widest scope. When comparing one thing to another, Gogol completely loses himself in the subject, leaving for a time the occasion that gave rise to his comparison; he will talk about it, until the subject is exhausted. Every reader of The Iliad was struck by this device, too." Nabokov also pointed out to the Homeric roots of the complicated absurdist technique of Gogol's comparisons and digressions. Characters Of all Gogol's creations, Chichikov stands out as the incarnation of poshlost. His psychological leitmotiv is complacency, and his geometrical expression roundness. He is the golden mean. The other characters the squires Chichikov visits on his shady business are typical "humors" (for Gogol's method of comic character drawing, with its exaggerations and geometrical simplification, is strongly reminiscent of Ben Jonson's). Sobakevich, the strong, silent, economical man, square and bearlike; Manilov, the silly sentimentalist with pursed lips; Mme Korobochka, the stupid widow; Nozdryov, the cheat and bully, with the manners of a hearty good fellow are all types of eternal solidity. Plyushkin, the miser, stands apart, for in him Gogol sounds a note of tragedy he is the man ruined by his "humor"; he transcends poshlost, for in the depth of his degradation he is not complacent but miserable; he has a tragic greatness. The elegiac description of Plyushkin's garden was hailed by Nabokov as the pinnacle of Gogol's art. Plot The story follows the exploits of Chichikov, a gentleman of middling social class and position. Chichikov arrives in a small town and quickly tries to make a good name for himself by impressing the many petty officials of the town. Despite his limited funds, he spends extravagantly on the

premise that a great show of wealth and power at the start will gain him the connections he needs to live easily in the future. He also hopes to befriend the town so that he can more easily carry out his bizarre and mysterious plan to acquire "dead souls." The government would tax the landowners on a regular basis, with the assessment based on how many serfs (or "souls") the landowner had on their records at the time of the collection. These records were determined by census, but censuses in this period were infrequent, far more so than the tax collection, so landowners would often find themselves in the position of paying taxes on serfs that were no longer living, yet were registered on the census to them, thus they were paying on "dead souls." It is these dead souls, manifested as property, that Chichikov seeks to purchase from people in the villages he visits; he merely tells the prospective sellers that he has a use for them, and that the sellers would be better off anyway, since selling them would relieve the present owners of a needless tax burden. Although the townspeople Chichikov comes across are gross caricatures, they are not flat stereotypes by any means. Instead, each is neurotically individual, combining the official failings that Gogol typically satirizes (greed, corruption, paranoia) with a curious set of personal quirks. Chichikov's macabre mission to acquire "dead souls" is actually just another complicated scheme to inflate his social standing (essentially a 19th century Russian version of the ever-popular "get rich quick" scheme). He hopes to collect the legal ownership rights to dead serfs as a way of inflating his apparent wealth and power. Once he acquires enough dead souls, he will retire to a large farm and take out an enormous loan against them, finally acquiring the great wealth he desires. Setting off for the surrounding estates, Chichikov at first assumes that the ignorant provincials will be more than eager to give their dead souls up in exchange for a token payment. The task of collecting the rights to dead people proves difficult, however, due to the persistent greed, suspicion, and general distrust of the landowners. He still manages to acquire some 400 souls, and returns to the town to have the transactions recorded legally. Back in the town, Chichikov continues to be treated like a prince amongst the petty officials, and a celebration is thrown in honour of his purchases. Very suddenly, however, rumours flare up that the serfs he bought are all dead, and that he was planning to elope with the Governor's daughter. In the confusion that ensues, the backwardness of the irrational, gossip-hungry townspeople is most delicately conveyed. Absurd suggestions come to light, such as the possibility that Chichikov is Napoleon in disguise or the notorious and retired 'Captain Kopeikin,' who had lost an arm and a leg during a war. The now disgraced traveller is immediately ostracized from the company he had been enjoying and has no choice but to flee the town in disgrace. In the novel's second section, Chichikov flees to another part of Russia and attempts to continue his venture. He tries to help the idle landowner Tentetnikov gain favor with General Betrishchev so that Tentetnikov may marry the general's daughter, Ulinka. To do this, Chichikov agrees to visit many of Betrishchev's relatives, beginning with Colonel Koshkaryov. From there Chichikov begins again to go from estate to estate, encountering eccentric and absurd characters all along the way. Eventually he purchases an estate from the destitute Khlobuyev but is arrested when he attempts to forge the will of Khlobuyev's rich aunt. He is pardoned thanks to the intervention of the kindly Mourazov but is forced to flee the village. The novel ends mid-sentence with the prince who arranged Chichikov's arrest giving a grand speech that rails against corruption in the Russian government. Adaptations Mikhail Bulgakov adapted the novel for the stage for a production at the Moscow Art Theatre. The seminal theatre practitioner Constantin Stanislavski directed the play, which opened on 28 November 1932.[2]

The extant sections of Dead Souls formed the basis for an opera in 1976 by Russian composer Rodion Shchedrin. In it Shchedrin captures the different townspeople with whom Chichikov deals in isolated musical episodes, each of which employs a different musical style to evoke the character's particular personality. The novel was adapted for screen in 1984 by Mikhail Shveytser as a television miniseries Dead Souls. In 2006 the novel was dramatised for radio in two parts by the BBC and broadcast on Radio 4. It was played more for comic than satirical effect, the main comedy deriving from the performance of Mark Heap as Chichikov and from the original placing of the narrator. Michael Palin narrates the story, but is revealed actually to be following Chichikov, riding in his coach for example, or sleeping in the same bed, constantly irritating Chichikov with his running exposition. English translations
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Dead Souls 1842: D.J. Hogarth (now in the public domain) 1936: Constance Garnett (published by The Modern Library, reissued in 2007 by Kessinger Publishing; Introduction by Clifford Odets). 1942: Bernard Guilbert Guerney (published by the New York Readers' Club, revised 1948). 1961: Andrew R MacAndrew (published by The New American Library; Foreword by Frank O'Connor). 1996: Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky (published by Pantheon Books). 1998: Christopher English (published by Oxford World's Classics, reissued in 2009). 2004: Robert A. Maguire (published by Penguin Classics).[3] 2008, 2012: Donald Rayfield (published by New York Review Books).

1.

References
^ Christopher English writes that "Susanne Fusso compellingly argues in her book Designing Dead Souls that Dead Souls is complete in Part One, that there was never meant to be a Part Two or Part Three, and that it is entirely consistent with Gogol's method to create the expectation of sequels, and even to break off his narrative in mid-story, or mid-sentence, and that he was only persuaded to embark on composition of the second part by the expectation of the Russian reading public" (1998, 435). ^ Benedetti (1999, 389). ^ http://www.penguinclassics.co.uk/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,9780140448078,00.html

2. 3.

Sources This article incorporates text from D.S. Mirsky's "A History of Russian Literature" (1926-27), a publication now in the public domain.
Benedetti, Jean. 1999. Stanislavski: His Life and Art. Revised edition. Original edition published in 1988. London: Methuen. ISBN 0-413-52520-1. English, Christopher, trans. and ed. 1998. Dead Souls: A Poem. By Nikolai Gogol. Oxford World's Classics ser. Oxford: Oxford UP. ISBN 0-19-281837-6. Fusso, Susanne. 1993. Designing Dead Souls: Anatomy of Disorder in Gogol. Anniversary edition. Stanford: Stanford UP. ISBN 978-0-8047-2049-6. Kolchin, Peter. 1990. Unfree Labor: American Slavery and Russian Serfdom. Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP. Dead Souls at Project Gutenberg D. J. Hogarth's English translation. (Russian) Full text of Dead Souls in the original Russian

External links

Chichikov in the house of M-me Korobochka.

Chichikov and Nozdryov.

Taras Bulba

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Taras Bulba (Russian and Ukrainian: , Tars Bl'ba) is a romanticized historical novella by Nikolai Gogol. It tells the story of an old Zaporozhian Cossack, Taras Bulba, and his two sons, Andriy and Ostap. Taras' sons studied at the Kiev Academy and return home. The three men set out on a journey to Zaporizhian Sich located in Southern Ukraine, where they join other Cossacks and go to war against Poland. The work is non-fictional in nature, in that the main character s based on several historical personalities, and other characters are not s exaggerated or grotesque as was common in Gogol's later fiction. This story can be understood in the context of the Romantic nationalism movement in literature, which developed around a historical ethnic culture which meets the Romantic ideal. Plot (1842 revised edition) Taras Bulba's two sons, Ostap and Andriy, return home from an Orthodox seminary in Kiev. Ostap is the more adventurous, whereas Andriy has deeply romantic feelings of an introvert. While in Kiev, he fell in love with a young Polish noble girl, the daughter of the Governor of Kovno, but after a couple of meetings (edging into her house and in church), he stopped seeing her when her family returned home. Taras Bulba gives his sons the opportunity to go to war. They reach the Cossack camp at the Zaporozhian Sich, where there is much merrymaking. Taras attempts to rouse the Cossacks to go into battle. He rallies them to replace the existing Hetman when the Hetman is reluctant to break the peace treaty. They soon have the opportunity to fight the Poles, who rule all Ukraine west of the Dnieper River. The Poles are accused of atrocities against Orthodox Christians, in which they are aided by Jews. After killing many of the Jewish merchants at the Sich, the Cossacks set off on a campaign against the Poles. They besiege Dubno Castle. Surrounded by the Cossacks and short of supplies, the inhabitants begin to starve. One night a Tatar woman comes to Andriy and rouses him. He finds her face familiar and then recalls she is the servant of the Polish girl he was in love with. She advises him that all are starving inside the walls. He accompanies her through a secret passage starting in the marsh that goes into the monastery inside the city walls. Andriy brings loaves of bread with him for the starving girl and her mother. He is horrified by what he sees and in a fury of love, forsakes his heritage for the Polish girl. Meanwhile, several companies of Polish soldiers march into Dubno to relieve the siege, and destroy a regiment of Cossacks. A number of battles ensue. Taras learns of his son's betrayal from Yankel the Jew, whom he saved earlier in the story. During one of the final battles, he sees Andriy riding in Polish garb from the castle and has his men draw him to the woods, where he takes him off his horse. Taras bitterly scolds his son, culminating in a memorable line "I gave you life, I will take it", and shoots him dead from point-blank. Taras and Ostap continue fighting the Poles. Ostap is captured while his father is knocked out. When Taras regains

consciousness he learns that his son was taken prisoner by the Poles. Yankel agrees to take him to Warsaw, where Ostap is held captive, hiding Taras in a cart of bricks. Once in Warsaw, a group of Jews help Yankel dress Taras as a German count. They go into the prison to see his Ostap, but a guard recognizes Taras as a Cossack. He lets them in and out only after being paid 100 gold pieces, and suggests they go to the Cossacks' execution the following day. During the execution, Ostap does not make a single sound, even while being broken on the wheel, and only near the end calls out to his father, asking if he "can hear this?" Taras calls out that he can. Yankel turns to him terrified, but he had vanished. Taras returns home to find all of his old Cossack friends dead and younger Cossacks in their place. He goes to war again. The new Hetman wishes to make peace with the Poles, which Taras is strongly against, warning that the Poles are treacherous and will not honor their words. Failing to convince the Hetman, Taras takes his regiment away to continue the assault independently. As Taras predicted, once the new Hetman agrees to a truce, the Poles betray him and kill a number of Cossacks. Taras and his men continue to fight and are finally caught in a ruined fortress, where they battle until the last man is defeated. Taras is nailed and tied to a tree and set aflame. Even in this state, he calls out to his men to continue the fight, claiming that a new Tsar is coming who will rule the earth. The story ends with Cossacks on the Dniester River recalling the great feats of Taras and his unwavering Cossack spirit. The origin The character of Taras Bulba is a composite of several historical personalities. It is mainly based on the legend of cossack Sava Chaly whose killing was ordered by his own father for betrayal of Ukrainian cause.[1] Differences between editions The original 1835 edition reflects the Ukrainian context of the story. In response to critics who called his The Government Inspector "anti-Russian", and under pressure from the Russian government that considered Taras Bulba too Ukrainian, Gogol decided to revise the book. The 1842 edition was expanded and rewritten to include Russian nationalist themes in keeping with the official tsarist ideology at the time, as well as the author's changing political and aesthetic views (later manifested in Dead Souls and Selected Passages from Correspondence with his Friends). The changes included three new chapters and a new ending (in the 1835 edition, the protagonist is not burned at the stake by the Poles). The little-known original edition was translated into Ukrainian and made available to the Ukrainian audience only in 2005.[2][3] Depiction of Jews and Poles Felix Dreizin and David Guaspari in their The Russian Soul and the Jew: Essays in Literary Ethnocentrism discuss anti-semitism, pointing out Gogol's attachment to "anti-Jewish prejudices prevalent in Russian and Ukrainian culture".[4] In Lon Poliakov's The History of Antisemitism, the author states that "The 'Yankel' from Taras Bulba indeed became the archetypal Jew in Russian literature. Gogol painted him as supremely exploitative, cowardly, and repulsive, albeit capable of gratitude. But it seems perfectly natural in the story that he and his cohorts be drowned in the Dnieper by the Cossack lords. Above all, Yankel is ridiculous, and the image of the plucked chicken that Gogol used has made the rounds of great Russian authors."[5] However, the famous brutality of the Cossack Khmelnytsky Uprising preceded Gogol's lifetime by about two hundred years and in Taras Bulba, as in Gogol's work generally, his treatment of the Jews is realistic and sometimes sympathetic, as in the closing lines of "The Tale of How Ivan Ivanovich Quarreled with Ivan Nikiforovich". In Yiddish, that character in "The Two Ivans" is referred to as a "balagoola: a well known character in Yiddish literature". There is a scene in Taras Bulba where Jews are thrown into a river, a scene where Taras Bulba visits the Jews and seeks their aid, and reference by the narrator of the story that Jews are treated inhumanely.[6] Following the 18301831 November Uprising against the Russian imperial rule in the heartland of Poland partitioned since 1795 the Polish people became the subject of an official campaign of discrimination by the Tsarist authorities. "Practically all of the Russian government, bureaucracy, and society were united in one outburst against the Poles. The phobia that gripped society gave a new powerful push to the Russian national solidarity movement" wrote historian Liudmila Gatagova.[7] It was in this particular context that many of Russia's literary works and popular media of the time became hostile toward

the Poles in accordance with the state policy,[7][8] especially after the emergence of the Panslavist ideology, accusing them of betraying the "Slavic family".[9] According to sociologist and historian Prof. Vilho Harle, Taras Bulba, published only four years after the rebellion, was a part of this antiPolish propaganda effort.[10] Inadvertently, Gogol's accomplishment became "an anti-Polish novel of high literary merit, to say nothing about lesser writers."[10] Adaptations in other media The story was the basis of an opera by Ukrainian composer, Mykola Lysenko. Czech composer Leo Janek's Taras Bulba, a symphonic rhapsody for orchestra, was written in the years 19151918, inspired in part by the mass slaughter of World War I. The composition was first performed on 9 October 1921 by Frantiek Neumann, and in Prague on 9 November 1924 by Vclav Talich and the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra. The story has been made into several films, with varying degrees of success. The first silent adaptation was in 1909, directed by Aleksandr Drankov. The second, a 1935 German production, was directed by a Russian director Alexis Granovsky, with superb decor by Andrei Andreyev. A third, in 1936, was produced in Britain under the title The Rebel Son, starring Harry Baur with a supporting cast of significant British actors. Another adaptation was made in the US in 1962, starring Yul Brynner and Tony Curtis and directed by J. Lee Thompson; this adaptation featured a significant musical score by Franz Waxman, which received an Academy Award nomination. Bernard Herrmann called it "the score of a lifetime". "The Ride to Dubno" has become a standard concert piece and has been recorded many times. "Sleighride" uses "Schedryk" ("Bountiful"), the melody of which was used in the "Carol of the Bells", as a counterpoint to Waxman's own melody. The finale, an upbeat march as the Cossacks ride into Dubno, is based on a Ukrainian folk song. A 2008 Russian movie directed by Vladimir Bortko, was commissioned by the Russian state TV and paid for totally by the Russian Ministry of Culture. It includes Ukrainian, Russian and Polish actors such as Bohdan Stupka (as Taras Bulba), Ada Rogovtseva (as Taras Bulba's wife), Igor Petrenko (as Andriy Bulba), Vladimir Vdovichenkov (as Ostap Bulba) and Magdalena Mielcarz (as a Polish noble girl) premiered in 2009. The movie was filmed at several locations in Ukraine such as Zaporizhia, Khotyn and Kamianets-Podilskyi during 2007. The screenplay used the 1842 "pro-Russian" edition of the novel. The 2010 Hindi movie Veer is an adaptation of Taras Bulba.
References and notes 1. ^ http://www.ukrlit.vn.ua/making1/aeebt.html 2. ^ The real Taras Bulba, Tetiana Polishchuk, The Day, October 4, 2005 3. ^ E. Bojanowska, Nikolai Gogol: Between Ukrainian and Russian Nationalism (2007) 4. ^ Antisemitism in Literature and in the Arts 5. ^ Leon Poliakov. The History of Antisemitism. p. 75. Pennsylvania Press.[1] 6. ^ Mirogorod: Four Tales by N. Gogol, page 89, trans. by David Magarshack. Minerva Press 1962 7. ^ a b Liudmila Gatagova, "THE CRYSTALLIZATION OF ETHNIC IDENTITY IN THE PROCESS OF MASS ETHNOPHOBIAS IN THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. (The Second Half of the 19th Century)." CRN Ebook 8. ^ (Polish) Wasilij Szczukin, "Polska i Polacy w literaturze rosyjskiej. Literatura przedmiotu." Uniwersytet Jagielloski, Krakow. See comments by Szczukin to section on literature in the Russian language: "Literatura w jzyku rosyjskim," pp. 14-22. 9. ^ Liudmila Gatagova, "The Crystallization of Ethnic Identity...", ACLS American Council of Learned Societies, Internet Archive 10. ^ a b Vilho Harle, The enemy with a thousand faces: the tradition of the other in western political thought and history. 1989, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2000, 218 pages, ISBN 0-275-96141-9 External links Russian Wikisource has original text related to this article: Taras Bulba at Project Gutenberg Taras Bulba 2008 theatrical trailer ( )

The Government Inspector

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Cover of the first edition - A stamp depicting "The Government Inspector", from the souvenir sheet of Russia devoted to the 200th birth anniversary of Nikolay V. Gogol, 2009

The Government Inspector, also known as The Inspector General (original title: Russian: , Revizor, literally: "Inspector"), is a satirical play by the Ukrainian-born Russian dramatist and novelist Nikolai Gogol.[1] Originally published in 1836, the play was revised for an 1842 edition. Based upon an anecdote allegedly recounted to Gogol by Pushkin,[2] the play is a comedy of errors, satirizing human greed, stupidity, and the extensive political corruption of Imperial Russia. According to D. S. Mirsky, the play "is not only supreme in character and dialogue it is one of the few Russian plays constructed with unerring art from beginning to end. The great originality of its plan consisted in the absence of all love interest and of sympathetic characters. The latter feature was deeply resented by Gogol's enemies, and as a satire the play gained immensely from it. There is not a wrong word or intonation from beginning to end, and the comic tension is of a quality that even Gogol did not always have at his beck and call."[3] The dream-like scenes of the play, often mirroring each other, whirl in the endless vertigo of self-deception around the main character, Khlestakov, who personifies irresponsibility, light-mindedness, absence of measure. "He is full of meaningless movement and meaningless fermentation incarnate, on a foundation of placidly ambitious inferiority" (D.S. Mirsky). The publication of the play led to a great outcry in the reactionary press. It took the personal intervention of Tsar Nicholas I to have the play staged, with Mikhail Shchepkin taking the role of the Mayor. Early in his career Gogol was best known for his short stories, which gained him the admiration of the Russian literary circle, including Alexander Pushkin. After establishing a reputation, Gogol began working on several plays. His first attempt to write a satirical play about imperial bureaucracy in 1832 was abandoned out of fear of censorship. In 1835, he sought inspiration for a new satirical play from Pushkin.[2]

Background

Do me a favour; send me some subject, comical or not, but an authentically Russian anecdote. My hand is itching to write a comedy... Give me a subject and I'll knock off a comedy in five acts I promise, funnier than hell. For God's sake, do it. My mind and stomach are both famished. Letter from Gogol to Pushkin, October 7, 1835 Pushkin had a storied background and was once mistaken for a government inspector in 1833. His notes alluded to an anecdote distinctly similar to what would become the basic story elements for The Government Inspector. Krispin arrives in the Province ... to a fair he is taken for [illegible] ... . The governor is an honest fool the governor's wife flirts with him Krispin woos the daughter. Pushkin, Full collected works, volume 8, book 1

Plot summary

The corrupt officials of a small Russian town, headed by the Mayor, react with terror to the news that an incognito inspector (the revizor) will soon be arriving in their town to investigate them. The flurry of activity to cover up their considerable misdeeds is interrupted by the report that a suspicious person has arrived two weeks previously from Saint Petersburg and is staying at the inn. That person, however, is not an inspector; it is Khlestakov, a foppish civil servant with a wild imagination. Having learned that Khlestakov has been charging his considerable hotel bill to the Crown, the Mayor and his crooked cronies are immediately certain that this upper class twit is the dreaded inspector. For quite some time, however, Khlestakov does not even realize that he has been mistaken for someone else. Meanwhile, he enjoys the officials' terrified deference and moves in as a guest in the Mayor's house. He also demands and receives massive "loans" from the Mayor and all of his associates. He also flirts outrageously with the Mayor's wife and daughter. Sick and tired of the Mayor's ludicrous demands for bribes, the village's Jewish and Old Believer merchants arrive, begging Khlestakov to have him dismissed from his post. Stunned at the Mayor's rapacious corruption, Khlestakov states that he deserves to be exiled in chains to Siberia. Then, however, he pockets still more "loans" from the merchants, promising to comply with their request. Terrified that he is now undone, the Mayor pleads with Khlestakov not to have him arrested, only to learn that the latter has become engaged to his daughter. At which point Khlestakov announces that he is returning to St. Petersburg, having been persuaded by his valet Osip, that it is too dangerous to continue the charade any longer. After Khlestakov and Osip depart on a coach driven by the village's fastest horses, the Mayor's friends all arrive to congratulate him. Certain that he now has the upper hand, he summons the merchants, boasting of his daughter's engagement and vowing to squeeze them for every kopeck they are worth. However, the Postmaster suddenly arrives carrying an intercepted letter which reveals Khlestakov's true identityand his mocking opinion of them all. The Mayor, after years of bamboozling Governors and shaking down criminals of every description, is enraged to have been thus humiliated. He screams at his cronies, stating that they, not himself, are to blame. While they continue arguing, a message arrives from the real Government Inspector, who is demanding to see the Mayor immediately.

Meyerhold's interpretation

In 1926, the expressionistic production of the comedy by Vsevolod Meyerhold "returned to this play its true surrealistic, dreamlike essence after a century of simplistically reducing it to mere photographic realism".[4] Erast Garin interpreted Khlestakov as "an infernal, mysterious personage capable of constantly changing his appearance".[5] Leonid Grossman recalls that Garin's Khlestakov was "a character from Hoffmann's tale, slender, clad in black with a stiff mannered gait, strange spectacles, a sinister old-fashioned tall hat, a rug and a cane, apparently tormented by some private vision". Meyerhold wrote about the play: "What is most amazing about The Government Inspector is that although it contains all the elements of... plays

written before it, although it was constructed according to various established dramatic premises, there can be no doubt at least for me that far from being the culmination of a tradition, it is the start of a new one. Although Gogol employs a number of familiar devices in the play, we suddenly realize that his treatment of them is new... The question arises of the nature of Gogol's comedy, which I would venture to describe as not so much 'comedy of the absurd' but rather as 'comedy of the absurd situation.'"[6] In the finale of Meyerhold's production, the actors were replaced with dolls, a device that Andrei Bely compared to the stroke "of the double Cretan ax that chops off heads," but a stroke entirely justified in this case since "the archaic, coarse grotesque is more subtle than subtle."[7] Fyodor Dostoyevsky played the postmaster Shpekin in a charity performance with proceeds going to the Society for Aid to Needy Writers and Scholars in April 1860.[8] The first film based on the play was actually made in German, by Gustaf Grndgens in 1932; the German title was Eine Stadt steht Kopf, or A City Stands on Its Head. In 1933, the Czech actor Vlasta Burian played the inspector in the film Revizor by Martin Fri. In 1949, a Hollywood musical comedy version was released, starring Danny Kaye. The film bears only passing resemblance to the original play. Kaye's version sets the story in Napoleon's empire, instead of Russia, and the main character presented to be the ersatz inspector general is not a haughty young government bureaucrat, but a down-and-out illiterate, run out of a gypsy's travelling medicine show for not being greedy and deceptive enough. This effectively destroys much of the foundation of Gogol's work by changing the relationship between the false inspector general and members of the town's upper class. This film was neither a critical nor box office success. The 1955 Indonesian film Tamu Agung (The Exalted Guest), directed by Usmar Ismail, is a loose adaptation of Gogol's play. The story is set in a small village in the island of Java, shortly after the nation's independence. While not strictly a musical like its Hollywood counterpart, there are several musical numbers in the film. In 1958 the British comedian Tony Hancock appeared as Khlestakov in a live BBC Television version (which survives), one of his few performances outside situation comedy. In Italy, in 1962 Luigi Zampa directed the film Anni ruggenti (Roaring Years), starring Nino Manfredi, a free adaptation of the play, in which the story is transposed to a small town in South Italy, during the years of Fascism. An episode of Fawlty Towers has similar story line about Mistaken identity when a guest shows up at the hotel and is thought by Basil Fawlty to be a hotel inspector but who in fact a spoon company manager. At the end of the episode Basil cream pies the spoon manger but unfortunately in front of the actual hotel inspectors. In Mxico, in 1974 Alfonso Arau directed and co-wrote an adaptation in film called Calzonzin Inspector, using the political cartoonist/writer Rius's characters. The play was filmed in the Soviet Union and Russia by Leonid Gaidai under the title Incognito from Petersburg (1977)[9] and as Revizor (1996) with Nikita Mikhalkov playing the Mayor. Neither adaptation was deemed a critical or box-office success. In the Netherlands, a movie version was released in 1982, De Boezemvriend (The Bosomfriend) starring Andr van Duin. This was a musical comedy, in which an initerant dentist in the French-occupied Netherlands is taken for a French tax inspector. The 1981 Taiwanese/Hong Kong move "If I Were For Real" is an adaptation of the Government Inspector set in the Cultural Revolution. In 1992, Tony-winning Broadway director Daniel Sullivan collaborated with the Seattle Repertory Company to write the Gogolinspired "Inspecting Carol", which the Western Washington Center for the Arts described as "A Christmas Carol meets Noises Off meets Waiting for Guffman. A man auditioning at a small theatre is mistaken for an informer for the National Endowment for the Arts. As the cast and crew cater to his every whim, they also turn the traditional tale of A Christmas Carol on its head." The PBS series Wishbone adapted the story for an episode. In 2005, playwright David Farr wrote and directed a "freely adapted" version for London's National Theatre called The UN Inspector, which transposed the action to a modern-day ex-Soviet republic. Farr's adaptation has been translated in French by Nathalie Rivere de Carles and performed in France in 2008.[10] In 2006, Greene Shoots Theatre[11] performed an ensemble-style adaptation at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Directed by Steph

Other adaptations

Gunary (ne Kirton), the acting used physical theatre, mime, and chorus work that underpinned the physical comedy. The application of Commedia dell'arte-style characterisation both heightened the grotesque and sharpened the satire. In 2007, the integrated group of the Nottingham Youth Theatre presented a comedy version, in which there were modern songs, and the setting was Snottinggrad, a fictional Russian town. The show was revived for one night in May 2008.[citation needed] In 2008, Jeffrey Hatcher adapted the play for a summer run at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis. A slightly revised version of that adaptation plays at Milwaukee Repertory Theater in September 2009. St. Charles Preparatory School in Columbus, Ohio also staged a slightly revised version of Hatcher's adaptation in February 2010. In its 2009/2010 season, the Carnegie Mellon School of Drama will present a new "modern" adaptation of The Government Inspector by Dr. Michael Chemers and directed by Jed Allen Harris.[citation needed] In 2010, Vivid Theatre Company performed a new adaptation of the play by Andrew Berriman and Colleen Campbell which toured the North East of England.[citation needed] In 2011, London's Young Vic Theatre presents a new version adapted by David Harrower, directed by Richard Jones, starring The Mighty Boosh's Julian Barratt and Smack the Pony's Doon Mackichan and Kyle Soller. In 2011 the Stockholm City Theatre performed the play in an adaption set in the Soviet 1930:s. In 2011 the Abbey Theatre, Dublin performed an adaptation by Roddy Doyle. In 2012 the Theatre @ Boston Court and Furious Theatre Company (Pasadena, California) performed an adaptation by Oded Gross. The Government Inspector has been translated into many other languages. Abdulla Qahhor translated the play in to Uzbek.

Operatic versions
Karel Weis(s) (18621944): Der Revisor, 1907; probably an operetta. Eugene (Jeno) Zdor (18941977): His The Inspector General was originally performed 1928; revised version first performed on 11 June 1971 by the Westcoast Opera Company at El Camino College in Los Angeles. Amilcare Zanella (it) (18731949): His Il Revisore premiered in Trieste on 20 February 1940. Werner Egk (19011983): His Der Revisor was first performed at the Schlosstheater Schwetzingen at the Schwetzingen Festival in 1957. Kreimir Fribec (19081996): His Dolazi revisor was completed in 1965. Giselher Klebe (19252009): Chlestakows Wiederkehr was first performed at the Landestheater Detmold in 2008. Also: Incidental Music by Mikhail Gnesin (18821957). The play has been translated into all European languages and remains popular, inasmuch as it deals with the hypocrisies of everyday life along with the corruption perpetrated by the rich and privileged. In the Netherlands, for instance, Andr van Duin made his own Dutch version of the play called De Boezemvriend (meaning "bosom friend", "best buddy"); the 1982-filmed movie is set in the Netherlands during the Napoleonic era with Van Duin playing tooth-extractor Pasdupain aka Fred van der Zee (which actually translates as "Breadless" rather than "Painless"). In Marathi, P. L. Deshpande adapted this play as Ammaldar (literally "the Government Inspector") in the late 1950s, skillfully cladding it with all indigenous politico-cultural robe of Maharashtra, while maintaining the comic satire of the original.

See also

The following plays utilize a dramaturgical structure similar to The Government

Inspector: Carl Zuckmayer's The Captain of Kpenick (1931) Friedrich Drrenmatt's The Visit (1956)

References
1. ^ "Nikolay Gogol". Encyclopdia Britannica. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/237143/NikolayVasilyevich-Gogol. Retrieved 31 December 2010. 2. ^ a b Ehre, Milton (1980). Notes for the Theater of Nikolay Gogol. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-22630066-8. 3. ^ D. S. Mirsky. A History of Russian Literature. Northwestern University Press, 1999. ISBN 0-8101-1679-0. Page 161. (Public Domain). 4. ^ Karlinsky, Simon. Anton Chekhov's Life and Thought. Northwestern University Press, 1997. ISBN 0-81011460-7. Page 370. 5. ^ Listengarten, Julia. Russian Tragifarce: Its Cultural and Political Roots. Susquehanna University Press, 2000. ISBN 1-57591-033-0. Page 37. 6. ^ Ibidem. Page 27. 7. ^ Fusso, Susanne. Essays on Gogol: Logos and the Russian Word. Northwestern University Press, 1994. ISBN 0-8101-1191-8. Page 55. 8. ^ Frank, Joseph. Dostoevsky: The Stir of Liberation. 9. ^ Johnson, Jeffry L (Unknown). "Sovscope 70". Sovoscope. http://www.in70mm.com/library/65mm/sovscope/sovscope.htm. Retrieved 15 May 2008.[dead link] 10. ^ "The UN inspector / L'inspecteur des Nations Unies - PUM 2012". W3.pum.univ-tlse2.fr. http://w3.pum.univ-tlse2.fr/~The-UN-inspector-L-inspecteur-des~.html. Retrieved 2012-11-21. 11. ^ "Greeneshoots Theatre Company". Greeneshootstheatre.co.uk. http://www.greeneshootstheatre.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-11-21.

External links
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: The Inspector General Wikisource has original text related to this article: The Inspector-General Wikimedia Commons has media related to: The Government Inspector by Gogol Text of the play in Russian David Farr, The UN Inspector / L'inspecteur des Nations Unies, trad. & ed. Nathalie Rivere de Carles, Presses Universitaires du Mirail, 2008 N ISBN : 978-2-85816-990-0 The Inspector-General at Project Gutenberg English translation by Thomas Seltzer Soviet 1952 cinema version, watchable online and downloadable with Esperanto subtitles Revizor (1952) at the Internet Movie Database Revizor (1996) at the Internet Movie Database

Marriage
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Marriage (Russian: , Zhenit'ba) is a play by the Russian writer Nikolai Gogol, which was first published in 1842. Plot summary In the opening scene, a civil servant named Ivan Kuzmich Podkolyosin sits alone in his room smoking a pipe and contemplating marriage. He has hired a matchmaker (Fyokla Ivanovna), as was the custom in Russia at the time, to help find him a bride. As the two converse, the audience discovers that Podkolyosin has been in search of a bride for quite some time. The reason for his not being yet married, however, owes to his own indecisiveness rather than the lack of a suitable partner. In fact, Fyokla has found him a nice young woman named Agafya Tikhonovna. When Podkolyosin's friend Kochkaryov unexpectedly pays a visit and finds Fyokla at Podkolyosin's home, he learns for the first time of his friend's search for a bride. The fact that Podkolyosin has not mentioned it to his friend provides further proof of his indecision. Kochkaryov becomes outraged at Fyokla because she also married him, and his wife and he are unhappy with the marriage. Kochkaryov, after cleverly getting Fyokla to reveal the location of Agafya's home, informs Fyokla that her services are no longer needed and that he will proceed with the matter on his own. In the next scene, Agafya and her aunt, Arina, discuss the issue of marriage and the matchmaker walks in on them. She informs the two women that several suitors will soon be making appearances at the home. Presumably, Fyokla has just made the rounds of the town in hopes of beating out Kochkaryov and Podkolyosin, as she will not receive any money if the marriage should occur without her help. Besides Kochkaryov and Podkolyosin, three suitors arrive. The first is Yaichnitsa (which can mean either 'fried eggs' or 'omelet'). Yaichnitsa is overly concerned with the dowry and appears skeptical as to whether Fyokla has told him the truth about it. The second suitor, Anuchkin, at first thinks that Yaichnitsa is Agafya's father. The third, Zhevakin, a retired navy lieutenant, has a detailed story about the time his squadron spent in Sicily, where, amazingly enough, no one speaks Russian. At this point, Podkolyosin and Kochkaryov arrive and everyone sits down to chat. Yaichnitsa almost immediately demands that Agafya make a decision, which makes her so uncomfortable that she leaves the room. All of the suitors wonder what happened. Once they are alone Kochkaryov tries to scare off the other suitors by calling Agafya ugly. Kochkaryov later pays Agafya a visit in her room and convinces her to choose Podkolyosin over the others (she herself was indecisive about who she liked best). The other suitors all come back and Agafya and Kochkaryov together tell them off until only Podkolyosin remains. After a great deal of pushing on the part of Kochkaryov, the two become engaged. Actually, Kochkaryov had to propose because Podkolyosin was still indecisive and wanted to wait another month before proposing. Kochkaryov insists that the wedding must take place immediately as he has already ordered all of the food and the guests are waiting at the church. The bride and groom begin to get dressed and Podkolyosin muses to himself about the splendor of marriage. However, he soon changes his mind again and jumps out the window. After only a short while, Agafya wonders where he has gone. Everyone searches for him, and eventually they discover that he has escaped through the window and called a cab to take him home. The play ends with Fyokla scolding Kochkaryov for his sub-par matchmaking skills. Editions and translations Marriage has been translated into many other languages. Abdulla Qahhor translated the play in to Uzbek. Nikolai Gogol: Three Plays Includes: The Government Inspector; Marriage; The Gamblers Translated by Stephen Mulrine Publication Date: August 1999 ISBN 0-413-73340-8 Pages: 240 Binding: Paperback Format/Size: 178x111mm Methuen Publishing Ltd 11-12 Buckingham Gate, London, SW1E 6LB References to Marriage in other works In the novel Twelve Chairs by Ilf and Petrov, a theatre group performs an avant-garde production of The Marriage. The character of Podkolyosin is mentioned in Dostoevsky's novel The Idiot. See also Zhenitba (opera) by Modest Mussorgsky

Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka (Russian: , Vechera na khutore bliz Dikan'ki) is a collection of short stories by Nikolai Gogol, written from 1831-1832. They appeared in various magazines and were published in book form when Gogol, who had spent his life in Ukraine up to the age of nineteen, was twenty two. He put his early impressions and memories of childhood into these pictures of peasant life. In a series of letters to his mother, he asked her to write down descriptions of village customs, dress, superstitions, and old stories. These were also used as primary sources. Stories Evenings On A Farm Near Dikanka is separated into two volumes of four stories each: [Chast' pervaya], Part One 1. [Sorochinskaya yarmarka], Sorochints Fair 2. [Vecher nakanune Ivana Kupala], St. John's Eve 3. , [Mayskaya noch', ili Utoplenitsa], May Night, or The Drowned Maiden 4. [Propavshaya gramota], The Lost Letter [Chast' vtoraya], Part Two 1. [Noch' pyered Rozhdestvom], Christmas Eve 2. [Strashnaya myest'], A Terrible Vengeance 3. [Ivan Fyodorovich Shpon'ka i yevo tyotushka], Ivan Fyodorovich Shponka and His Aunt 4. [Zakoldovannoye myesto], A Bewitched Place Significance This was Gogol's groundbreaking work, though not his first, and formed the core of his style, especially his sense of the macabre. It was this collection that proved he was a new power in Russian literature with unique innovation and a carefully arranged mingling of the horrifying and the humorous. Alexander Pushkin had a heavy influence on the writing of the collection, which features references to Ukraine, at that time referred to as Little Russia, where Gogol spent the early years of his life. The stories are heavily laced with Ukrainian folklore and cultural references, offering a unique perspective into life in the country during Gogol's time period. The structure found in this collection became characteristic of Gogol's writing later on, found in works such as Dead Souls. "Evenings" gained Gogol the fame that would lead him to a prominent placement in the Russian literary circle, as well as opening the doors for future works. Preface The preface is the opening to the first volume of Evenings on a Farm Near Dykanka by Nikolai Gogol, written in 1831. Each of the segments were based on Ukrainian folklore and feature comedic elements and a binding narrator, beekeeper Pan'ko-the-Redhaired, who is dictating the stories to the reader. A few other characters are mentioned in terms of the stories they provide, but regardless these segments are still told through the beekeeper Rudy. This short section introduces the beekeeper Rudy Panko, who begins to introduce his task of informing the reader of a set of

wondrous tales he has heard. He speaks very matter-of-factly and personally to the reader, as though they were sitting in front of him at his dinner table or outside in his village. He talks about the pleasant serenity of peasant life and mentions lavish parties. He continues about the storytelling at these nightly parties and then comments that no one can tell stories like Rudy Panko. His name means red in Ukrainian and is a nickname, again making it seem informal and personal since the narrator is using a personal name. He eventually gets caught up in talking about mundane events, and stops himself so he can get on with his storytelling. The main stories begin after this section. Adaptations Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka has been adapted into film several times:[1] Vechera na khutore bliz Dikanki (1961) Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka (2001) References 1. ^ "Movie connections for Vechera na khutore bliz Dikanki (1961)", IMDb. Retrieved 10 July 2010. External links Discussion and Criticism of the Dikanka tales Russian Wikisource has original text related to this article:

Mirgorod
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Mirgorod (1835) is a collection of short stories by Nikolai Gogol meant to be a sequel of sorts to his two volumes of Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka. The stories in this collection are of similar origin and based on Ukrainian folklore, though they seem to have a sense of nostalgia and some characters are believed to actually be portrayals of Gogol's grandparents and people he knew while living in Ukraine. This collection, unlike Dikanka, has no given narrator. Though grouped together, the stories could be separated with no way to tell they were meant to be bulked in the same collection. Regardless, Mirgorod was published in two volumes with two stories in each. Numbers one and three represent Gogol's Shponka tradition, after the name of the story, where his realistic stories become almost unreal because their reality is so intense. These stories carry a sense of the Gothic, with grotesque, horrifying scenes as well as idyllic situations, lacking the folkloric elements found in his earlier works and the influence from the Ukraine. The other two stories follow more along his earlier, more Romantic tradition.

The Fair at Sorochyntsi

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The Fair at Sorochyntsi is the first story in the collection Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka by Ukrainian-born Russian writer Nikolai Gogol. Later in the 19th-century the story was adapted as an opera of the same name by Modest Mussorgsky (left unfinished by the composer, and completed by other hands). This story opens with the novice narrator described in Panko's introduction providing an overly literary description of the beauty of Ukraine (then known as Little Russia) and sets the date in August 1800. The main characters of the story, Solopy Cherevik, his wife Khavronya Nikiforovna, and his daughter Paraska, are traveling to the fair to sell some items, including their old mare. A young man, called the "young man in the white jacket" at first - later we learn his name is Grytsko - finds Paraska beautiful and starts to flirt with her. When her father becomes agitated, the young man makes it known that he is the son of Cherevik's friend and wants to marry Paraska. Cherevik first accepts but later declines because of his constantly enraged spouse and the young man decides to figure out a way to get her, agreeing to give up his oxen for twenty rubles to a gypsy, if he helps him. While Khavronya is having a tryst with Afanasy Ivanovich, a priest's son, they hear a group of people coming to her house, so she quickly has the young man hide up in the rafters. The group comes in and Tsibulya, a friend of Cherevik, begins to tell the tale of the "red jacket," a jacket worn by a demon that was kicked out of hell. The jacket was put into the hands of a Jew, to be returned later, but the Jew sold the jacket and the demon got angry and tormented him by having a number of pig heads appear at his windows. The group gets frightened because the boy in the rafters grunts for a moment, but the storyteller continues. The jacket was eventually found to be cursed, and anyone who possessed it would not be able to sell anything, so it is pawned off to different peasants. Eventually, one determines he cannot sell his wares because of the jacket and chops it with an axe. It reforms, however, so he crosses himself and

does it again, and the demon eventually had to come to collect the pieces of his jacket, and is down to the last fragment at the time the story is taking place. At the end of the tale, a pig's head appears at the window and the group becomes so frightened that Cherevik, with a basket on his head, runs out of the house while someone is screaming "devil" behind him. His wife jumps on him and theyre found in this state to the amusement of everyone. In the morning, after recovering from the embarrassment, Cherevik takes their mare to be sold at market. When he gets there someone asks him what he's selling and he wonders why they're asking this. Pulling on the harness, which causes him to strike himself in the face, he finds the horse is gone and a bit of a red jacket is left in place. He is accused of stealing his own horse and is bound up in a shed with his friend Tsibulya. The young man in the white jacket finds him there and agrees to release him if he can marry his daughter, to which Cherevik agrees. The story concludes with their marriage and the completion of the scheme, the "demon" being none other than the gypsy.

St. John's Eve

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"St. John's Eve" (Russian: ; translit. Vecher nakanune Ivana Kupala) is the second tale in the collection Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka by Nikolai Gogol.[1] It was first published in 1830 in the literary Russian periodical Otechestvennye Zapiski in February and March issues, and in the book form in 1831. This story is retold by Rudy Panko from Foma Grigorievich, the sexton of the Dikanka church. Rudy was in the middle of reading the story to the reader, when Foma butts in and demands to tell it his way. His grandfather used to live in an old village not far from Dikanka that no longer exists. There lived a Cossack named Korzh, his daughter Pidorka and his worker Petro. Petro and Pidorka fall in love, but Korzh catches them one day kissing and is about to whip Petro for this, but stops when his son Ivas pleads for his father to not beat the worker. Korzh instead takes him outside and tells him to never come to his home again, putting the lovers into despair. Petro wants to do whatever he can to get her, and meets up with Basavriuk, a local stranger who frequents the village and many believe to be the devil himself. Basavriuk tells Petro to meet him in Bears Ravine and hell show him where treasure is in order to get back Pidorka. He has to find a fern that blooms on St John's Eve, a folk legend not based in fact. Basavriuk tells Petro to pluck the flower he finds, and a witch appears who hands him a spade. When he finds the treasure with the spade, he cannot open it until he sheds blood, which he agrees to do until he finds that they captured Ivas in order to acquire it. He refuses at first but in a fury of uncertainty lops off the childs head and gets the gold. He falls asleep for two days and when he awakens he sees the gold but cannot remember how he got it. After they are married, things go downhill and Petro becomes increasingly distant and insane, thinking all the time that he has forgotten something. Eventually, after a time, Pidorka is convinced to visit the witch at Bears Ravine for help, and brings her home. Petro then remembers, upon seeing her, what happened and tosses an axe at the witch, who disappears. Ivas appears at the door with blood all over him and Petro is carried away by the devil. All that remains is a pile of ashes where he once stood and the gold has turned into pieces of broken pottery. After this, Basavriuk begins to appear in the village again and Pidorka goes on a pilgrimage. Fomas grandfathers aunt still had problems with the devil however; a party is ruined when a roast lamb comes alive, a chalice bows to his grandfather and a bowl begins to dance. Even after sprinkling the entire area with holy water the tavern is still possessed, so the village becomes abandoned. Significance This short story was famously the main inspiration for the Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky's tone poem, "Night on Bald Mountain", made famous by its use in Disney's Fantasia. References ^ Susanne Fusso, Priscilla Meyer, Nikola Vasil (1992). Essays on Gogol: Logos and the Russian Word. Northwestern University Press. ISBN 0-8101-1191-8. Russian Wikisource has original text related to this article:

May Night, or the Drowned Maiden

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

May Night, or the Drowned Maiden ( , , Mayskaya noch', ili Utoplennitsa) (1831) is the third tale in the collection Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka by Nikolai Gogol.[1] It was made into the opera May Night by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov in 18781879 and also a Ukrainian setting by Mykola Lysenko. This story comes from the unnamed story-teller (who was previously responsible for "The Fair at Sorochyntsi"). In this tale, a young Cossack named Levko, the son of the mayor, is in love with Hanna. He comes to her house to talk about marriage and mentions that his father is not pleased with the idea, though he doesnt say anything directly and merely ignores him. As they are walking on the outskirts of the village, Hanna asks about an old hut with a moss covered roof and overgrown apple trees surrounding it. He tells her the story of a beautiful young girl whose father took care of her after her mother died and loved her dearly. Eventually, he married another woman who she discovered was a witch when she cut the paw of a cat that tried to kill her and her stepmother appeared soon after with her hand bandaged. The witch had power over her father, however, and eventually she is thrown out of the house and throws herself into the nearby pond in despair. She reigns over a group of maidens who also drowned in the pond, but once, when she got a hold of the witch as she was near the pond, she turned into a maiden and the ghost of the young girl has been unable to pick her out of the group ever since, asking any young man she comes upon to guess for her. As the story progresses Rudy mentions the mayor and a drunk walks into his house thinking it is his, tricked by local peasants. Then, his son, who is angry at his father for trying to steal Hanna away, and his friends decide to play tricks on the village and start to parade around causing havoc. They dress up the mayors sister-in-law, who is assumed to be having an affair with him, as a demon with soot all over her face, tricking the mayor. He mistakenly throws her into the cellar and then finds out its her, but she gets angry and goes outside, to be captured by the boys again and thrown into a hut. Meanwhile, the mayor and some of his closest friends decide to find the hooligans and instead find the sister-in-law again and almost burn her alive in the hut. Levko goes on his own and falls asleep near the old house and the pond. He becomes enchanted by the calm night and silvery mist surrounding everything, and then notices in the ponds reflection that the hut appears to be occupied, and a young girl with beautiful skin pops her head out of the window. When he turns to look at the hut, it looks as empty as ever, but when he comes up to the window the maiden comes out and asks him to guess which maiden the witch is in the group. As he looks at them, he notices one at first that doesnt seem interested in playing games, but determines her to be normal. One, however, seems to revel in playing the part of a hawk in their game, and he sees blackness in her form, realising she is the witch. The maiden is grateful and gives him a note to help him with his father. He wakes up and is soon captured by his father and his minions, but still has the letter, which he gives to the mayor. The letter seems to be from the local commissar, who requests the mayor clean up his village (asking several things to be done) as well as allowing his son to marry Hanna. The mayor agrees and they will be married in the near future. References ^ Dunlop; John Colin Dunlop, Henry Wilson (1906). History of prose fiction. Original from the University of Michigan: G. Bell & Sons. p. 652 (foot note).

The Lost Letter: A Tale Told by the Sexton of the N...Church

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http://article.wn.com/view/2011/08/01/Prize_money_belongs_to_Petrova/ The Lost Letter (1831) is the fourth Ukrainian tale in the collection Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka by Nikolai Gogol. The story is told by an exuberant narrator, the old sexton Foma, who will return with another story, A Bewitched Place, in the next volume. It was made into an animated film of the same name in 1945. The sexton humorously recounts the story about his grandfather's adventure in the Hell. Once, when his grandfather was given the task of delivering a letter to the Czarina (apparently Empress Elizabeth), he came upon a fair in Konotop where he met a Zaporozhian Cossack. They quickly become friends and drink each other's health. During their carousal, the Cossack reveals that he sold his soul to the devil and if he was any sort of true friend, hed promise to stay up and watch over him during the current night in order for him to remain safe. The grandfather and his friends agree, riding on to a tavern. When they sit down to rest, the other Cossacks fall asleep, leaving the grandfather to watch alone. He starts to see things moving under a cart, but ends up falling asleep anyway, awakening to the fact that the Cossack, and the hat he traded to him, are missing. He had sown the letter to the Czarina in the hat and is anxious to get it back. In addition, his horse is found missing as well, and he reasons that the devil, it being such a long walk back to hell, stole his horse to make it a quicker journey. The grandfather asks everyone for help, and eventually the tavern keeper gives him instructions on how to find what he seeks by taking a strange trip through the forest off the road. He follows the tavern keepers instructions, going through brambles and thorns, and comes across a huge field with the stream he was supposed to find in the middle of it, seeing a light moving. He moves towards it, and finds a small group of "pig-faced men" (devils) sitting around it. They do not respond, instead they focus on throwing something into the fire. The grandfather decides to sit down since they dont seem to respond to him, and asks them for a light for his pipe. One shoves a burning stick in his face, nearly poking his eye out, and he then tells them his story so they will help him. They dont respond, and merely stick out their empty palms, so the grandfather throws the money he brought with him to the ground. A huge turmoil ensues, and suddenly he finds himself amongst a large gathering of strange creatures with dogfaces, pig-faces and the like, including several witches, one of whom is the most beautiful and he reasons is the leader. She says he can have his hat back if he wins one of three games of "fool". As he plays, he finds the deck seems to be loaded, as every hand he pulls out, regardless of how good it is, becomes worthless when he throws it on the table. In a rage, and forgetting his fear, he slams his fist on the table, startling the group, and makes the sign of the cross under the cards so they can't see him, and they suddenly become playable again. The grandfather begins to throw out one trump card after the other, and the witches fly into a rage. Suddenly, the hat flies into his face, but he demands his horse back as well. The group of witches complies and a pile of bones appears, but he still demands to be taken away from them, so they give him a demonic horse that takes him home jumping over huge ravines and areas he will never describe to anyone. He gets to give the letter to the Czarina and the only thing that remains following his ordeal is the fact that once a year, on the date he met the group of demons, his wife has an uncontrollable urge to dance and does, with no way of stopping her. See also Propala Hramota, Soviet-era Ukrainian film based on Gogol's story.

Christmas Eve
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The story opens with a description of the winter scenery of Dikanka, Ukraine, a witch flying across the night sky and the devil stealing the moon and hiding it in his pocket, first playing with it in the sky, which no one in the village notices. Since it is the night before Christmas, the devil is free to roam around and torment people as he pleases, so he decides to find a way to get back at the village blacksmith, Vakula, because he paints hideous portraits of him in the church. In the village lives a Cossack named Choub, whose daughter Oksana, an exceptionally beautiful village girl loved by all the young boys, is the object of the blacksmith Vakulas affection. Choub goes out in the night with his friend Panas to the sextons home gathering, suddenly noticing that the moon is not in the sky. Meanwhile, Vakula is trying to win over Oksana, who mentions that his mother, Solokha, is a witch. Choub and his friend are suddenly engulfed in a snowstorm started by the devil and lose each other. While his friend finds his way to the tavern, Choub comes upon his home, but the blacksmith, who is visiting Oksana, answers him. Choub is confused about why the blacksmith would be in his own house, and concludes its not his house. The blacksmith then sends him away. When Vakula goes back to Oksana, she tells him she wont marry him unless he can get for her the slippers off the Tsaritsas feet. While their discussion is happening, Solokha is with the devil in her home, when someone knocks at the door. To hide the truth, she puts the devil in a coal sack, emptying out the contents. The mayor walks in and begins to speak with her but no sooner than he does there is another knock at the door. The mayor hides in another bag and the sexton comes into the home. While he is trying to play around with Solokha, there is another knock at the door and she hides him in another sack while Choub comes into the house. Another knock comes at the door and this time it is Vakula, and Choub goes into the sack that the sexton is already in, not knowing he is there, thinking it is something else. After his mother goes outside to speak with another visitor, the blacksmith takes the heavy bags to get them to the forge, wondering why he seems to have lost his strength temporarily, and concluding it had to do with Oksana not loving him. He comes upon Oksana, who again belittles him, and runs off saying goodbye to her, threatening to kill himself. He decides the only way to win her is to indeed capture the slippers, so he goes to Puzaty Patsyuk, a local Zaporozhian Cossack who was believed to be in league with the devil. He goes to him and asks him to tell him the way to find the devil while Patsyuk eats magical varenyky that fly down into a basin of cream and then into his mouth, Vakula brushes one aside as it rubs cream on his closed lips. After asking Patsyuk about the devil, he remarks that he cannot give directions to the blacksmith to what is already on his back. Vakula doesnt understand until he puts down the sacks and the devil hops onto his back. Vakula tricks the devil into thinking he will obey him, then grabs his tail and threatens to use the sign of the cross until it agrees to help. Fearing the cross, the devil takes him into the sky en route to St. Petersburg, leaving the sacks behind. A group of locals begin to take the bags and discover the men inside, while Vakula goes to find the Tsaritsa. He is amazed by the sights of the city, and has the devil (who shrinks into his pocket) transport him into the palace, where he meets up with a few Zaporozhian Cossacks who are meeting her (i.e., Catherine the Great). When she comes to greet them, the blacksmith appeals to her and glorifies her slippers, which she finds amusing and agrees to give to him. In the meantime Oksana gets upset because the villagers have been passing around the rumor that Vakula has killed himself. She knows that Vakula, a good Christian, would not do this, and that night she falls deeply in love with him. She is delighted to see him return and agrees to marry him even before he shows her the slippers. They get married and the story ends with a bishop passing by their beautifully painted house. In the church the blacksmith has made another painting, showing the devil in hell, which villagers spit on and the women bring their frightened children up to say Look what a kaka (poophead) (transliterated as: Yaka kaka!)! Adaptations Vakula the Smith (1874 opera by Pyotr Tchaikovsky) Christmas Eve (1895 opera by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov) The Night Before Christmas (1913 film) The Night Before Christmas (1951 film) The Night Before Christmas (1997 film)

External links The Night Before Christmas (1997 film)

A Terrible Vengeance
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A Terrible Vengeance (Russian: ) is a Gothic horror story by Nikolai Gogol. [1] It was published in the second volume of his first short story collection, Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka, in 1832, and it was probably written in late Summer 1831.[2] The short story is written in the "ornate and agitated style" characteristic to Gogol, sometimes skirting purple prose, and was a great influence on the rhythmic prose of the modernist novelist Andrei Bely. The appearance of evil spirits, and specifically of an Antichrist figure, in A Terrible Vengeance was typical of Gogol's belief in the omnipresence of Evil in everyday life, an aspect of his religious philosophy that is uniquely direct in this story.[3] The overall construction of the story is typical of what would come to be called skaz, wherein characters are identified to a large degree by linguistic specificities of their manner of speech. Another particularity of the piece is frequent narratorial intrusion, such as asides to the reader or other violations of the narratorial frame. The basic plot of the story evokes folklore, but there is no comparable piece in Ukrainian or Russian traditions. A similar story of a sorcerer appeared in "Pietro Apone" by German romantic Johann Ludwig Tieck, published in Russian in 1828. Other potential subtexts are Tieck's Karl von Berneck (1797) and E. T. A. Hoffman's novella Ignaz Denner (1816).[2][4] The story opens at the wedding of the Cossack esaul Gorobets's son, outside of Kiev. Among the guests are the recently married Cossack pan Danilo Burulbash and his wife pani Katerina. They are honored guests; Danilo is Gorobets's sworn brother. Not present, however, is Katerina's father, who was expected to appear after his 21 years spent on the far side of the Dnieper River, a land considered entirely alien. During the celebration, the esaul brings out two holy icons, on at the sight of which one of the Cossack revelers, who had been fantastically dancing, stopped and transformed into a sorcerer, with a sharp chin, a beak, green eyes, and bluish lips. In sight of the shocked crowd, he disappears. After this, Danilo, his wife, and a few fellow Cossacks are on a small boat on the Dnieper discussing the sorcerer. As they pass a graveyard, corpses come out of the ground, each more terrifying than the previous, each screaming "I am stifling". In the next scene, Katerina tells Danilo about a dream that the sorcerer wants to marry her, which Danilo takes as a serious sign. When Katerina's father appears at last, an argument ensues when Katerina's father asks her to account for their late return the previous night. Danilo, who senses that his father-in-law is somehow not a true Cossack, lying about drinking mead, not eating pork and otherwise acting more like the Poles and Turks than like one of their own. In the ensuing saber and gun fight, Katerina's father shoots Danilo in the arm before Katerina intervenes and begs them to forgive one another. The following night Danilo and his friend come across a castle nearby, and creep up to one of the windows that a strange light is issuing from. Through the window, he sees Katerinas father calling up spells and her soul appears in a blue haze. The sorcerer seems to be commanding her to marry him as she sleeps and Danilo is horrified at discovering that Katerina's father is a wizard. Back home, his wife recounts to him a strange incestous dream, which coincides with the events Danilo witnessed in the castle. She begins to realize who her father really is, calling him the Antichrist. The Cossacks capture the sorcerer and chain him in the cellar of Danilo and Katerina's house. He tries to convince Katerina to free him, out of pity for his soul's salvation, explaining that he is not bound by the chains, but the walls are enchanted, as they were built by a starets, an Orthodox monk. Convinced that he will repent and be saved, Katerina lets the sorcerer out and then curses herself for doing so. In the next scene, a group of Poles, organized by the wizard, come to take Danilos land but they are struck down by him and his fellow Cossacks one by one. However, at the end of the

battle he is shot by the sorcerer from behind a tree and dies, leaving only his child with Katerina, but the child is murdered by the sorcerer. Katerina grows mad due to her having set the sorcerer free and her husbands consequent death, and then one day a traveler comes to her house that seems to rouse her back to sanity. However, when he states that Danilo once said to him that he should marry her should he die, Katerina recognizes it is the sorcerer and tries to stab him, but he kills her instead when he gets hold of the knife, fleeing afterwards on horseback. After the famous impressionist description of the Dnieper (one of the most celebrated pages in Russian literature), a great miracle happens: both the Crimea and the Carpathians become visible from Kiev. In the Carpathians, the wizard sees a great knight (bogatyr) and grows mad from seeing him everywhere. He pleads to a starets at the Kiev Monastery of the Caves to help him, but he will not for the sorcerer is already damned. The latter kills the monk. Eventually, the giant knight catches up with the sorcerer and casts him into an abyss where corpses await to eternally gnaw on his body. The largest of the corpses is a man named Petro, he murdered his brother out of jealousy and was thrown into the abyss for punishment, given by his brother and agreed to by God. The knight appears to be the spirit of Petro's brother. Film A 20-minute animated adaptation of the story was made at Kievnauchfilm studio in 1988 (with the same title). The film keeps the original dark tone and was not aimed at children. It was directed by Mikhail Titov.[1] References 1. ^ Gogol, Nikolai (1998) [1832] The Collected Tales New York, London, Toronto: Alfred A. Knopf pp. 63 103 ISBN 978-0-307-26969-0 2. ^ a b Gogol', N. V. (2003). Polnoe sobranie sochinenie. 1. Iu. V. Mann, E. E. Dmitrieva (eds.). Moskva: Nauka. pp. 185217, 791831 (notes). ISBN 5-02-032679-8. 3. ^ Florovsky, Georges (1989). "The Quest for Religion in 19th Century Russian Literature: Three Masters: Gogol, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy". In Richard S. Haugh (ed.). Theology and Literature. The Collected Works of Georges Florovsky. 11 (Second ed.). Vaduz: Bchervertriebsanstalt. pp. 1332. ISBN 3-905238-15-2. 4. ^ Gippius, Vasili Vasil evich (1989). Gogol. Robert A. Maguire (trans.). pp. 224. ISBN 0-8223-0907-6, 9780822309079.

Ivan Fyodorovich Shponka and His Aunt

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Ivan Fyodorovich Shponka and His Aunt ( , Ivan Fyodorovich Shponka i yevo tyotushka; 1832) is part of the collection Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka by Nikolai Gogol. This story is actually unfinished, and Gogol makes it seem as though Rudy Panko's friend wrote the story down and gave it to him, but his wife, who cannot read, accidentally used some of the book to bake a pie and only a fragment remains. His friend meant to get the story again when he went through Gadyach, where the man lives, but he forgot and only remembered six miles (10 km) past the village. In the story, Ivan Shponka is a young man who is not very bright but attends to his affairs better than anyone. He was made as the monitor in his class when young though there were some much better than he, and won the affection of one of the most feared teachers at school. He finally finishes the second class (sixth grade approximately) at fifteen, and goes on to the military after two more years of school, retiring as a lieutenant. He gets a letter from his aunt that he needs to come home to become master of his farm and sets off for Gadyach. On the way, at an inn, he meets the fat landowner Grigory Grigoriviech, who says he lives near Ivans farm and asks him to come visit when he gets there. The man is pushy and frequently orders around his Cossack servant boy. When Ivan arrives there he finds his aunt in incredible health, almost so man-like that she is hardly a woman. He begins to take over some of the duties of the farm. Gogols descriptions of the scenery here are very rich and beautiful and the

mowing segment seems to have likely influenced Tolstoy while writing Anna Karenina (also including a mowing scene with Levin that is strikingly similar). Ivan learns from his aunt that 60 acres (240,000 m2) nearby are rightfully his, being held by Grigory. He goes to visit him but the man denies the existence of a will written by his father detailing the matter, so they have dinner and Ivan meets his daughters. When he tells his aunt of the one daughter, she begins to become obsessed about him getting married to her and his chores begin to decline somewhat. They visit there together but Ivan says little to her when alone other than mentioning the house flies during the time of year. When he goes home, that night, he has a terrible nightmare about marriage and Gogol gives the reader some truly modern scenes that display his ability to portray the grotesque. A shopkeeper, for example, is selling wives as fabric and cuts one off for Ivan to wear. The story ends here mentioning a next chapter that does not exist.

A Bewitched Place
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia A Bewitched Place is the last story in the second volume of Nikolai Gogol's first collection of short stories, Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka (1832). Like the concluding tale of the first volume, The Lost Letter: A Tale Told by the Sexton of the N...Church, it is told by an exuberant Cossack narrator, the old sexton Foma, who says that the tale is about his grandfather. Foma's grandfather takes care of melons and spends most of his time at a shanty nearby, taking pleasure in groups of wagons that come by with various things. One day, while discussing matters with some passing wagoneers, his grandfather decides to outdo Foma and his friend at dancing. He does quite well until he reaches a spot in the garden where he cannot seem to move and his legs stiffen up. He curses the devil, and tries his luck again. Suddenly he is transported to a different area that seems to be the local priests garden. He comes up to a gravestone that is shimmering, and marks it with a stick believing there to be treasure below somewhere. When he comes home he wont discuss what happened and ventures out the next day to find the spot. When he gets to the priest's garden, he cannot spot the gravestone above the buried treasure and he curses the devil again for tricking him. The next day, Foma's grandfather explores the place where he could not dance the day before and finds that this spot is capable of magically transporting him to the cemetery where the grave is marked. He digs and finds a cauldron, while being mocked by a bird, a sheep and a bear, that, in a horrifying manner, repeat what he says. After he finds the treasure, the devil tries to terrify him again by making it appear as though he was below a precipice ready to come down on him with a monstrous head peeping from behind it. He is not frightened though and takes the cauldron back home. His wife, thinking the boys are behind it as it comes towards her, throws dirty dishwater behind it, covering him with melon waste. He tells them what he found but when he opens the cauldron finds filth and from that day forward never trusts the devil again and crosses himself whenever he comes to a spot said to have something wrong with it. He fences off the area where he couldnt dance and has everyone throw all the garbage and weeds they collect on the spot.

The Old World Landowners

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The Old World Landowners ( , Starosvyetskiye pomeshchiki), a short story written in 1835, is the first tale in the Mirgorod collection by Nikolai Gogol. A bittersweet and ironic reworking of the Baucis and Philemon legend, it is a simple story that represents the mature Gogol and hints at his later works. Gogol opens by providing a romantic description of landowners in the countryside, giving particular attention to minute details. The two landowners, Afanasy Ivanovich and Pulkheria Ivanovna Tovstogub live peacefully together in a remote village. The descriptions of them fit into the Slavophile tradition, comparing them strikingly against urban Russians, particularly in Saint Petersburg, who are referred to as "paltry contemptible creatures." The two old landowners live in peace, with a mutual love that brings a sense of sympathy. The bulk of the opening focuses on their day-to-day lives, eating jelly, making jokes and so forth. Eventually, Gogol introduces Pulkherias grey cat, which Afanasy jokes about, wondering why anyone would waste time with such a creature. The cat is introduced with a sense of foreboding, with Gogol commenting that little things can affect the stability of the strongest realities ("a melancholy incident that transformed forever the life of that peaceful nook"). The cat gets away at one point, and Pulkheria finds it shortly thereafter in a feral state. Though it comes back to her and goes inside the house to be fed, the cat seems strangely different and eventually flees the house to never return. Pulkheria then sinks into thought, believing that death will soon come for her. She grows ill and weary and dies, leaving Afanasy alone. He progressively breaks down, disturbed by the smallest things for they remind him of Pulkheria. The entire area he had control over slowly becomes more degraded as his condition worsens, and he himself dies after he believes he hears her calling to him outside. A distant kinsman from an unknown location,

who was a lieutenant, takes over control of the estate, and soon everything falls into ruin. He puts the estate under the care of a board of trustees, bringing things like a fine English sickle to clear the area, and the huts on the property soon fall down, leaving some peasants drunken and hopeless and others to run away to find better lives. The new owner rarely visits the estate, and the story ends commenting on his visits to local markets to buy nothing over a ruble in price.

Viy
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia "Viy" (Russian: , Ukrainian: ) is a horror short story by the Ukrainian-born Russian writer Nikolai Gogol, first published in the first volume of his collection of tales entitled Mirgorod (1835). The title refers to the name of a demonic entity central to the plot. The story concerns three students from the Bratsky Monastery at Kiev. Every summer, after classes have ended, there is usually a large procession of all the students moving around the area as they travel home, getting progressively smaller as each student arrives at his home. Eventually, the group is reduced to three students, the theologian Khaliava, the philosopher Khoma Brut, and the rhetorician Tibery Gorobets. As the night draws in, the students hope to find a village near the main road where they can find some rest and food. However, they become lost in the wilderness, eventually coming upon two small houses and a farm. An old woman there tells them she has a little room and cannot accommodate any more travelers, but she eventually agrees to let them stay. The rhetorician is put in the hut, the theologian in an empty closet, and the philosopher in an empty sheeps pen. At night, the old woman comes to Khoma. At first, he thinks she is trying to seduce him, but then she draws closer and he sees that her eyes are glowing strangely. She leaps on his back, and he reluctantly finds himself galloping with her all over the countryside with a strength he previously never knew. He eventually slows her by chanting exorcisms out loud, and then rides on her back and later picks up a piece of wood and beats her as punishment. The old woman later collapses, and he discovers she has turned into a beautiful girl. Khoma runs away to Kiev and resumes his easy life, when a rumor reaches his dean that a rich cossacks daughter was found crawling home near death, her last wish being for Khoma the philosopher to come and read psalms over her corpse for three nights after her death. Although Khoma is uncertain why the girl requested him specifically, the bribed dean orders him to go to the cossacks house and comply with her last

wish. Several Cossacks bring him by force to the village where the girl lived. When he is shown the corpse, however, he finds it is the witch he overcame earlier in the story. Rumors among the Cossacks are that the daughter was in league with the devil, and they tell horror stories about her evil ways, such as previously riding on another person, drinking blood, and cutting off the braids of village girls. Therefore, Khoma is reluctant to say prayers over her body at night. On the first night, when the cossacks take her body to a ruined church, he is somewhat frightened but calms himself when he lights more candles in the church to eliminate most of the darkness. As he begins to say prayers, he imagines to himself that the corpse is getting up, but it never does. Suddenly, however, he looks up and finds that the witch is sitting up in her coffin. She begins to walk around, reaching out for someone, and begins to approach Khoma, but he draws a circle of protection around himself that she cannot cross. She gnashes her teeth at him as he begins to exorcise her, and then she goes into her coffin and flies about the church in it, trying to frighten him out of the circle. Dawn arrives, and Khoma has survived the first night. The next night similar events occur but more horrible than before, and the witch calls upon unseen, winged demons and monsters to fly about outside the church, but Khoma is invisible for them. When the cossacks find the philosopher in the morning, he is near death, pale and leaning against a wall. He tries to escape the next day but is captured and brought back to finish. On the third night, the witchs corpse is even more terrifying, and she calls the demons and monsters around her to bring Viy into the church, who can see everything. Khoma realizes that he cannot look at the creature when they draw his long eyelids up from the floor so he can see, but he does anyway and sees a horrible, iron face staring at him. Viy points in his direction, and the monsters leap upon him. Khoma dies from horror. However, the monsters miss the first crowing of the rooster and are unable to escape the church when day begins. The priest arrives the next day to find the monsters frozen in the windows as they tried to flee the church. The temple is forsaken forever, eventually overgrown by weeds and trees. The story ends with Khomas other two friends commenting on his death and how it was his lot in life to die in such a way, agreeing that he only came to his end because he flinched and showed fear of the demons. Folkloric sources Gogol states in his author's note that Viy, the King of the Gnomes, was an actual character from Ukrainian folklore. This was merely a literary device. In reality Gogol probably never heard of Viy at all. No discovery has been made of the folklore source of Viy, and as such it remains a part of Gogol's imagination. The demons summoned into the church come from the Slavic superstitions of "midnight dead". Evil people, it was believed, automatically became Devil's subjects upon death. Earth would not hold them so that every night they would crawl out of their graves and torment the living. In the story, the demons have "black earth" clung to them, as if they crawled out of the ground. The water sprite (Rusalka) seen by Khoma during his night ride bears relation to the "midnight dead". It was widely believed, in Russian and Ukraine, that rusalki were spirits of unbaptized children or drowned maidens, who were in league with the Devil. They were known to drown their victims or tickle them to death. They were described as beautiful, and deadly, and bear relation to the young version of the witch, and Gogol's frequent portrayal of women as beautiful yet evil. Incantations, exorcism, and the magic circle come from Ukrainian beliefs of protection from evil forces. The circle relates to "chur", a magical boundary that evil cannot cross. Even though Khoma died from fear, the creatures could not touch him. Additionally, the final notion that Khoma died only because he let fear win over him appears to stem from John of Damascus, who said "... all evil and impure passions have been conceived by [evil spirits] and they have been permitted to visit attacks upon man. But they are unable to force anyone, for it is in our power either to accept the visitation or not." Film adaptations and influence in popular culture In 1967, the short story was adapted by Georgi Kropachyov and Konstantin Yershov into the film Viy. An updated version with advanced special effects was originally scheduled to be released in 2009 to coincide with the 200th anniversary of Gogol's birth. While the first part has been completed, the producers decided to postpone the premiere , "The Witch")[2] was until the completion of the second part.[1] The 2006 film The Power of Fear (Russian title [3] a sequel meant to continue the story, with elements of horror similar to The Ring. Several other works draw on the short story: Mario Bava's film Black Sunday is loosely based on "Viy". The 1990 Yugoslav film Sveto mesto (A Holy Place) is also based on Nikolai Gogol's short story. In the 1978 film Piranha, a camp counselor retells Viy's climactic identification of Khoma as a ghost story. One of the boss enemies in La-Mulana is a demon named Viy, who is extremely massive and requires the help of small flying demons in order to open his eye. References Gogol, Nikolai. Pevear, R. and Volokhonsky, L. (Trans). The Collected Tales of Nikolai Gogol. 1998, Vintage Classics. Complete text in Russian: [2] Christopher, Putney. "Russian Devils and Diabolical Conditionality in Nikolai Gogol's Evenings on a farm near Dikanka." New York: Peter Lang Publishing, Inc. 1999. Print. Leonard, Kent. "The Collected Tales and Plays of Nikolai Gogol." Toronto: Random House of Canada Limited. 1969. Print. Footnotes 1. ^ "Viy" and "Avatar": common features? Russian Film Group (RFG)

2. 3.

^ The working title was ^ The Power of Fear on IMDB [1]

, "Viy in the Power of Fear"

The Tale of How Ivan Ivanovich Quarreled with Ivan Nikiforovich

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"The Tale of How Ivan Ivanovich Quarreled with Ivan Nikiforovich" (Russian: , , translit. Povest' o tom, kak possorilsja Ivan Ivanovi s Ivanom Nikiforoviem, 1835), also known in English as The Squabble, is the final tale in the Mirgorod collection by Nikolai Gogol and is known as one of his most humorous stories. This story takes place in a bucolic small town of Mirgorod (Myrhorod in Ukrainian), written in the style featuring grotesque, realistic portrayals of the characters. The two Ivans are gentlemen landowners, neighbors and great friends, each one almost being the opposite image of the other. Ivan Ivanovich is tall, thin, and well-spoken, for example, while Ivan Nikiforovich is short, fat, and cuts to the point with a biting honesty. One day, Ivan Ivanovich notices his friend's servant hanging some clothes out to dry as well as some military implements, especially a Turkish rifle that interests him. He goes over to Nikiforovichs house and offers to trade it for a brown pig and two sacks of oats, but his friend is unwilling to part with it and calls Ivan Ivanovich a goose, which terribly offends him. After this, they begin to hate each other. Nikiforovich erects a goose pen with two posts resting on Ivanovichs property, as if to rub in the insult. To retaliate, Ivan Ivanovich saws the legs off in the night and then fears that his former friend is going to burn his house down. Eventually, Ivan Ivanovich goes to the courts with a petition to have Ivan Nikiforovich arrested for his slander. The judge cannot believe what is occurring and tries to convince him to make amends, but he disregards their suggestions and leaves the courthouse. Shortly after this, Ivan Nikiforovich comes into the court with his own petition, to the amazement of those gathered there. Strangely enough, shortly after Ivan Nikiforovich leaves, the petition is stolen by a brown pig belonging to Ivan Ivanovich. The police chiefs attempt to have the pig arrested and to convince Ivanovich to reconcile with his friend is unsuccessful. Because of the pig a new petition is filed, which is quickly duplicated and filed within a day, but sits in the archives for a few years. Eventually, the chief of police has a party that Ivan Ivanovich is attending, but his old friend does not, because neither will go anywhere where the other is present. The party guest Anton Prokofievich goes to Ivan Nikiforovichs house to convince him to come, unknown to the other Ivan. When he convinces him, he sits down to dinner and both Ivans notice each other sitting across the table and the party grows silent. However, they continue eating with nothing occurring. At the end of dinner both try to leave without the other noticing, and some of the party members push them towards each other so they make up. They begin to, but Nikiforovich mentions the word "goose" again, and Ivanovich storms out of the house. The narrator returns to Mirgorod many years later and sees the two Ivans again, completely worn out. Each is convinced that their case will be concluded in his favour the following day, and the narrator shakes his head in pity and leaves, stating: "It is a depressing world, gentlemen!"

The Portrait
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The Portrait (Russian: ) is a short story by Nikolai Gogol, originally published in the short story collection Arabesques in 1835. It is the story of a young artist, Andrey Petrovich Chartkov, who stumbles upon a terrifyingly lifelike portrait in an art shop and is one of Gogols most demonic of tales, hinting at some of his earlier works such as "St. John's Eve". The Academic American Encyclopedia cited the work as an example of the "conflict between Gogol's idealistic strivings and his sad, cynical view of human propensities".[1] First published in Arabesques, the story was received unfavourably by critics, and Gogol returned to the story, reworking it for the 1842 publication. Simon Karlinsky believes that the second version of the story, with its differing epilogue, works better within the context of the story, but writes that the work, while "a serious treatment of an important social problem", is "too slender a theme" to support the central thrust of the work, an attempt to portray "the great mystical concept of the Antichrist".[2] Operatic adaptation The story was the basis of an opera by Mieczysaw Weinberg, The Portrait, composed in 1980. References ^ Academic American Encyclopedia. Grolier Incorporated. 1994. p. 225. ISBN 0-7172-2053-2. 1. ^ Simon Karlinsky (1992). The Sexual Labyrinth of Nikolai Gogol. University of Chicago Press. pp. 113114. ISBN 0-226-42527-4. External links English Translation

Nevsky Prospekt
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Madara Botmane is one of the main characters Influenced strongly by the Sentimental movement, the protagonist of "Nevsky Prospekt" is a pathetic and insignificant romantic, the narrator is chatty and unreliable, (along the lines of Tristram Shandy, the definitive Sentimental novel) and realism dominates. The story is organized symmetrically; the narrator describes Nevsky Prospekt in great detail, then the plot splits to follow in turn two acquaintances, each of whom follows a beautiful woman whom he has seen on the street. The first story follows the romantic hero, the second follows his realistic foil. The story closes with the narrator once more speaking generally of Nevsky Prospekt. The introduction describes Nevsky Prospekt, the central avenue of St. Petersburg, and its population at different times of the day. The narrator revels in the delights of the street, but he is filled with Poshlost, a Russian concept akin to kitsch, defined by Russian-English historian [D.S. Mirsky] as "self-satisfied inferiority." This is exemplified in the repeated admiring descriptions of mustaches, "to which the better part of a life has been devoted." The description of the street ends abruptly, and the story shifts to the conversation of two acquaintances who have decided to split up to each pursue a different woman seen on the street. The first story told is of a young, romantic painter, Piskaryov, who follows a darkhaired woman to what turns out to be a brothel. However, his interest in the woman is completely innocent and chaste, so he is shocked by her true nature and flaws. Back in his room he dreams of her as a woman of wealth and virtue. Living only for his dreams, he develops insomnia and turns to opium to restore his ability to sleep and to dream. After dreaming of the woman as his wife, he decides to marry her, but when he returns to the brothel to propose the woman mocks him. He returns to his lodging and cuts his throat. His funeral is unattended. The second story is of an officer, Lieutenant Pirogov. Crude and realistic, he is the romantic Piskaryov's foil. Pirogov follows a blonde woman to her home, but she turns out to be the wife of a German tinsmith. Returning when the husband is out, Pirogov attempts to seduce the woman, but he is caught with the woman in his arms and is beaten. Pirogov is at first furious and determined to seek revenge, but he is mollified by eating puff pastries, reading a reactionary newspaper and spending an evening dancing. The story concludes with the narrator's warning that "Nevsky Prospect deceives at all hours of the day, but the worst time of all is at night... when the devil himself is abroad, kindling the street-lamps with one purpose only: to show everything in a false light." References Gogol, Nikolai. The Complete Tales of Nikolai Gogol. Trans: Constance Garnett. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1985. External links Online text (Russian) from public-library.ru

Diary of a Madman
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Diary of a Madman (1835; Russian: , Zapiski sumasshedshevo) is a farcical short story by Nikolai Gogol. Along with The Overcoat and The Nose, Diary of a Madman is considered to be one of Gogol's greatest short stories. The tale centers on the life of a minor civil servant during the repressive era of Nicholas I. Following the format of a diary, the story shows the descent of the protagonist, Poprishchin, into insanity. Diary of a Madman, the only one of Gogol's works written in first person, follows diary-entry format.

Poprischin. Painting by Ilya Repin (1882) Diary of a Madman centers on the life of Poprishchin, a low-ranking civil servant and titular counsellor who yearns to be noticed by a beautiful woman, the daughter of a senior official, with whom he has fallen in love. His diary records his gradual slide into insanity. As his madness deepens, he begins to suspect two dogs of having a love affair and believes he has discovered letters sent between them. Finally, he begins to believe himself to be the heir to the throne of Spain. When he is hauled off and maltreated in the asylum, the madman believes he is taking part in a strange coronation to the Spanish throne. Only in his madness does the lowly anti-hero attain greatness. As he said in his first sight of her, just after being a beast of a civil servant himself, A footman opened the carriage door and out she fluttered, just like a little bird. The story satirizes the rampant petty officialdom of the bureaucracy in the 1830s in St Petersburg, and some have interpreted it as going beyond this to become an allegory about the political state of Russia at the time, revealing Gogol's view of the government from the standpoint of a lowly citizen. The story also portrays the average man's quest for individuality in a seemingly indifferent, urban city. Adaptations The short story has been adapted for the stage by David Holman, Geoffrey Rush and Neil Armfield for the Belvoir St Theatre in Sydney, Australia, and this production has also been presented at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in the United States.[1] References ^ Brooklyn Academy of Music

The Nose
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"The Nose" (Russian: ) is a satirical short story by Nikolai Gogol. Written between 1835 and 1836, it tells of a St. Petersburg official whose nose leaves his face and develops a life of its own. Plot The story is in three parts: Part one On the 25th of March, a barber, Ivan Yakovlevich, finds a nose in his bread during breakfast. With horror he recognizes this nose as that of one of his regular customers, Collegiate Assessor Kovalyov (known as 'Major Kovalyov'). He tries to get rid of it by throwing it in the Neva River, but he is caught by a police officer. Part Two At the onset of The Nose, Major Kovalyov awakens to discover that his nose is missing, leaving a smooth, flat patch of skin in its place. His nose is already pretending to be a human. He finds and confronts it in the Kazan Cathedral, but from its clothing it is apparent that the nose has acquired a higher rank in the civil service than he and refuses to return to his face. Kovalyov visits the newspaper office to place an ad about the loss of his nose, but is refused. Kovalyov returns to his flat, where the police officer who caught Ivan finds him and returns the nose (which he caught at a coach station, trying to flee the city). Kovalyov's joy is cut short when he finds that he is unable to re-attach the nose, even with the help of the doctor. The next day, Kovalyov writes a letter to Madam Podtochina Grigorievna, a woman who wants him to marry her daughter, and accuses her of stealing his nose; he believes that she has placed a curse on him for his fickleness toward her daughter. He writes to ask her to undo the spell, but she misinterprets the letter as a proposal to her daughter. Her reply convinces him that she is innocent. In the city, rumours of the nose's activities have spread, and crowds gather in search of it. Part three On the 7th of April, Kovalyov wakes up with his nose reattached. He is carefully shaved by the barber and happily promenades about the city to show off his nose. Analysis Richard Peace, in his introduction to the Oxford University Press edition, notes that the story's title in Russian ( , "Nos") is the reverse of the Russian word for "dream" ( , "Son"). As the unreliable narrator himself notes, the story "contains much that is highly implausible", while an earlier version of the story ended with Kovalyov waking and realizing that the story was indeed a dream. Without the awakening, however, the story becomes a precursor of magical realism, as an unreal element is woven into a realistic narration. Peace also notes that some critics have interpreted the story as referring to a castration complex: the removal of Kovalyov's nose (and its developing a mind of its own) threaten both his chances of acquiring a position of power and of being a success with women. In Russia, a version has appeared which substituted "..." for the word "nos" ( ) so that the reader would be inclined to interpret it as "khui" ( ), the Russian taboo word for penis. It can be said that Kovaliov equates the loss of his nose with castration, emasculation, and impotence to a certain degree.[1] At the end the story drifts away and it appears Gogol is talking directly to the reader. It is never explained why the Nose fell off in the first place, why it could talk, nor why it found

itself reattached. By doing this, Gogol was playing on the assumptions of readers, who may happily seek absurd stories, but at the same time still having the desire for a normal explanation.[citation needed] Critical assessment In A History of Russian Literature, the critic D.S. Mirsky writes: "The Nose is a piece of sheer play, almost sheer nonsense. In it more than anywhere else Gogol displays his extraordinary magic power of making great comic art out of nothing."[2] Adaptations Dmitri Shostakovich's opera The Nose, first performed in 1930, is based on this story. A short film based on the story was made by Alexandre Alexeieff and Claire Parker in 1963 and used pinscreen animation. A play for radio based on the story was written by UK author Avanti Kumar and first produced and broadcast in Ireland by RT in 1995. An album in Romanian, Nasul, based on the story was released by Ada Milea and Bogdan Burlcianu in 2007. A play based on the short story was written by Tom Swift and produced by The Performance Corporation in 2008. The Fat Git Theatre Company performed their adaptation of the short story in 2011. WMSE (91.7 FM in Milwaukee, WI) broadcast an adaptation by Wisconsin Hybrid Theater (Radio WHT)in 2011. The Moscow Museum of Erotic Art is putting on an adaptation based on Vladimir Putin losing his genitalia to coincide with the 2012 presidential election. [3] References 1. ^ Lauren Lydic (2010). Noseological Parody, Gender Discourse, and Yugoslav Feminisms: Following Gogol's Nose to Ugreis Hot Dog on a Warm Bun. Comparative Literature, 62(2). University of Oregon. doi:10.1215/00104124-2010-004 2. ^ Mirsky, D. S. (1858). Francis J. Whitfield. ed. A History of Russian Literature. Alfred A. Knopff. pp. 152. 3. ^ http://web.thedailyherald.com/people/18-entertainment/25833-russian-poll-satire-takes-putins-manhoodaway-.html Peace, Richard. Introduction to Plays and Petersburg Tales by Gogol. Oxford University Press 1995. ISBN 019-283552-1. External links Wikisource has original text related to this article: The Nose The Nose, English translation, from Project Gutenberg Bibliomania: Free Online Literature and Study Guides: The Nose . (Cyrillic text)

The Carriage
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The Carriage (1836) (or "The Coach" in some translations) is a short story by Nikolai Gogol, one of his shortest works. After reading it, Anton Chekhov wrote to Alexei Suvorin, "What an artist he is! His 'Carriage' alone is worth two hundred thousand rubles. Sheer delight, nothing less."[1] The story opens in the town of B., where things used to be drab, depressing and boring until a cavalry regiment moved into the area. Once this occurs the area becomes lively and full of color, with local landowners coming into town frequently to meet up with officers and have various gatherings and parties. One of the landowners, Pythagoras Chertokutsky, is at a party at the general's house. He mentions he has a splendid coach that he paid around four-thousand rubles for, and the men wish to see it someday, so he invites them to dinner on the following day. During the party, he gets caught up in playing cards and forgets the time, getting home around four in the morning. Because of this, he forgets to tell his wife about the party and is roused from sleep when his wife sees some carriages approaching their house. He at once remembers the party, but has his servants tell everyone that he is gone for the day, hiding in the coach. The general and his friends are upset at his absence, but decide to see the coach anyway and go to the carriage house to see it. They arent impressed with the coach and look at it thoroughly, wondering if maybe there is something special hidden inside. They open the apron inside the coach and find Chertokutsky hiding therein. The general simply exclaims "Ah, you are here," slams the door and covers him up again with the apron. References ^ Simon Karlinsky (1992). The Sexual Labyrinth of Nikolai Gogol. University of Chicago Press. pp. 132. ISBN 0-226-42527-4

The Overcoat
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Cover by Igor Grabar, 1890s - A stamp depicting "The Overcoat", from the souvenir sheet of Russia devoted to the 200th birth anniversary of Nikolay V. Gogol, 2009 "The Overcoat" (Russian: , translit. Shinel; sometimes translated as "The Cloak") is a short story by Ukrainian-born Russian author Nikolai Gogol, published in 1842. The story and its author have had great influence on Russian literature, as expressed in a quote attributed to Fyodor Dostoevsky: "We all come out from Gogol's 'Overcoat'." The story has been adapted into a variety of stage and film interpretations. Summary The story centers on the life and death of Akaky Akakievich Bashmachkin ( ), an impoverished government clerk and copyist in the Russian capital of St. Petersburg. Akaky is dedicated to his job as a titular councillor, taking special relish in the hand-copying of documents, though little recognized in his department for his hard work. Instead, the younger clerks tease him and attempt to distract him whenever they can. His threadbare overcoat is often the butt of their jokes. Akaky decides it is necessary to have the coat repaired, so he takes it to his tailor, Petrovich, who declares the coat irreparable, telling Akaky he must buy a new overcoat. The cost of a new overcoat is beyond Akaky's meagre salary, so he forces himself to live within a strict budget to save sufficient money to buy the new overcoat. Meanwhile, he and Petrovich frequently meet to discuss the style of the new coat. During that time, Akaky's zeal for copying is replaced with excitement about his new overcoat, to the point that he thinks of little else. Finally, with the addition of an unexpectedly large holiday salary bonus, Akaky has saved enough money to buy a new overcoat. Akaky and Petrovich go to the shops in St. Petersburg and pick the finest materials they can afford (marten fur is unaffordable, but they buy the best cat fur available for the collar). The new coat is of impressively good quality and appearance and is the talk of Akaky's office on the day he arrives wearing it. His clerk superior decides to host a party honoring the new overcoat, at which the habitually solitary Akaky is out of place; after the event, Akaky goes home from the party, far later than he normally would. En route home, two ruffians confront him, take his coat, kick him down, and leave him in the snow. Akaky finds no help from the authorities in recovering his lost overcoat. Finally, on the advice of another clerk in his department, he asks for help from a "Very Important Person" (sometimes translated the prominent person, the person of consequence), a high-ranking general. The narrator notes that the general habitually belittles subordinates in attempting to appear more important than he truly is. After keeping Akaky waiting an unnecessarily long time, the general demands of him exactly why he has brought so trivial a matter to him, personally, and not presented it to his secretary (the procedure for separating the VIP from the lesser clerks). Socially inept, Akaky makes an unflattering remark concerning departmental secretaries, provoking so powerful a scolding from the general that he nearly faints and must be led from the general's office. Soon afterward, Akaky falls deathly ill with fever. In his last hours, he is delirious, imagining himself again sitting before the VIP, who is again scolding him. At first, Akaky pleads forgiveness, but as his death nears, he curses the general. Soon, Akaky's ghost (Gogol uses "corpse" to describe the ghost of Akaky) is reportedly haunting areas of St. Petersburg, taking overcoats from people; the police are finding it difficult to capture him. Finally, Akaky's ghost catches up with the VIP who, since Akaky's death, had begun to feel guilt over having mistreated him and takes his overcoat, frightening him terribly; satisfied, Akaky is not seen again. The narrator ends his narration with the account of another ghost seen in

another part of the city, but that one was taller and had a moustache, bearing a resemblance to the criminals who had robbed Akaky earlier. Interpretations Gogol makes much of Akaky's name in the opening passages, saying, "Perhaps it may strike the reader as a rather strange and farfetched name, but I can assure him that it was not farfetched at all, that the circumstances were such that it was quite out of the question to give him any other name..." In one way, the name Akaky Akakievich is similar to "John Johnson" and has similar comedic value; it also communicates Akaky's role as an everyman. Moreover, the name sounds strikingly similar to the word "obkakat'" in Russian, a word which means "to smear with excrement,"[1] or kaka, which means "poop", thereby rendering his name "Poop Poopson". In addition to the scatological pun, the literal meaning of the name, derived from the Greek, is "harmless" or "lacking evil", showcasing the humiliation it must have taken to drive his ghost to violence. His surname Bashmachkin, meanwhile, comes from the word 'bashmak' which is a type of shoe. It is used in an expression " " which means to be "under someone's thumb" or to "be henpecked". Akaky progresses from an introverted, hopeless but functioning nonentity with no expectations of social or material success to one whose self-esteem and thereby expectations are raised by the overcoat. Co-workers start noticing him and complimenting him on his coat and he ventures out into the social world. His hopes are quickly dashed by the theft of the coat. He attempts to enlist the police in recovery of the coat and employs some inept rank jumping by going to a very important and high ranking individual but his lack of status (perhaps lack of the coat) is obvious and he is treated with disdain. He is plunged into illness (fever) and cannot function. He dies quickly and without putting up much of a fight. The Overcoat is a philosophical tale in the tradition of a stoic philosopher or Schopenhauer. Akaky's low position in the bureaucratic hierarchy is evident, and the extent to which he looks up the hierarchical ladder is well documented;[2] sometimes forgotten, according to Harold McFarlin, is that he is not the lowest-ranked in the hierarchy and thus in society. He has mastered the bureaucratic language ("bureaucratese") and has internalized it to the extent that he describes and treats the non-civil servants ("only two 'civilians,' the landlady and tailor, play more than incidental roles") as if they are part of the same worldthe tailor is described as sitting "like a Turkish Pasha", that is, a government official, and Akaky "treats the self-effacing old landlady just like his bosses treat him at the office ('somehow coldly and despotically')".[3] The story's ending has sparked great debate amongst literary scholars, who disagree about the existence, purpose, and disappearance of Akaky's ghost. Edward Proffitt theorized that the ghost did not, in fact, exist at all and that Gogol used the ghost as a means of parodying literary convention. Proponents of the view that the story is a form of social protest prefer to see the ghost's attack on the Very Important Person as a reversal of power from the oppressor to the oppressed. Yet another view states that Akaky's return from the grave is symbolic of society's collective remorse, experienced as a result of failing to treat Akaky with compassion. The appearance of the second ghost is similarly unexplained. A logical inference, considering the time of its publication, would be that the second ghost represents Russian society and the fact that all criminals were mere responders to the mistreatment and malnourishment suffered at the hands of their leaders. Others disagree. Was it the mustachioed robbers who stole Akaky's coat originally? Does this mean that Akaky was, himself, robbed by ghosts? Was he, perhaps, not robbed at all, or possibly never had the new overcoat at all? Akaky's deteriorating mental state, brought about by fever and malnourishment, may have been responsible for many of his sufferings, including the existence of an overcoat far superior to his own. Another interpretation is that the story is a parable. Akaky's job, as a copier, can be compared to that of a monk, whose main job is to copy the Word, as Akaky does. He is taunted much by his fellow worker, much as Jesus was, and also like Jesus tempted by the devil, or the drunk, smoky, and harsh coat maker, marked as the devil by his habit of drinking on the sabbath. However, unlike Jesus, Akaky accepts the coat and becomes popular, until he has the coat stolen. One scene that shows what the coat has done to Akaky can be seen as he leaves the party, returning to his plain district before he has his coat stolen. As he returns to this area, he looks around and very much dislikes his living area. Before he had the coat, he was completely fine with his living area and completely fine with his life. With the overcoat, he finds he wants more. And after he loses his overcoat, he cannot function and simply dies. Critical assessment Vladimir Nabokov, writing in his Lectures on Russian Literature, gave the following appraisal of Gogol and his most famous story: "Steady Pushkin, matter-of-fact Tolstoy, restrained Chekhov have all had their moments of irrational insight which simultaneously blurred the sentence and disclosed a secret meaning worth the sudden focal shift. But with Gogol this shifting is the very basis of his art, so that whenever he tried to write in the round hand of literary tradition and to treat rational ideas in a logical way, he lost all trace of talent. When, as in the immortal The Overcoat, he really let himself go and pottered on the brink of his private abyss, he became the greatest artist that Russia has yet produced."[4] Adaptations Films A number of films have used the story, both in the Soviet Union and in other countries: The Overcoat (1916) - an American silent film directed by Rae Berger The Overcoat (1926) - a Soviet silent film directed by Grigori Kozintsev and Leonid Trauberg The Overcoat (1951 film) -a film of Marcel Marceau's Mime Play with W. Schleif in Berlin The Overcoat ("Il Cappotto") (1952) - an Italian film directed by Alberto Lattuada The Awakening (1954), an adaptation for the Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Presents television series starring Buster Keaton

The Bespoke Overcoat (1955) - a British film directed by Jack Clayton based on Wolf Mankowitz's 1953 play of the same name. Here the story is transposed to the East End of London and the protagonists are poor Jews working in the clothing trade. The Overcoat (1959) - a Soviet film directed by Aleksey Batalov The Overcoat (1997) - a Greek film The Overcoat (2001) - a Canadian made-for-TV film produced by the CBC One film is currently in the process of being made: animation director Yuriy Norshteyn has been slowly and laboriously working on a (presumably) full-length animated film version of 'The Overcoat' since 1981. A couple of short, lowresolution clips from the project have been made available:.[5] Radio Gogol's story was adapted twice on the radio series Theatre Royal, first on October 11, 1953 and then on August 4, 1954, both versions starring Sir Michael Redgrave as Akaky. Hans Conreid starred as Akaky in an adaptation on The CBS Radio Mystery Theater on March 3, 1977. On April 3, 2002, the BBC Radio 4 series Three Ivans, Two Aunts and an Overcoat broadcast an adaptation by Jim Poyser of the story starring Stephen Moore as Akaky. Ballet The Russian composer German Okunev was working on a ballet version of 'The Overcoat' at the time of his death in 1973: it was completed and orchestrated by V. Sapozhnikov. A recent adaptation by Morris Panych and Wendy Gorling, set to various music by Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich, was performed by actors using dance and mime.[6] A film version was produced by the CBC. The Danish choreographer Flemming Flindt created a version for Dennis Nahat and the Clevelend-San Jose Ballet. The principal role was performed by Rudolph Nureyev at the world premiere at the Edinburgh Festival in the summer of 1990. Play Marcel Marceau adapted "The Overcoat" as a Mime Play in 1951. He revived his play in 1954 and 1959. His last version of "The Overcoat" toured the United States in 1960.[citation needed] An adaptation by Howard Colyer was produced at the Brockley Jack Studio Theatre in 2011. In popular culture The protagonist in the 2003 novel The Namesake, by Jhumpa Lahiri, is named for Gogol because of the importance that "The Overcoat" had on his father as a young man in Calcutta. The book's Gogol finds meaning in the story, after struggling with the name given to him by his father. In the novel, Gogol's father justifies his choice for his son's name by saying "We all came out of Gogol's Overcoat......One day you will understand..." An adaptation of the novel was produced as a film, The Namesake, in 2006, directed by Mira Nair. Notes 1. ^ "Lecture 2: Gogols "Overcoat"". University of Toronto. http://individual.utoronto.ca/h_forsythe/213_gogol.html. 2. ^ Chizhevsky, Dimitry (1974). "About Gogol's Overcoat". In Robert Maguire. Gogol From the Twentieth Century: Eleven Essays. Princeton: Princeton UP. pp. 295322. 3. ^ McFarlin, Harold A. (1979). "'The Overcoat' As a Civil Service Episode". Canadian-American Slavic Studies 13 (3): 23553. 4. ^ Nabokov, Vladimir (1981). Lectures on Russian Literature. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. pp. 54. ISBN 0-15-149599-8. 5. ^ The Overcoat - Yuri Norstein [1] [2] 6. ^ "The Overcoat". culturevulture.net. http://www.culturevulture.net/Theater/Overcoat.htm. References Gogol, Nicolai V. The Overcoat and Other Tales of Good and Evil. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1965 Graffy, Julian Gogol's The Overcoat: Critical Studies in Russian Literature London: Bristol Classical Press, 2000. Karlinsky, Simon. The Sexual Labyrinth of Nikolai Gogol. Chicago (Ill.): University of Chicago,1992. Print. Proffitt, Edward Gogol's `Perfectly True' Tale: `The Overcoat' and Its Mode of Closure, in Studies in Short Fiction, Vol. 14, No. 1, Winter, 1977, pp. 3540 External links Wikisource has original text related to this article: The Cloak The Overcoat, full text The Overcoat, complete Public Domain recording . (Cyrillic text)

Taras Bulba (M. Lysenko 1912 opera)

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1952 Russian postage stamp depicting Nikolai Gogol (l.) and Taras Bulba (r.) Mikola Lysenko Taras Bulba is an opera in four acts by the Ukrainian composer Mykola Lysenko. The libretto was written by Mykhailo Starytsky (the composer's cousin) after the novel Taras Bulba by Nikolai Gogol. The opera, which was unrevised at the time of the composer's death in 1912, was first performed in 1924. Present-day performances are however based on thorough revisions, affecting the text, the music and the orchestration, carried out in the 1930s and 1950s. Performance history Lysenko worked on Taras Bulba during 1880-1891[1] but it was probably his insistence on the use of Ukrainian for performance that prevented any productions during his lifetime. Lysenko was reputedly a descendant of the 17th century Cossack leader Vovgura Lys, so the story may have had a special significance to him.[2] Shortly after completing it he played the score to Tchaikovsky, who reportedly "listened to the whole opera with rapt attention, from time to time voicing approval and admiration. He particularly liked the passages in which national,Ukrainian, touches were most vivid...Tchaikovsky embraced Lysenko and congratulated him on his talented composition." The history of the present form of the opera is complex. A piano score was published in 1913, but much of the composer's original orchestration was lost. The prelude to the fourth act was first given at a concert in Kiev under the baton of Reinhold Glire in 1914.[3] The first performance of the full opera took place in 1924 in Kharkiv. Although this was unsuccessful, other better received productions were carried out in Kiev (1927) and Tbilisi, (1930), which generated the idea of a revision of the work. This was carried out in 1937 by Maksym Rylsky (text), Lysenko's pupil Levko Revutsky (music), and Borys Lyatoshynsky (orchestration), and performed in Moscow. This version in turn met with the criticism that it had departed too far from Lysenko's intentions. It was not until after World War II that the same trio produced the present-day performing version, which was premiered in Kiev in 1955. The opera remains in the repertory of the Kiev Opera House, which has also performed the opera abroad in Wiesbaden (1982), Dresden (1987) and Zagreb (1988).[4] The opera house traditionally performs the opera at the end of each operatic season in Kiev. The work's structural defects may to a large extent be a consequence of its history, and to the fact that the composer was never able to adjust the work after hearing it in performance. The opera marks a great advance on the composer's earlier works such as Natalka Poltavka and Utomlena with its folklore and nationalistic elements being much more closely integrated in a continuous musical framework which also clearly shows a debt to Tchaikovsky. But the episodic nature of the libretto (which may be due to some extent to political considerations during its revision in the Soviet era[citation needed] ) is a serious problem. There are extensive non-narrative excursions for dances and patriotic marches and choruses; Kudryiaha is chosen to lead the Cossacks in a long scene in Act III and then vanishes from the rest of the opera; there is no attempt to balance the historical events with the story of Andriy and Maryltsya (which is effectively entirely squeezed into the antipenultimate scene); the absence of emotional or musical transition from the death of Andriy to the triumphalist conquest of Dubno (the final scene, which involves no singing) is evident and uncomfortable. Amongst those who have successfully taken the role of Taras is the Ukrainian singer Boris Gmyrya, who also featured in a recording of the opera. Roles Role Voice type Taras Bulba bass Ostap, his son baritone

Andriy, his son tenor Nastya, his wife contralto Maryltsya, daughter of the Polish governor of Dubno soprano Governor bass Kobzar tenor Chorus: citizens, Cossacks, etc Synopsis The opera is set in Kiev, Taras's village in Ukraine, the Zaporozhian Sich, and Dubno, in the 17th century, at a time when Poland sought supremacy in the region. This synopsis is based on the present (1955) performing version. Act I The opera is preceded by an orchestral overture. It opens in Kiev,which is occupied by the Polish szlachta, whose servants disperse a crowd listening to the song of a kobzar (Ukrainian bard). Taras Bulba leaves his sons Ostap and Andriy at the monastery to be educated. Andriy has already been impressed by a Polish girl he has seen (who turns out to be Maryltsya, daughter of the Polish governor of Dubno). Ostap encourages the kobzar to sing a patriotic song; this angers the Poles, and in a scuffle the bard is killed. Act II Taras's village. Ostap and Andriy return from Kiev and greet their mother Nastya. Bulba's friend Tovkach tells of the war being unleashed throughout Ukraine by the Poles. Despite his wife's protestations, Taras determines to take his sons to the Sich, the Cossack stronghold, so as to participate in the struggles. Nastya collapses. Act III The Sich. Taras successfully encourages the idle residents to rouse themselves for battle. Andriy and Ostap look forward to this; when Andriy has brief forebodings, Ostap promises always to support him. Drumbeats sumon a council (rada) of the Cossacks; with Taras's support, they elect a new, more pugnacious hetman, Kyrdiaha, to lead them. He declares his intention to go in to battle. Act IV Scene 1 The Cossack camp. The Cossacks are besieging Dubno, where Maryltsya's father is governor. She has sent her Tatar maid to find Andriy, and to beg his help as the inhabitants are suffering from starvation. Andriy agrees to help and, with the maid, takes food into the town through a secret passage. Scene 2 Inside the castle. Andriy and Maryltsya express their love for each other. Andriy asks the Governor for her hand; the szlachta object on class grounds. On the advice of his priest, the Governor considers it expedient to allow Andriy to marry, and appoints him a Colonel in the Polish Army. Scene 3 The Cossack camp. Taras hears news that the Tatars have destroyed the Sich. Then an escaping prisoner tells him of Andriy's desertion. Troops under Andriy make a sortie from the castle, and Taras kills his own son for his treason. Ostap's feelings are torn and he sings a lament for his brother. Scene 4 In a purely orchestral scene Taras and Ostap lead the Cossacks to victory against the Poles and take over the town of Dubno. This ending significantly differs from Gogol's original in which first Ostap and then Taras are captured by the Poles and given cruel public executions. Many other significant features of the novel - notably the equivocal behaviour of Taras and the Cossacks to local Jews - are also omitted (see article Taras Bulba). Notes 1. ^ Oxford Music Online,Ukraine 2. ^ Website of the pianist Iryna Riabchun 3. ^ Website of Kiev Philharmonia 4. ^ Web site of National Opera House of Ukraine, Kiev web page about Ukrainian opera "Taras Bulba" by Mykola Lysenko. Audio files of arias and video files from opera. http://www.orpheusandlyra.com/retro.html Sources Oxford Music Online, Lysenko, Mykola and Ukraine

The Night Before Christmas (1913 film)

Solokha and the scribe who tries to flirt with her - Ivan Mozzhukhin as the demon

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Directed by Written by Starring Cinematography Release date(s) Running time Country Language Ladislas Starevich Nikolai Gogol (story) Ladislas Starevich Ivan Mozzhukhin Olga Obolenskaya Lidiya Tridenskaya P. Lopukhin Ladislas Starevich December 26, 1913 (Russian Empire) 41 min Russian Empire Silent film> Russian intertitles

The Night Before Christmas (Russian: , Noch pered Rozhdestvom) is a 1913 silent film made in the Russian Empire by Ladislas Starevich, based on the tale of the same name by Nikolai Gogol. Unlike most of Starevich's films, it is mainly live-action. Plot The plot is, on the whole, close to Gogol's classic tale. The action is set in a Cossack stanitsa. On Christmas Eve, a minor demon arrives to a local witch called Solokha. They both ride on the witch's broom, after which the demon steals the Moon and hides in an old rag. In the ensuing darkness, some inebriated Cossacks can't find their way to a shinok (tavern) and decide to go home. One by one, they each come to visit Soloha, who hides each one (starting from the demon) in bags so that none of them see each other. At the same time, Solokha's son Vakula the Metalsmith (P. Lopukhin), tries to woo the beauty Oksana (Olga Obolenskaya), but she laughs at him and demands that he find her the shoes which the Tsarina wears. Vakula goes to Soloha in sadness, but upon coming there sees the bags and decides to take them to the forge. Getting tired along the way, he leaves the heaviest bags on the street, which are picked up by a caroling company. Vakula, who is left only with the bag containing the demon, goes to Patsyuk, a sorcerer, to ask him how to find a demon - only with the help of a demon can he hope to get Tsarina's shoes. The Patsyuk answers that a person should not search for a demon if he has a demon behind his back. Vakula takes it as some kind of a murky wise say, but indeed eventually finds the demon in the bag and forces him to take him to St. Petersburg. There, Prince Potemkin takes him for an ambassador of the Zaporozhian Cossacks and gives him Tsarina's shoes. The demon takes Vakula home and Vakula lets him go. Oksana agrees to marry Vakula. Significance The first time that an adaptation of The Night Before Christmas was filmed which was true to the letter and spirit of the original. In this film Ladislas Starevich combined in one scene live action and stop motion animation. This occurs in the scene with the hopping galushkis at Patsyuk's place, and in the scene where the demon shrinks and hides in Vakula's pocket. Critical reaction From the journal "Kino-theatre and life" ( , 1913, 2):

"The Night Before Christmas" (after Gogol) is a very well written and acted cinema piece; however, not without some deficiencies in the scenes of crowds. Of all artists, who by-and-large performed well, it is impossible not to distinguish the makeup and acting of Mr. Mozzhukhin in the role of the demon. The fantastic sections of Soloha's flight on a broom and Vakula's on the demon are not carried off well, but the spectacular trick of the demon's shrinking was skillfully done. This picture will have success in Russia as a live illustration to the work of literature well- known to all the Russian public. From the journal "Cinematography news" ( , 1913, 24): Some scenes - such as, e.g., the scene at Soloha's, meeting the Stanitsa Head fetched out of the bag by Chub (a Cossack), Patsyuk's dinner and many others - shine with distinctively Gogolian humour and play over the incessant laughter of the public... The film is made excellently, including the minute details which create the reality of the Ukrainian life. See also History of Russian animation List of stop-motion films The Night Before Christmas (1951 film) External links The Night Before Christmas at the Internet Movie Database

Taras Bulba (1918 rhapsody)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Taras Bulba is a rhapsody for orchestra by the Czech composer Leo Janek. It was composed in 1918 and belongs to the most powerful of Janek's scores.[1] It is based on the novel by Gogol. The first version of the work was finished on 2 July 1915, but Janek later revised it and made substantial changes. The second (almost complete) version was finished on 29 March 1918. Taras Bulba was premiered at the concert in the National Theatre in Brno on 9 October 1921, conducted by Frantiek Neumann. The composition was dedicated to "our army, the armed protector of our nation".[2] It was published by Hudebn matice in 1924, in piano duet arrangement made by Betislav Bakala. In 1927 the full score was published with further changes. Janek described the piece as a "rhapsody" and chose three episodes from Gogol's story to portray in this picturesque programmatic work. Description Instrumentation The music is scored for piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, cor anglais, 2 clarinets (1st doubling E-flat clarinet), 2 bassoons, contrabassoon, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, snare drum, suspended cymbal (played with snare drum sticks), triangle, bells, harp, organ and strings. Movements The music is in three movements: 1. The Death of Andrei 2. The Death of Ostap 3. The Prophecy and Death of Taras Bulba The first movement, The Death of Andrei, focuses on the Cossack Taras Bulba's younger son, who falls in love with the daughter of a Polish general. The opening is a passionate episode between the lovers with solos by English horn, violin, and oboe. Throughout there are occasional hints of darkness, and eventually the music grows more turbulent, showing a battle between the two armies: angry trombone barks, tolling bells, and triumphant trumpet calls. Andrei fights on the side of the Poles, but when his father nears him in the battle, he realizes his treachery, and lowers his head to be killed by Taras Bulba himself. In the end, there is a brief reminiscence of the love music. The second movement, The Death of Ostap, focuses on Taras Bulba's older son, who is overcome with grief by Andrei's death and is captured by the Poles during the battle, and hauled off to Warsaw for torture and execution. Taras Bulba sneaks into Warsaw in disguise, and at the moment of Ostap's death, he forgets where he is and calls out to his son. Much of the music is taken up with a kind of inexorable, limping march. In the end there is a wild Mazurka as the Poles dance in triumph. Taras Bulba is personified by dark trombone statements, and Ostap's last anguished cry is played by high clarinet. (There are clear parallels to two earlier orchestral execution scenes: in Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique and Richard Strauss's Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks.) In the final movement, The Prophecy and Death of Taras Bulba, the Cossacks fight madly throughout Poland to avenge Ostap. Taras Bulba is eventually captured in a battle on the Dnieper River, but before he is burned to death by the Polish army, he issues a defiant prophecy: "Do you think that there is anything in the world that a Cossack fears? Wait; the time will come when you shall learn what the orthodox Russian faith is! Already the people sense it far and near. A Tsar shall arise from Russian soil, and there shall not be a power in the world which shall not submit to him!" The opening music is filled with battle music and war-cries by Taras Bulbathe trombones againuntil a quiet passage depicting his capture. The prophecy itself is a stirring passage for brass and organ, culminating in the ringing of bells and a triumphant epilogue. Footnotes 1. ^ Sleeve note of the Supraphon CD (SU 3667-2911)[1]

2. ^ Score, p. VI References Leo Janek: Taras Bulba. Rapsodia per orchestra. Partitura. (Score) Prague: Editio Supraphon, 1980. H 3616p

The Overcoat (1926 film)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Directed by Written by Starring Cinematography Studio Release date(s) Running time Country Language Grigori Kozintsev Leonid Trauberg Yury Tynyanov Nikolai Gogol Andrei Kostrichkin Yevgeni Mikhailov Andrei Moskvin Lenfilm 1926 65 minutes Soviet Union Silent film (Russian intertitles)

The Overcoat (Russian: ) is a 1926 Soviet film directed by Grigori Kozintsev and Leonid Trauberg, based on Nikolai Gogol stories "Nevsky Prospekt" and "The Overcoat". Cast Andrei Kostrichkin - Akaki Akakievich Antonina Yeremeyeva Sergei Gerasimov - Yaryzhka Aleksei Kapler Boris Shpis Pyotr Sobolevsky Yanina Zhejmo Oleg Zhakov External links The Overcoat at the Internet Movie Database

GOGOL Elektrifiziert cut 3, 1926 (Overcoat) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkxVvsrKruw

The Rebel Son (1938 British film)

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Directed by Produced by Written by Starring Music by

Adrian Brunel, Albert de Courville, Alexis Granowsky Charles David, E.C. Molinier Adrian Brunel(screenplay) Nikolai Gogol (original story) Roger Livesey, Bernard Miles, Harry Baur, Anthony Bushell, Patricia Roc Stock music by Arthur Benjamin and Ernst Toch

Cinematography Bernard Browne, Franz Planer Editing by Release date(s) Running time Country Language Lionel Hoare, William Hornbeck, Pat Wooley 1938 92 min United Kingdom English

The Rebel Son, The Barbarian and the Lady or The Rebel Son of Taras Bulba is a 1938 British film, notable as the first film appearance of Patricia Roc. It is a re-working by Alexander Korda of Granowski's 1935 French film adaptation of the Russian novel Taras Bulba by Nikolai Gogol, set in the 16th century Ukraine. External links The Rebel Son at the Internet Movie Database

The Lost Letter (animation film 1945)

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For the short story by Nikolai Gogol, see The Lost Letter: A Tale Told by the Sexton of the N...Church. For the Ukrainian film by Borys Ivchenko based on Gogol's story, see Propala Hramota. Directed by Produced by Written by Narrated by Starring Music by Release date(s) Running time Country Language Lamis Bredis Zinaida Brumberg Valentina Brumberg Soyuzmultfilm Nikolai Gogol (story) Zinoviy Kalik Vasiliy Kachalov Sergei Martinson Leonid Pirogov Mikhail Yanshin Boris Livanov Serafim Vasilenko 1945 43 minutes Soviet Union Russian

The Lost Letter (Russian: , Propavshaya gramota), or A Disappeared Diploma, is a 1945 Soviet animated film directed by the Brumberg sisters and Lamis Bredis. It is the first Soviet cel-animated feature film. It was produced at the Soyuzmultfilm studio in Moscow and is based on the story with the same name by Nikolai Gogol. Plot A Cossack journeys to St. Petersburg in order to give a letter to the Tsarina. A series of adventures and obstacles stand in his way, but the Cossack overcomes them and fulfills his duty. Creators English Russian Lamis Bredis Directors Zinaida Brumberg Valentina Brumberg K. Apestina Ye. Novosel'skaya Ye. Golovanova Directors' assistants T. Fyodorova I. Kul'neva Ye. Shilova

Zinoviy Kalik Zinaida Brumberg Valentina Brumberg Yevgeniy Migunov Art Directors Anatoliy Sazonov B. Suteyeva . G. Nevzorova . V. Valeryanova . Decorative artists I. Troyanova . O. Gemmerling . V. Rodzhero . Pyotr Repkin Y. Popov . Aleksandr Belyakov Tatyana Fyodorova Boris Dyozhkin Nina Mindovskaya Animators Nadezhda Privalova Tatyana Basmanova Gennadiy Filippov Lamis Bredis N. Fyodorova . Roman Davydov Faina Yepifanova Nikolai Voinov Camera Operators Yelena Petrova Composer Serafim Vasilenko Sound Operator Nikolay Prilutskiy Valeriy Popov Sound Engineer Artistic Administrator Aleksandr Ptushko Sergei Martinson Leonid Pirogov Voice Actors Mikhail Yanshin Boris Livanov Narrator Vasiliy Kachalov See also Propala Hramota The Lost Letter: A Tale Told by the Sexton of the N...Church History of Russian animation List of animated feature films The Humpbacked Horse (1947 film) - the second cel-animated Soviet feature film External links Propavshaya gramota at the Internet Movie Database Propavshaya gramota at the Animator.ru (English and Russian) Review of the film at Anipages Daily Propavshaya gramota at myltik.ru (Russian) Scenario

http://article.wn.com/view/2011/08/01/Prize_money_belongs_to_Petrova/

The Inspector General (film USA 1949)

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Directed by Produced by Written by Starring Music by Cinematography Editing by Distributed by Release date(s) Running time Country Language Box office Henry Koster Jerry Wald, Sylvia Fine Nikolai Gogol (play) Harry Kurnitz, Philip Papp Danny Kaye Walter Slezak Elsa Lanchester Alan Hale Sr. Barbara Bates Gene Lockhart Johnny Green Sylvia Fine Elwood Bredell Rudi Fehr Warner Bros. December 30, 1949 100 minutes USA English $2.2 million (US rentals)[1]

The Inspector General is a 1949 musical comedy film. It stars Danny Kaye and was directed by Henry Koster. The film also stars Walter Slezak, Gene Lockhart, Barbara Bates, Elsa Lanchester, Alan Hale Sr. and Rhys Williams. Original music by Sylvia Fine and Johnny Green. Premise The film is loosely based on Nikolai Gogol's play The Inspector General. The plot is re-located from the Russian Empire into an unspecified corrupted region of a country that suddenly finds itself under the supervision of the First French Empire. Plot Georgi (Danny Kaye), an illiterate member of a wandering band of Gypsies led by Yakov (Walter Slezak) escapes from a travelling medicine show after he innocently lets slip that the elixir they're selling is a fraud. Tired and hungry, he wanders into the small town of Brodny and whilst trying to sample the contents of a horse's feedbag, he's arrested as a vagrant and sentenced to hang the next day by a corrupt police chief (Alan Hale Sr.), desperate to prove his efficiency. The town is run by a corrupt Mayor (Gene Lockhart), whose employees and councillors are all his cousins and equally corrupt and incompetent, but they are frightened when they learn that the Inspector General is in their neighborhood, and probably in disguise. The band of officials and the mayor want to protect their town and their lives, so, acting foolishly they seal off every road to keep the inspector from entering their town. They mistake Georgi for the Inspector

and ply him with food and drink whilst plotting to have him killed. Yakov wanders into the small town and convinces Georgi to stay on as an inspector general and accept the bribes the officials so willingly throw at him. Of course, Yakov wants to seize Georgi's misfortune and turn it into a new start for his own life. Meanwhile, hearing tales of his legacy and courageous efforts the mayor's wife instantly takes a liking to Georgi, hoping he will fall in love with her and whisk her away from the mayor and his lack of attention to her. However Georgi has fallen in love with a servant and wishes to marry her. Naturally, their plans go awry and Georgi, despite his innocence, discovers how corrupt they really are. And when the real Inspector arrives suddenly, he also realizes that Georgi is the most honest fellow he's met since leaving Budapest. The Inspector General names Georgi the new Mayor of Brodny and presents him the mayoral gold chain, having taken it from the old mayor saying, "We'll put something else around your neck." Yakov becomes the new chief of police and Georgi gets the girl of his dreams. Soundtrack Johnny Green won a Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture Score for his work on the film. Kaye's wife Sylvia Fine wrote the original songs "The Inspector General" and "Happy Times", both sung by Kaye in the film. Happy Times was, in fact, the working title of the film. DVD release The Inspector General is one of a number of major Hollywood productions from the 1940s and 1950s that have lapsed into the public domain in the United States.[2] See also List of films in the public domain References 1. ^ 'The Top Box Office Hits of 1950', Variety, January 3, 1951 2. ^ "The Inspector General (1949)". http://archive.org/details/TheInspectorGeneral. Retrieved 19 December 2012. External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to: The Inspector General (1949 film) The Inspector General at the Internet Movie Database The Inspector General at AllRovi The Inspector General is available for free download at the Internet Archive [more]

The Night Before Christmas (1951 film)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Directed by Written by Starring Music by Editing by

Valentina Brumberg Zinaida Brumberg Zinaida Brumberg Mikhail Yanshin Valentina Brumberg Mikhail Yanshin Alexei Zhiltsov Vladimir Gribkov Vera Maretskaya Liliya Gritsenko Nikolai Gritsenko Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov Valentina Ivanova

Release date(s) Running time Country Language

1951 49 minutes Soviet Union Russian

The Night Before Christmas (Russian: , Noch pered Rozhdestvom) is a 1951 Soviet animated film directed by the Brumberg sisters and produced by the Soyuzmultfilm studio in Moscow. The film is based on Nikolai Gogol's story The Night Before Christmas. The animation features heavy use of rotoscoping, known as "clair" in the Soviet Union, and is an example of the Socialist-Realist period in Russian animation. The film is in the public domain in Russia and is widely available on numerous video/DVD releases, mostly along with other films. Creators English Russian Valentina Brumberg Directors Zinaida Brumberg Zinaida Brumberg Scenario Mikhail Yanshin Valentina Brumberg Nadezhda Stroganova Art Directors Pyotr Repkin Aleksandr Belyakov Composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov V. Rodzhero . . I. Troyanova . O. Gemmerling Artists Nikolai Petritskiy K. Malyshev . Y. Tannenberg . V. Valerianova . Nikolai Fyodorov Roman Kachanov Boris Meyerovich Roman Davydov . Y. Kazantseva Faina Yepifanova Yelizaveta Komova I. Bashkova . Grigoriy Kozlov K. Nikiforov . Animators Tatyana Fyodorova Valentin Lalayants Tatyana Taranovich L. Popov . Konstantin Chikin Boris Dezhkin Gennadiy Filippov Boris Butakov Fyodor Khitruk Lidiya Reztsova Nikolai Voinov Camera Operators Elena Petrova Executive Producer Y. Bliokh . Hikolai Prilutskiy Sound Operator V. Oranskiy . Mikhail Yanshin (Chub, the cossack) ( ) Alexei Zhiltsov (village head) ( ) Voice Actors Vladimir Gribkov (devil) ( ) Vera Maretskaya (Solokha, the witch) ( )

Narrator Editor See also History of Russian animation List of animated feature films The Night Before Christmas (1913 film) External links The Night Before Christmas at the Animator.ru (English and Russian) The Night Before Christmas at myltik.ru (Russian)

Liliya Gritsenko (Oksana) Nikolai Gritsenko (Vakula, the smith) Alexey Gribov Valentina Ivanova

( (

) )

Il Cappotto (The Overcoat 1952 Italian film)

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Directed by Produced by Written by Starring Music by Cinematography Editing by Release date(s) Running time Country Language

Alberto Lattuada Enzo Curreli Alberto Lattuada Giorgio Prosperi Giordano Corsi Enzo Curreli Luigi Malerba Leonardo Sinisgalli Cesare Zavattini Renato Rascel Yvonne Sanson Antonella Lualdi Nino Marchetti Felice Lattuada Mario Montuori Eraldo Da Roma 3 October 1952 101 minutes Italy Italian

The Overcoat (Italian: Il Cappotto) is a 1952 Italian fantasy-drama film directed by Alberto Lattuada. It is based on a short tale of the same name written by Nikolai Gogol. The story of a very poor city-hall clerk (Renato Rascel) whose only desire is to own a new overcoat. Cast

 Renato Rascel - Carmine De Carmine Yvonne Sanson - Caterina Giulio Stival - Il sindaco Ettore Mattia - Il segretario generale Giulio Cal - Il sarto Olinto Cristina Anna Carena - L'affittacamere (as Anna Maria Carena) Sandro Somar - Il fidanzato di Vittoria Luigi Moneta Silvio Bagolini - Il venditore ambulante Dina Perbellini Loris Gizzi Mario Crippa Alfredo Ragusa Nino Marchetti (as Nino Marchetti) Awards Special Nastro d'Argento to Renato Rascel for the creation of the leading character. The film was also entered into the 1952 Cannes Film Festival.[1] References ^ "Festival de Cannes: The Overcoat". festival-cannes.com. http://www.festivalcannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/4017/year/1952.html. Retrieved 2009-01-17. External links Il Cappotto at the Internet Movie Database

Taras Bulba (1962 film)

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Directed by Produced by Written by Based on Starring Music by Cinematography Editing by Distributed by Release date(s) Running time J. Lee Thompson Harold Hecht Waldo Salt Karl Tunberg Taras Bulba by Nikolai Gogol Yul Brynner Tony Curtis Franz Waxman Joe MacDonald Folmar Blangsted Gene Milford William Reynolds Eda Warren United Artists 1962 122 min.

Country Language Box office

United States English $3,400,000 (US/ Canada)[1]

Taras Bulba is a 1962 film loosely based on Nikolai Gogol's short novel, Taras Bulba, starring Yul Brynner in the title role, and Tony Curtis as his son, Andrei, leaders of a Cossack clan on the Ukrainian steppes. The film was directed by J. Lee Thompson. The story line of the film is considerably different from that of Gogol's novel, although it is closer to the 1842 (pro-Russian Imperial) edition than the original version (pro-Ukrainian) version (1832). The film opens with a battle raging between the Turks and the Poles. The Poles are losing until the Cossacks arrive to save the day. However, it turns out that the Poles were merely holding back so that they could treacherously attack the Cossacks after they won the battle for them. As a result, the Poles become masters of Ukraine and the Cossacks are subjugated. Taras Bulba, one of the Cossack officers, returns home to raise his family but now it is under Polish dominion. Several years later, Taras sends his two sons, Andrei and Ostap (Perry Lopez) to the academy at Kiev, to obtain a Polish education. There, the eldest son, Andrei, falls in love with a Polish princess Natalia Dubrov (played by Christine Kaufmann), to the ire of the locals, who treat the Cossack brothers like scum of the earth. Ultimately, the brothers are forced to flee Kiev, returning to their fathers house on the Ukrainian steppes. There, word comes that the Poles want the Cossacks to raise an army to help them in a new war with the Turks. When Andrei objects, he is accused of being a coward. This is a serious offense that can only be resolved by a test of courage. Andrei and his accuser ride and jump their horses over a chasm until God chooses which one is right by having the accuser fall to his death. Taras embraces Andreis lead and plans to betray the Poles and take back Ukraine. Assuming command of the Cossacks, Taras leads them to Dubno, where the Poles are expecting him to join them. Instead, the Cossacks attack the Polish army and drive it back into the city. The Cossacks then lay siege to the city. Hunger and disease set in and Andrei, fearing for the life of his Polish lover, sneaks into the city in an attempt to rescue her. He is captured and she is condemned to be burned at the stake for the crime of loving a Cossack. To save her, Andrei agrees to lead a raiding party to bring cattle into the starving city. Meanwhile, the Cossacks have grown bored with the inactivity of the siege and a large number of them have departed for home. When the Polish commander realizes the weakness of the Cossacks against the raiding force, he orders his whole army to attack. Taras Bulba encounters his son on the field of battle and kills him for his betrayal before joining the general retreat to the edge of a cliff. There, the Cossacks who left the siege to go home, rejoin the battle and large numbers of men and horses, both Cossack and Polish, are pushed over the edge to their deaths in the river below. The movie ends with the Cossacks victorious and entering Dubno. Andrei is to be buried there, as it is now a Cossack city and presumably, the Cossacks will not treat the Poles as badly as they were treated by them. Release details On 25 March 2008 this film was released on DVD in Regions 1 and 2. This is the first release on DVD. Location Although the story is set in the Eastern European steppes, the film was actually shot in California, Salta, Argentina and Yugoslavia. References ^ "Top Rental Features of 1963", Variety, 8 January 1964 p 71. Please note figures are rentals as opposed to total gross. External links Taras Bulba at the Internet Movie Database Taras Bulba at AllRovi Taras Bulba at the TCM Movie Database Taras Bulba at Rotten Tomatoes

Viy (1967 Soviet film)

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Directed by Written by Starring Music by Cinematography Editing by Release date(s) Running time Country Language

Konstantin Yershov Georgi Kropachyov Screen writers: Aleksandr Original story: Nikolai Gogol Ptushko Konstantin Yershov Georgi Kropachyov

Leonid Kuravlev Natalya Varley Alexei Glazyrin Vadim Zakharchenko Nikolai Kutuzov Karen Khachaturian Viktor Pishchalnikov Fyodor Provorov R. Pesetskaya Tamara Zubova 1967 78 minutes Soviet Union Russian ) is a 1967 horror film produced by Mosfilm and based on the

Viy (Spirit of Evil[1] or Vii, Russian:

Nikolai Gogol

story of the same name.

Synopsis The movie follows the original tale in a somewhat loose fashion, but manages to retain the majority of the images and action. Plot A seminary student must survive three nights in prayer guarding the deceased witch maiden while she, along with an army of hellish demons, try to lure him out of his Holy Ring of Chalk. Cast Leonid Kuravlev as Khoma Brutus Natalya Varley as Pannochka Alexei Glazyrin Vadim Zakharchenko Nikolai Kutuzov Pyotr Vesklyarov Dmitri Kapka Stepan Shkurat G. Sochevko Nikolai Yakovchenko

 Nikolai Panasyev Production Some of the 'witch' scenes and the ending where Viy appears were toned down due to technological limitations as well as then current restrictions on Soviet film production. The directors were able to avoid the previous restrictions by using what was considered a 'folk tale'. Release This was officially the first Soviet-era horror film released in the USSR. Remake See Viy. Returning. A modern version starring Jason Flemyng has been in production for several years and has gone through several different deadlines, but is planned for release in 2012.[2] The 1990 Serbian version of the film, called "A Holy Place" will run on the Fantasia Festival 2010.[3] References 1. ^ Staff (2004). The Scarecrow Movie Guide. Seattle: Sasquatch Books. p. 367. ISBN 1-57061-415-6. 2. ^ "Viy: News". Russian Film Group. October 2011. http://www.viymovie.com/site/news_eng.html. Retrieved 29 December 2011. 3. ^ Fantasia 2010: Subversive Serbia Spotlight New Stills: Life and Death of a Porno Gang, A Holy Place, and T.T. Syndrome External links Viy at the Internet Movie Database Viy at AllRovi

Dead Souls (1984 Soviet film)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Directed by Written by Narrated by Starring

Mikhail Shveytser Mikhail Shveytser Nikolai Gogol (novel) Aleksandr Trofimov Aleksandr Kalyagin Larisa Udovichenko Tamara Nosova Innokenty Smoktunovsky

Vyacheslav Nevinny Inna Churikova Music by Cinematography Studio Release date(s) Running time Country Language Alfred Schnittke Dilshat Fatkhulin Mosfilm 1984 387 minutes Soviet Union Russian

Dead Souls (Russian: ) is a 1984 Soviet television miniseries directed by Mikhail Shveytser, based on Nikolai Gogol's novel of the same name. Cast Aleksandr Trofimov (Actor) Nikolai Gogol Aleksandr Kalyagin Chichikov Yuri Bogatyryov Manilov Larisa Udovichenko Manilov's wife Tamara Nosova Korobochka Vitali Shapovalov Nozdryov Aleksei Zaitsev Selifan Viktor Sergachyov Mizhuyev, Son-in-law Mariya Vinogradova Mavra Innokenty Smoktunovsky Plushkin Vyacheslav Nevinny Sobakevich Inna Churikova Lady, nice in every respect Lidiya Fedoseyeva-Shukshina Lady, just nice Irina Malysheva Governor's daughter Yelizaveta Nikishchikhina Sobakevich's wife Valeri Malyshev Mikhei Aleksei Safonov Public prosecutor External links Dead Souls at the Internet Movie Database

The Overcoat (2004 Russian animated film)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Directed by Produced by Written by Story by Cinematography Running time Country Language Yuriy Norshteyn Yuriy Norshteyn Yuriy Norshteyn Lyudmila Petrushevskaya Nikolai Gogol Aleksandr Zhukovskiy Maksim Granik 65 minutes Russia Russian

The Overcoat (Russian: , Shinyel) is an upcoming animated feature film that has been the main project of acclaimed Russian director and animator Yuriy Norshteyn since 1981. It is based on the short story by Nikolai Gogol with the same name. Around 25 minutes were completed by 2004.[1] The unfinished film has been shown publicly in several exhibitions of Norshteyn's work around the world and clips of it have been included in a few documentary films about Russian animation and culture. On March 13, 2007, Norshteyn stated that he planned to release the first 30 minutes of the film with a soundtrack into theatres by the end of 2007.[2] However, as of August 2012, this has not yet happened. History Upon finishing his film Tale of Tales in 1979 Norshteyn decided that the next project for his small team (consisting of himself as the animator and director, his wife Franchesca Yarbusova as the artist and his friend Aleksandr Zhukovskiy as the cinematographer) would be an approximately 60-minute-long film based on Gogol's short story The Overcoat. Norshteyn has said that he considers The Overcoat to be as important a work of literature for him personally as one of the chapters of the Bible.[3] By 1981, when work on the film began, Norshteyn had been working at Soyuzmultfilm (the main Soviet animation studio) for 13 years and had worked on some 40 films and directed or co-directed six. Progress was slow, with many interruptions (Norshteyn estimates that only about three years of work were actually done). Norshteyn says that Viktor Tinyaev ( ) helped him during this period. In 1986, with only 10 minutes of the film completed, Norshteyn was fired from the Soyuzmultfilm studio in which he had worked. This was despite the fact that his films had gathered many international awards, and Tale of Tales had been voted the best animated film of all time by a large panel of international critics in 1984. With the help of Rolan Bykov, Norshteyn managed to set up his own animation studio in his home. There, he and his team continued to slowly work on the film. Funding has been sporadic and has come from many different sources, including the Savings Bank of Russia (Sberbank) and TNK oil company. A few minutes were shot under the Soros Fund before 1999.[4] Norshteyn has been known for refusing funding from certain sources. He refused to accept money from Mikhail Shvydkoy, the Russian Minister of Culture,

saying "one cannot take money from those who don't care about you."[5] He also refused help from Nick Park's company Aardman Animations, accepting from them only a few boxes of lightbulbs.[6] Production came to a temporary halt on November 17, 1999 with the death of cinematographer Aleksandr Zhukovskiy ( ). The loss was crippling for Yuriy Norshteyn he said of Zhukovskiy that he was the only person who ever saw exactly eyeto-eye with him both as an artist and as a friend. Nevertheless, by 2001 production had resumed with a new cinematographer Maksim Granik ( ), one of Zhukovskiy's students. Production soon halted again this time for three years. Norshteyn spent a year and a half making a 3-minute animation for the introduction to Spokoynoy nochi, malyshi!, a popular Russian nightly show for young children to watch before they go to bed (his segment was taken off the air in the summer of 2001; the show moved to another channel while the copyright for the sequence stayed with the old one).[7] He also spent nine months working on a 2-minute sequence for the Japanese collaborative film Winter Days (released in 2003).[8] Norshteyn said that this sequence required as much work as a 10minute film, and that his work on it influenced The Overcoat and vice versa (the sequence contains a scene with Bash searching for ticks in his cloak which is similar to a scene in The Overcoat). In a July 4, 2004 interview, Norshteyn said that 25 minutes of The Overcoat had been shot.[9] The studio stopped working on the film for nearly a year while Norshteyn worked to release his two-volume book, Snow on the Grass, released on August 10, 2008.[10] To this day, Norshteyn is still working on the filmhis ardent perfectionism has earned him the nickname "The Golden Snail".[11] Although he has been offered chances to leave Russia, Norshteyn believes that finishing his film in "circumstances approaching comfort" would be impossible.[4] It is also possible that The Overcoat could surpass The Thief and the Cobbler's record of the longest production time for a motion picture in history if it will still not be finished sometime in 2012. Cast and crew Yuriy Norshteyn is the writer, director, and animator for the film. His wife Francheska Yarbusova is the main artist responsible for the characters and backgrounds. Other artists who were working on the film as of 2004 were Larisa Zenevich, Lena Sharapova and Valentin Olshvang (who earlier worked with Norshteyn on the Spokoynoy nochi, malyshi! sequence).[12] Aleksandr Zhukovskiy was the cinematographer until his death on November 17, 1999. A student of his, Maksim Granik, has been the cinematographer since 2001. There is not expected to be much dialogue in the film. Norshteyn originally wanted Aleksandr Kalyagin to play the main role. However, he has said that his idea of the main character has since changed, and that he is not yet sure who the final voice actor will be.[2] Technique Norshteyn uses a special technique in his animation, involving multiple glass planes to give his animation a three-dimensional look. The camera is placed at the top looking down on a series of glass planes about a meter deep (one every 2530 cm). The individual glass planes can move horizontally as well as toward and away from the camera (to give the effect of a character moving closer or further away).[9] Some scenes required a different approach, as can be seen in the image on the right. The animation used is cutout animation, a type of stop motion. Norshteyn refuses to use a computer in his work, and says that even watching computer-animated films makes him ill.[13] The film is being shot in black-and-white film. Due to the closure of Moscow labs that develop black-and-white film, Norshteyn's team is currently being forced to develop it themselves.[14] Plot Based on Nikolai Gogol's The Overcoat. However, Norshteyn has said that "the cinematographer should not be interested in that which is described in detail - he should look to that which is skipped, to that which is implied but is not explicitly written. The break in the text is the most promising, the most alive place for cinema."[15] See also History of Russian animation List of animated feature films List of recent films in black-and-white List of stop-motion films Other animated movies with long production histories The Thief and the Cobbler, in production 19641995, released hastily finished. Le Roi et l'oiseau, a French animated film, produced in two parts (194852, 196780), initially released in recut form, eventually finished as per directors wishes References 1. ^ Shenderovich, Viktor. " " . Radio Svoboda. July 4, 2004. Accessed on: Nov. 22, 2008. 2. ^ a b March 13, 2007 interview with Yuriy Norshteyn ( . .) (video, at 15:30 and 24:00), , 13-03-2007. Retrieved on 29-06-2007. 3. ^ (Russian) , ." " , , June 22, 2005. Retrieved on October 18, 2006. 4. ^ a b (Russian) a c o , . " ". July 12, 2001. Retrieved on October 13, 2006. 5. ^ (Russian) cc , . : , , June 2, 2003. Retrieved on October 13, 2006. 6. ^ Wright, Jane. Tales by a Russian master, Camden New Journal, February 16, 2006. Retrieved on October 14, 2006.

^ (Russian) , . , , August 13, 2001. Retrieved on February 23, 2007. 8. ^ (Russian) , . . , " ", Russian Madison, September 18, 2006. Retrieved on October 14, 2006. 9. ^ a b (Russian) cc , . , , June 4, 2004. Retrieved on October 14, 2006. 10. ^ . . August 28, 2008. Retrieved on: October 25, 2009. 11. ^ Klimenko, Alexei. Golden Snail of Culture, The Moscow News, November 19, 2002. Retrieved on October 14, 2006. 12. ^ Norshteyn interview. Kinoart, No. 4, 2004. Accessed on Jan. 17, 2009. (Russian) 13. ^ Finn, Peter. 20 Years of Toil, 20 Minutes of Unique Film, Washington Post, May 31, 2005. Retrieved on October 14, 2006. 14. ^ (Russian) , . . , ( 8), September, 2006. Retrieved on October 18, 2006. 15. ^ (Russian) , . . , , June 23, 2003. Retrieved on October 14, 2006. External links The Overcoat at the Internet Movie Database [1], [2] - a couple of short, low-resolution clips that have been made available to the public Pictures of Norshteyn at work on the film Russian Peoples.ru profile (several articles and interviews) Fan page with several more interviews Online group dedicated to Norshteyn's art - has news on any public showings of his work Comments about the unfinished film from those who've seen it: 1, 2 September 2006 interview

7.

Norshteyn animating one of the scenes in the film that required a specialised set

Taras Bulba (2009 Russian film)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Directed by Starring Cinematography Distributed by Release date(s) Running time Language Budget Vladimir Bortko Bohdan Stupka Igor Petrenko Vladimir Vdovichenkov Magdalena Mielcarz Mikhail Boyarsky Liubomiras Lauceviius Vladimir Bortko Central Partnership (Russia) 2 April 2009 127 minutes Russian $15.7 million

Taras Bulba (Russian: ) is a historical drama film, based on the novel Taras Bulba by Nikolai Gogol. The movie was filmed on different locations in Ukraine such as Zaporizhia, Khotyn and Kamianets-Podilskyi as well as in Poland. The official release was rescheduled several times; at first for the spring of 2008 but was finally released on April 2, 2009,[1][2][3] to coincide with Gogols bicentennial.[4] The author's edition of 1842 (considered more proRussian[5]), expanded and rewritten (into the text most readers know), was used for the film. Controversies The film was partly financed by the Russian Ministry of Culture and has been criticized in Ukraine for being a part of political propaganda "resembling leaflets for Putin".[5] While the Polish characters in the movie speak Polish, the Ukrainian Cossacks are presented as speaking only Russian.[citation needed] The director Vladimir Bortko, who is himself of Ukrainian origin, has also stated that the movie aimed to show that "there is no separate Ukraine":[5] The Russians and Ukrainians are the same people and Ukraine is the southern part of the Rus'. They cannot exist without us and we cannot without them. Now we are two states and also in the past there were such periods. The Ukrainian soil belonged to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and to Poland. But the people who lived on both territories were always one people. Gogol understood that well and always spoke of it.[6] This view is strongly opposed by nationalistic Ukrainians.[7][8] In Russia there are fears that the movie will exacerbate historical disagreements with Ukraine.[6] The film is also cautiously watched in Poland, where its possible anti-Polish character is widely discussed and its propagandist elements

examined.[9] This is enhanced by the fact that the filmmakers added some scenes depicting Polish brutality to the original plot by Gogol.[clarification needed][10][11] References 1. ^ Coffee and conversation with Bohdan Stupka, THE DAY WEEKLY DIGEST, #17, Tuesday, 27 May 2008 2. ^ www.film.ru 3. ^ IMBD Profile 4. ^ The Politics of Taras Bulba: Do They Matter? Global Comment 5. ^ a b c Barry, Ellen (2009-04-12). "A Wild Cossack Rides Into a Cultural Battle". Kyiv Post. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/13/world/europe/13cossacks.html?_r=1&ref=global-home. Retrieved 200904-14. 6. ^ a b (Polish) Malczyk, Jerzy (2009-04-01). "Rosja: Na ekrany kin wschodzi "Taras Bulba" Wadimira Bortki". Money.pl. http://www.money.pl/archiwum/wiadomosci_agencyjne/pap/artykul/rosja;na;ekrany;kin;wschodzi;taras;bulba; wladimira;bortki,78,0,440398.html. Retrieved 2009-04-16. 7. ^ Economic Interdependence in Ukrainian-Russian Relations by Paul J. D'Anieri, State University of New York Press, 1999, ISBN 978-0-7914-4246-3 (page 22) 8. ^ Russia in the Modern World:A New Geography by Denis J. B. Shaw, Wiley-Blackwell, 1999, ISBN 978-0631-18134-7 (page 257) 9. ^ (Polish) Dokd tak pdzisz, Kozacze? Sebastian Chosiski, Esensja 26 IV 2009 10. ^ (Polish) Taras Bulba" w re yserii Wadimira Bortko kolejnym filmem antypolskim? Polish Portal on Ukraine, 2009-04-01 11. ^ Taras Bulba wje d a do kin Justyna Prus, Tatiana Serwetnyk, Rzeczpospolita 31-03-2009 External links Official trailer at Twitch (Russian) Kino-Teatr.ru (Russian) Kinoros.ru Taras Bulba at the Internet Movie Database

Viy. Returning (2011 Russo-ucrainan film)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Directed by Produced by Screenplay by Based on Starring Music by Cinematography Country Language Budget Oleg Stepchenko Oleg Stepchenko Leonid Ogorodnikov Alexey A. Petrukhin Sergey Sozanovskiy Aleksandr Karpov Oleg Stepchenko "Viy" by Nikolai Gogol Aleksey Chadov Anna Churina Charles Dance Agniya Ditkovskite Jason Fleming Anton Garcia Vladimr Smutn Russia Czech Republic Ukraine Russian English 24 Million USD

Viy. Returning (Russian: : ), (a.k.a. Viy 3D) is an upcoming horror film produced by Russian Film Group and based on the Nikolai Gogol story "Viy". The film is directed by Oleg Stepchenko, based on the first manuscript of Nikolai Gogol. The film is in production since December 2005, and was stopped sometimes due to lack of finance.. In April 2011 the filming was completed.[1] Plot Early 18th century. Cartographer Jonathan Green undertakes a scientific voyage from Western Europe to the East. Having passed through Transylvania and crossed the Carpathian Mountains, he finds himself in a small village lost in impassible woods of Ukraine. Nothing but chance and heavy fog could bring him to this cursed place. People who live here do not resemble any other people which the traveler saw before that. The villagers, having dug a deep moat to fend themselves from the rest of the world, share a naive belief that they could save themselves from evil, failing to understand that evil has made its nest in their souls and is waiting for an opportunity to gush out upon the world. Cast Aleksey Chadov - Petrus Anna Churina - Miss Dudly Charles Dance Agniya Ditkovskite - Nastusya Jason Flemyng - Jonathan Green Anatoli Gushchin - Gorobets Igor Zhizhikin - Dorosh Aleksandr Karpov - Panas Ivan Mokhovikov - Khalyava Aleksey Ogurtsov - Spirid

 Alexey A. Petrukhin - Khoma Nina Ruslanova - Zhena Yavtukha Andrey Smolyakov - Paisiy Oleg Taktarov - Gritsko Yuriy Tsurilo - Sotnik Aleksandr Yakovlev - Kosoglazyy Kazak Olga Zaytseva - Pannochka Valeriy Zolotukhin - Yavtukh Release Initially, in order to show that the picture is in production, Alexey Petrukhin and Oleg Stepchenko 18 hours removed the commercial film, in which role he played Homa Brutus Petrukhin with a bald head. Teaser was launched in cinemas, but has not yet been written in the script, and production of the film actually began a year later. The announcement of the beginning of the rental March 12, 2009 was associated with a desire to coincide with the output movie for the 200th anniversary of Nikolai Gogol, but even then the output movie has been postponed indefinitely. After shooting the first film of the trilogy, the producers decided to postpone painting the picture before the premiere of the work on the second film, "Wiy 2. Cursed place" ( -2. ). On Wednesday, June 16, 2010 held a sneak preview of some episodes of the long-awaited film ready VIY. The show, organized by the creators of the film, held in 3D, for American visitors, who view the picture for distribution in 80 countries around the world. The producer, Petrukhin, said that the film was originally supposed to do stereoscopic. The scenes that made the first shot at once with the image in several layers. This provided the effect of a multidimensional picture (including both filmed episodes Pannochki funeral in the church). Such an unusual method of photography has allowed creators to write on the Exposed set 3D-image effects. The rest of the picture was shot with special cameras, in particular, used and innovative 3DCamera from Sony. In April 2012, the official website of the trilogy, a new estimated release date, in 2013. See also Viy External links Official website Viy. Returning at the Internet Movie Database References ^ " " 3D, The filming of "Viy 3D" completed, Inter Channel, April 2012, (Russian)

Veer (2011 Hindi film)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Directed by Produced by Screenplay by Story by Starring Music by Cinematography Editing by Distributed by Release date(s) Running time Country Language Budget Box office Anil Sharma Vijay Galani Shailesh verma,shaktimaan Salman Khan Salman Khan Zarine Khan Mithun Chakraborty Sohail Khan Jackie Shroff Sajid-Wajid Gopal Shah Ashfaque Makrani Eros Entertainment Vijay Galani Moviez January 22, 2010 155 minutes India Hindi 46 crore[1] 49 crore[2]

Veer (Hindi: ) is a 2010 historical action film Hindi film directed by Anil Sharma, and starring Salman Khan, Mithun Chakraborty, Sohail Khan, Jackie Shroff and Zarine Khan.[3] The film, written by Salman Khan, set during the 1825 Pindari movement of Rajasthan, when India was ruled by the British. Veer was released on 22 January 2010.[4] It received a mainly negative critical reception and was declared a semi-hit at the Indian box office.[5] Plot Veer Pratap Singh (Salman Khan) is a Pindari Prince and the son of the great Pindari warrior, Prithvi Singh (Mithun Chakraborty), who was known for his great battles to free India from British rule. Veer wishes to continue his father's legacy by leading a movement of Pindaris against the British in order to free both the Rajasthani Kingdom of Madhavghar and the rest of India from the great colonial power. Veer receives the help of his younger brother, Punya Singh (Sohail Khan) in gathering together an army. However Veer finds opposition from the King of Madhavghar, Gyanendra Singh (Jackie Shroff), who sees Veer as a threat to Madhavghar and his rule and orders for Veer to be killed.

Veer and Punya along with their supporters go into hiding within the Thar Desert of Rajasthan, while Singh makes an alliance with the British Governor of Rajasthan, James Fraser (Tim James Lawrence), saying that Madhavghar will support the British in crushing the Pindari movement and eliminating Veer. To keep stakes high, the Pindaris kidnap Singh's daughter Princess Yashodhara (Zarine Khan), who Veer finds himself in love with. The Pindaris then make a failed attempt to take down Singh's palace by surprise. However Singh's spies discover the plan and thousands of Pindari warriors are slaughtered. Veer fails to get his revenge on the corrupt King. In the meantime, Lady Angela Fraser (Lisa Lazarus), wife of British Governor James Fraser, begins to question her husband's actions as he supports the evil king in slaughtering members of the Pindari movement. However Fraser refuses to back down his campaign in crushing the Pindari movement of Rajasthan. After Veer promises his father that he will finish Singh, he gatecrashes princes Yashodhara's Swayamvara. As he takes the princess away from the fort, Gyanendra Singh sees a vast army of Pindaris has surrounded his fort. He asks the British to help him but they refuse and make the Pindaris their ally in a bid to escape from Madhavghar. Before the British leave a battle follows in which the Governor and Gyanendra Singh both are killed. Veer, wounded from a gunshot, dies in the arms of his father. Years later it is shown that Veer's son and Prithvi are having a friendly fight. Cast Salman Khan as Veer Pratap Singh Zarine Khan as Princess Yashodhara, Veer's lover Mithun Chakraborty as Prithvi Singh, Veer's father Sohail Khan as Punya Pratap Singh, Veer's brother Jackie Shroff as Gyanendra Singh, the king of Madhavghar and father of Yashodhara Lisa Lazarus as Lady Angela Fraser, wife of Governor James Fraser Tim James Lawrence as James Fraser, Governor General of Rajasthan Bianca Van Varenberg Khurram Tejrar Gita Soto Neena Gupta as Veer's mother Aryan Vaid Bharat Dabholkar Bunny Anand[6] Shahbaaz Khan Puru Raajkumar as Prince Gajendra Singh (son of Gyanendra Singh) Militza Radmilovic Sully Charissa Glidden as the Governess Roy Bronsgeest as Rhino[7] Taylor Wright Luke Groves Fiona Grace(Jaya Gupta)as nina francess Christoph Beiter as English soldier Production The story was written by Salman Khan twenty years ago,[8] who described it as his dream project.[9] At that time, Khan planned to direct the film himself and cast Sanjay Dutt in the lead role.[10] Veer is also partly based on the Russian novel Taras Bulba by Nikolai Gogol.[4] For his role as Veer, Salman Khan went on a special diet and worked out with a personal trainer.[11] For her role as a 19th century princess, Zarine Khan put on eight kilos of extra weight.[12] Principal photography for Veer began on 1 December 2008. Portions of the film were originally scheduled to be shot at the College of Engineering and the Agricultural College in Pune, but due to the swine flu outbreak the locations were moved to Mumbai.[13] Other location shooting took place in Jaipur and Bikaner. Location shooting at Amber Fort in Jaipur was also interrupted when several onlookers were injured and the Rajasthan High Court ordered a halt to filming. A case was filed against Anil Sharma accusing the film crew of damaging the fort, violating several conservation laws and causing the structure's 500-year-old roof to collapse.[14] The crew finished their shoot after paying Rs. 20 lakh in damages.[15] Marketing The trailer of Veer was released on 27 November 2009 at the screening of Priyadarshan's De Dana Dan.[16] The first song promo, "Salaam Aaya", was released on 13 December 2009. The song "Surili akhiyon wale" was released later. A short action trailer and a trailer featuring the song "Meherbaniyan" were also released.[citation needed] Reception Critical reception The movie was generally panned by critics.[17] Taran Adarsh criticized the writing and direction of the movie, describing it as a colossal disappointment.[18] Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN termed it as "an impossible film to appreciate", criticizing the performance of the support cast, while praising the performance of Salman Khan.[19] Gaurav Malani praised the performance of Salman Khan, while terming the story as average.[20] Noyon Jyoti Parasara of AOL.in also praised Salman Khan but added "Overall, Veer has its pluses but it is sadly restricted to a very average film. It has nothing new and that only makes it seem slower."[21] NkS Reviews It rated it 3.5 out of 5 and stated, "Veer is

an epic at its best...If you like period films then you'll like Veer. If you are a Salman Khan fan then Veer shouldnt be missed even for all the money in the world." The blog also praised Salman Khan's performance highly by saying, "..no other actor in Bollywood could have done this role so convincingly as Salman Khan did. He is spectacularly stupendous with the Veer tag."[22] Among U.S. critics, Frank Lovece of Film Journal International enjoyed it as "hokum of the highest order, punctuated with the most rousing musical sequences of the last several Indian imports," and after dissecting the film's numerous historical and chronological fallacies said, "Stateside Bollywood fans more accustomed to modern-day musical romances or stylish crime thrillers will be pleasantly surprised to find a period piece that's more Xena: Warrior Princess than A Passage to India.[23] Box office The film had average success in Rajasthan and other areas in North India. According to Eros, Veer grossed Rs. 48 crore net in its first week in India, including the Telugu version.[24] Allegations of plagiarism On 23 January 2010, author Pavan Chaudhary filed a Rs. 2 million suit against Khan, Anil Sharma and producer Vijay Kumar Galani, alleging that the film borrowed elements from his novel, Trilogy of Wisdom. The suit calls for a halt of the film's screenings.[25][26] Criticism The Rajput youth organisation Karni Sena was heavily critical of Veer, alleging that portions of the dialogue are "derogatory and demeaning for the Rajput community". Members of the group attacked several multiplexes in Jaipur, vandalising posters and smashing windows. Anil Sharma responded that it was a misunderstanding and no insult had been intended towards the Rajput community.[27] Awards and nominations 2011 Zee Cine Awards Nominated Best Female Debut Zarine Khan[28] Soundtrack Soundtrack album by Sajid- Wajid Released December 17, 2009 Genre Label Film soundtrack Eros Music

The film's music was released on 17 December 2009. The film's songs are composed by Sajid-Wajid and the lyrics are written by Oscar-winning lyricist Gulzar. The music received generally positive reviews from critics with Joginder Tuteja of Bollywood Hungama giving it an overall rating of 3.5 out of 5.[29] The songs, Surili Akhiyon Wale, Salaam Aaya and Taali received special praise.[29] No. Title Performer(s) Length 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. "Meherbaniyan" "Taali" "Surili Akhiyon Wale" "Kanha (Thumari)" "Taali" "Surili Akhiyon Wale" "Salaam Aaya" Sonu Nigam Sonu Nigam, Sukhwinder Wajid, Neuman Pinto Rahat Fateh D'Mello Ali Khan, Singh, Suzanne 0:58 6:10 5:31

Rekha Bhardwaj, Sharib Sabri, Toshi 4:36 Sabri, Shabaab Sabri Sukhwinder Singh Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Chauhan, Suzanne D'Mello Sunidhi 6:01 5:23

Roop Kumar Rathod, Shreya Ghoshal, 4:45 Suzanne D'Mello

8. "Spirit of Veer" (Instrumental) See also Bollywood films of 2010 List of historical drama films of Asia References 1. ^ "Budget of 'Veer' isn't Rs. 100 crores: Anil Sharma". Indian Express. 28 January 2010. http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Budget-of---Veer---isn--t-Rs--100-crores--Anil-Sharma/572460/. Retrieved 28 January 2010. 2. ^ "Box Office 2010". Boxofficeindia.com. http://www.boxofficeindia.com/showProd.php?itemCat=318&catName=MjAxMA==. Retrieved 15 September 2010. 3. ^ "Veer: Complete cast and crew details". Bollywood Hungama. http://www.bollywoodhungama.com/movies/cast/13908/index.html. Retrieved 21 January 2010.

^ a b Firdaus Ashraf, Syed (8 January 2010). "'I don't want to make depressing films for my fans'". Rediff.com. http://movies.rediff.com/slide-show/2010/jan/08/slide-show-1-salman-khan-on-veer.htm. Retrieved 21 January 2010. 5. ^ Box Office Earnings 02/04/10 08/04/10 6. ^ Subhadeep Bhattacharjee (23 November 2009). "Salman saved Bunny Anand's life". One India.com. http://entertainment.oneindia.in/bollywood/news/2009/salman-saved-bunny-231109.html. Retrieved 11 February 2010. 7. ^ Manohar Charla. "'I Fight Veer to Win the Princess!' Roy Bronsgeest", BollySpice.com, 21 January 2010 8. ^ "Salman Khan's 'Veer' on January 22". Press Trust of India. 24 November 2009. http://movies.ndtv.com/movie_Story.aspx?id=ENTEN20090118222. Retrieved 19 April 2010. 9. ^ Salman Khan (24 November 2009). "My Dream Project ...VEER". Official Blog by Salman Khan. Eros Entertainment. http://veerblogs.erosentertainment.com/index.asp?Page=5. Retrieved 21 January 2010. 10. ^ "When Men Were Men". Indian Express. 8 January 2010. http://www.indianexpress.com/news/when-menwere-men/564691/. Retrieved 27 January 2010. 11. ^ Aparajita Ghosh (5 April 2008). "Salman Khan gets brawnier for 'Veer'". ApunkaChoice.com. http://www.apunkachoice.com/scoop/bollywood/20080805-3.html. Retrieved 26 January 2010. 12. ^ Subhadeep Bhattacharjee (16 December 2009). "Salman made Zarine Khan gain weight". One India. http://entertainment.oneindia.in/bollywood/gupshup/2009/zarine-put-on-weight-161209.html. Retrieved 27 January 2010. 13. ^ "Swine flu, they fled!". Mid Day. http://www.mid-day.com/entertainment/2009/aug/120809-Salman-KhanVeer-Five-day-shoot-cancelled-Swine-Flu-scare-Pune-Bollywood.htm. Retrieved 27 January 2010. 14. ^ "Case against Amber bosses,'Veer' unit". Times of India. 17 February 2009. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Case-against-Amber-bossesVeer-unit/articleshow/4140010.cms. Retrieved 27 January 2010. 15. ^ "Salman given a second chance to shoot 'Veer' at Amber Fort". Screen. 19 February 2009. http://www.screenindia.com/news/salman-given-a-second-chance-to-shoot-veer-at-amber-fort/425673/. Retrieved 27 January 2010. 16. ^ "Salman's Veer releases on Jan 22". Times of India. 24 November 2009. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/bollywood/news-interviews/Salmans-Veer-releases-on-Jan22/articleshow/5263538.cms. Retrieved 6 March 2010. 17. ^ "Veer had a bumper first day at single screens". BoxOffice India. http://www.boxofficeindia.com/boxdetail.php?page=shownews&articleid=1453&nCat=box_office_report. Retrieved 22 January 2010. 18. ^ "Review: Veer is a colossal disappointment!". Sify. http://sify.com/movies/bollywood/review.php?id=14928427&ctid=5&cid=2425. Retrieved 22 January 2010. 19. ^ "Masand Movie Review: Veer is an impossible film". CNN IBN. http://ibnlive.in.com/news/masand-moviereview-veer-is-an-impossible-film/109075-8.html?from=webx. Retrieved 22 January 2010. 20. ^ "Director: Anil Sharma Cast: Salman Khan, Zarine Khan Rating:** Veer: Movie Review". Times of India. http://movies.indiatimes.com/reviews/bollywood/Veer-Movie-Review/articleshow/5485098.cms. Retrieved 22 January 2010. 21. ^ "Rating:**1/2 Veer: Movie Review". AOL.in. http://www.aol.in/bollywood-story/veer-moviereview/760211. Retrieved 22 January 2010. 22. ^ Veer Reviews 23. ^ Lovece, Frank. Veer (review), Film Journal International , January 25, 2010 24. ^ Press Trust India (27 January 2010). "Despite poor review, Salman's Veer steady at box office". Daily News & Analysis. http://www.dnaindia.com/entertainment/report_despite-poor-reviews-salman-s-veer-is-steady-atthe-box-office_1339912. Retrieved 27 January 2010. 25. ^ "Court notice to Veer Salman over copyright violation". The Hindu. 25 January 2010. http://beta.thehindu.com/news/cities/Delhi/article94721.ece. Retrieved 26 January 2010. 26. ^ "Court to hear lawsuit against 'Veer' Monday". Indiatimes. 25 January 2010. http://movies.indiatimes.com/news-gossip/news/Court-to-hear-lawsuit-against-VeerMonday/articleshow/5497390.cms. Retrieved 26 January 2010. 27. ^ Divya Kaushik and Shweta Thakur (1 February 2010). "Sallu's Veer in trouble". Times of India. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/bollywood/news-interviews/Sallus-Veer-introuble/articleshow/5519719.cms. Retrieved 31 January 2010. 28. ^ "Nominations for Zee Cine Awards 2011". Bollywood Hungama. http://www.bollywoodhungama.com/features/2011/01/01/6977/index.html. Retrieved 2011-01-07. 29. ^ a b Joginder Tutega (21 December 2009). "Veer: Music Review". Bollywood Hungama. http://www.bollywoodhungama.com/movies/musicreview/13908/index.html. Retrieved 21 January 2010. External links Veer at Rotten Tomatoes Veer at Box Office Mojo Veer at AllRovi Veer at Bollywood Hungama 4.

Vsevolod Meyerhold

Vsevolod Meyerhold by Boris Grigoriev, 1916

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Birth name Born Died Spouse

Karl Kasimir Theodor Meyerhold 9 February [O.S. 28 January] 1874 Penza Oblast, Russian Empire 2 February 1940 (aged 65) Moscow, Soviet Union Olga Munt Zinaida Reich

Nationality Russian Field Training Theatre Director Moscow Art Theatre

Movement Symbolism, Futurism Patrons Vera Komissarzhevskaya

Vsevolod Emilevich Meyerhold (Russian: ; born German: Karl Kasimir Theodor Meyerhold) (9 February [O.S. 28 January] 1874 2 February 1940) was a Russian and Soviet theatre director, actor and theatrical producer. His provocative experiments dealing with physical being and symbolism in an unconventional theatre setting made him one of the seminal forces in modern international theatre. Life and work Early life Vsevolod Meyerhold was born Karl Kasimir Theodor Meyerhold in Penza on 28 January o.s. (9 February n.s.) 1874 into the family of a Russian-German wine manufacturer Emil Fyodorovich Meyerhold, and his wife, Alvina Danilovna (van der Neese).[1] Though he was by no means from a poor family, he was the last of eight children.[2] After completing school in 1895, Meyerhold studied law at Moscow University but never completed his degree. He was torn between studying theatre or a career as a violinist. However, he failed his audition to become the second violinist in the University orchestra and in 1896 joined the Moscow Philharmonic Dramatic School.[3] On his 21st birthday, he converted from Lutheranism to Orthodox Christianity and accepted "Vsevolod" as an Orthodox Christian name (after the Russian writer Vsevolod Garshin, whose prose Meyerhold loved). Career Meyerhold began acting in 1896 as a student of the Moscow Philharmonic Dramatic School under the guidance ofVladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko, co-founder of the Moscow Art Theatre. At the MAT, Meyerhold played 18 roles, such as Vasiliy Shuiskiy in Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich and Ivan the Terrible in The Death of Ivan the Terrible (both by Aleksey Tolstoy), and Treplev in Chekhov's The Seagull. After leaving the MAT in 1902, Meyerhold participated in a number of theatrical projects, as both a director and actor. Each project was an arena for experiment and creation of new staging methods. Meyerhold was one of the most fervent advocates of Symbolism in theatre, especially when he worked as the chief producer of theVera Komissarzhevskaya theatre in 1906-1907. He was invited back to the MAT around this time to pursue his experimental ideas. Meyerhold continued theatrical innovation during the decade 1907-1917, while working with the imperial theatres in St. Petersburg, introducing classical plays in an innovative manner, and staging works of controversial contemporary authors like Fyodor Sologub, Zinaida Gippius, and Alexander Blok. In these plays, Meyerhold tried to return acting to the traditions of Commedia dell'arte, rethinking them for the contemporary theatrical reality. His theoretical concepts of the "conditional theatre" were elaborated in his book On Theatre in 1913. The Russian Revolution of 1917 made Meyerhold one of the most enthusiastic activists of the new Soviet Theatre. He joined the Bolshevik Party in 1918 and became an official of the Theatre Division (TEO) of the Commissariat of Education and Enlightenment, forming an alliance with Olga Kameneva, the head of the Division in 1918-1919. Together, they tried to radicalize Russian theatres, effectively nationalizing them under Bolshevik control. Meyerhold came down with tuberculosis in May 1919 and had to leave for the south. In his absence, the head of the Commissariat, Anatoly Lunacharsky, secured Vladimir Lenin's permission to revise government policy in favor of more traditional theatres and dismissed Kameneva in June 1919.[4] After returning to Moscow, Meyerhold founded his own theatre in 1920, which was known from 1923 as the Meyerhold Theatre until 1938. Meyerhold confronted the principles of theatrical academism, claiming that they are incapable of finding a common language with the new reality. Meyerholds methods of scenic constructivism and circus-style effects were used in his most successful works of the time: Nikolai Erdman's The Mandate, Vladimir Mayakovskys MysteryBouffe,Fernand Crommelynck's The Magnanimous Cuckold, and Aleksandr Sukhovo-Kobylin's Tarelkin's Death. Mayakovsky collaborated with Meyerhold several times, and Mayakovsky was said to write The Bed Bug especially for him; Meyerhold continued to stage Mayakovsky's productions even after the latter's suicide. The actors participating in Meyerholds productions acted according to the principle of biomechanics (only distantly related to the present scientific use of the term), the system of actor training that was later taught in a special school created by Meyerhold. Meyerhold gave initial boosts to the stage careers of some of the most distinguished comic actors of the USSR, including Sergey Martinson, Igor Ilyinsky and Erast Garin. His landmark production of Nikolai Gogol's The Government Inspector (1926) was described as the following: "Energetic, mischievous, charming Ilyinsky left his post to the nervous, fragile, suddenly freezing, grotesquely anxious Garin. Energy was replaced by trance, the dynamic with the static, happy jesting humour with bitter and glum satire".[5] Meyerhold's acting technique had fundamental principles at odds with the American method actor's conception. Where method acting melded the character with the actor's own personal memories to create the characters internal motivation, Meyerhold connected psychological and physiological processes. He had actors focus on learning gestures and movements as a way of expressing emotion physically. Following Stanislavski's lead, he said that the emotional state of an actor was inextricably linked to his physical state (and vice versa), and that one could call up emotions in performance by practicing and assuming poses, gestures, and movements. He developed a number of body expressions that his actors would use to portray specific emotions and characters. (Stanislavski was also at odds with it, because like Meyerhold, his approach was psychophysical). Meyerhold inspired revolutionary artists and filmmakers such as Sergei Eisenstein, who studied with Meyerhold. In his films, he used actors who worked in Meyerholds tradition. Eisenstein cast actors based on what they looked like and

their expression, and followed Meyerhold's stylized acting methods. In Strike, the bourgeois are always obese, drinking, eating, and smoking, whereas the workers are more athletic. Meyerhold was strongly opposed to socialist realism. In the early 1930s, when Joseph Stalin repressed all avantgarde art and experimentation, his works were proclaimed antagonistic and alien to the Soviet people. His theatre was closed down in January 1938; the ailing Constantin Stanislavski, then the director of an opera theatre now known as Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Music Theatre, invited Meyerhold to lead his company. Stanislavski died in August 1938. Arrest and death Meyerhold directed his theatre for nearly a year until his arrest in Leningrad on 20 June 1939. Shortly after that, on 15 July, his wife, the actress Zinaida Reich, was found murdered by multiple stab wounds in their Moscow apartment. Later that year Meyerhold was brutally tortured[6] and forced to confess that he worked for Japanese and British intelligence agencies. He later recanted the confession in a letter to Vyacheslav Molotov. The file on Meyerhold contains his letter from prison to Molotov: The investigators began to use force on me, a sick 65-year-old man. I was made to lie face down and beaten on the soles of my feet and my spine with a rubber strap... For the next few days, when those parts of my legs were covered with extensive internal hemorrhaging, they again beat the red-blue-and-yellow bruises with the strap and the pain was so intense that it felt as if boiling water was being poured on these sensitive areas. I howled and wept from the pain When I lay down on the cot and fell asleep, after 18 hours of interrogation, in order to go back in an hour's time for more, I was woken up by my own groaning and because I was jerking about like a patient in the last stages of typhoid fever.[7]

He was sentenced to death by firing squad on 2 February 1940, and executed the next day. The Soviet government cleared him of all charges in 1955, during the first wave of de-Stalinization. Bibliography In English: Texts by Meyerhold Meyerhold on Theatre, trans. and ed. by Edward Braun, with a critical commentary, 1969. London: Methuen and New York: Hill and Wang. Meyerhold Speaks/Meyerhold Rehearses (Russian Theatre Archive), by V. Meyerhold, Alexander Gladkov (ed.) and Alma Law (ed.), Routledge, 1996 Meyerhold at Work, Paul Schmidt (ed.), Applause Theatre Book Publishers, 1996 Works on Meyerhold Vsevolod Meyerhold (Routledge Performance Practitioners Series), by Jonathan Pitches, Routledge, 2003 Meyerhold: The art of conscious theater, by Marjorie L Hoover, University of Massachusetts Press, 1974 (biography) Vsevolod Meyerhold (Directors in Perspective Series), by Robert Leach, Christopher Innes (ed.), Cambridge University Press, 1993 Meyerholds Theatre of the Grotesque: Post-revolutionary Productions, 1920-32, James M. Symons, 1971 Meyerhold: A Revolution in Theatre, by Edward Braun, University of Iowa Press, 1998 The Theatre of Meyerhold: Revolution and the Modern Stage by Edward Braun, 1995 Stanislavsky and Meyerhold (Stage and Screen Studies, v. 3), by Robert Leach, Peter Lang, 2003 Meyerhold the Director, by Konstantin Rudnitsky, Ardis, 1981 Meyerhold, Eisenstein and Biomechanics: Actor Training in Revolutionary Russia by Alma H. Law, Mel Gordon, McFarland & co, 1995 The Death of Meyerhold A play by Mark Jackson, premiered at The Shotgun Players, Berkeley, CA, December 2003. The Theater of Meyerhold and Brecht, by Katherine B. Eaton, Greenwood Press,1985 Meyerhold and the Music Theater, by Isaak Glikman, 'Soviet Composer', Leningrad, 1989 Vsevolod Meyerhold Annotated Bibliography, by David Roy, LTScotland, 2002 See also Nikolay Okhlopkov Mikhail Chekhov Yevgeny Vakhtangov Sergei Mikhailovich Tretyakov Andrei Droznin List of theatre directors Notes 1. ^ [1]

^ Pitches (2003, 4) ^ Ibid. ^ See Robert Leach and Victor Borovsky. A History of Russian Theatre, Cambridge University Press, 1999, ISBN 0-521-43220-0 p. 303. 5. ^ Konstantin L. Rudnitsky. Meyerhold the Director. Moscow, 1969. 6. ^ Simon Sebag Montefiore. Stalin: The court of the Red Tsar. 2004 p. 323 7. ^ From letter to V. Molotov, 13 January 1940. External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Vsevolod Meyerhold Meyerhold's Boris Godunov Meyerhold in the Encyclopdia Britannica Meyerhold Memorial Museum Meyerhold's theatrical system Meyerhold's Biomechanics, Etudes, Training Meyerhold's Biomechanics Training Meyerhold's biomechanics Oliver M. Sayler article on Meyerhold's theatre Meyerhold on russiandrama.net Moscow Meyerhold Theatre (Russian) Meyerhold and Henri Barbusse Meyerhold & Mayakovsky - Biomechanics & the Communist Utopia Meyerhold in Russian periodicals Meyerhold's Theatre and Biomechanics DVD

2. 3. 4.

Meyerhold preparing for the role of Treplev for the Moscow Art Theater 1898 production ofThe Seagull by Anton Chekhov Vsevolod Meyerhold and his second wife Zinaida Reich - Meyerhold married his first wife, Olga Munt, in 1896 and together they had three daughters. He later met the actress Zinaida Reich when she began studying with him. They fell in love and he divorced his wife; Reich was already divorced and had two children of her own. They married in 1922 or 1924.

Meyerhold's mugshot, taken at the time of his arrest by Soviet police

Alexander Golovin's portrait of Meyerhold.