The Queen of Spades (1916)

Original title

Пиковая дама

Directed by

Yakov Protazanov

Genre

drama film, fantasy film, horror film, silent film

Country

Russian Empire

Runtime

1h 24m

Rating

5.3 of 10 from 18 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A man becomes obsessed with uncovering the secret of three winning cards from an old countess. He pursues the knowledge at any cost, leading to a downward spiral.

tenseatmosphericpsychologicalstylizedsombergothicslow-burndreamlike

What happens

The Queen of Spades (Russian: «Пиковая дама», romanized: Pikovaya dama) is a 1916 film adaptation of the 1834 Aleksandr Pushkin short story of the same name. It is noted for its high production values, directorial technique and psychological depth of acting, especially by Ivan Mosjoukine. It is considered to be one of the best pre-revolutionary Russian films. The film was the second production of the story, the first being the silent short film adaptation of the Pyotr Tchaikovsky opera by Pyotr Chardynin in 1910. Yakov Protazanov uses a wide combination of narrative, staging and camera techniques, many of which were unusual for that time, including retrospection, visions (prototypes of the stream of consciousness), split screen combination shots, flashbacks, jump cuts, deep focus and deep staging, and dissolves. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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