A Sixteenth Century Russian Wedding
About A Sixteenth Century Russian Wedding
A young boyar overturns a cart on the road. The boyaryshnya inside is unhurt, and they part. At home his parents arrange a marriage to a girl he is forbidden to see before the ceremony. When the bride lifts her veil, he recognizes the woman from the road. Goncharov kept only some of that story: matchmakers at the bride's house, matchmakers at the groom's house, the dressing of the bride, the feast, and the bridal chamber.
Cast & crew
More about A Sixteenth Century Russian Wedding
Vasili Goncharov adapted Pyotr Sukhonin's play A Russian Wedding at the End of the 16th Century for Aleksandr Khanzhonkov. Designer V. Fester based the sets and costumes on historical paintings by Konstantin Makovsky, as the opening titles state.
Themes
Background
Released in spring 1909, it is one of Khanzhonkov's first story films of boyar life.
Making
Goncharov, a theater man, staged the five ceremony scenes rather than filming the whole of Sukhonin's carriage accident.
Look
Vladimir Siversen photographed the interior ceremony scenes in Fester's sets.
Preservation
The film is in the public domain, and a copy is on Wikimedia Commons.
Notes
- Aleksandra Goncharova plays the bride and Andrey Gromov the groom.
- Pyotr Chardynin plays the groom's father, Lidiya Tridenskaya the groom's mother, and Vasili Stepanov the bride's father.
- The matchmakers are Ivan Kamsky, Pavel Biryukov, and Ivan Potyomkin.
- Russian Wikipedia notes that the film is in the public domain.
- The Russian title is Русская свадьба XVI столетия.
Scenes
- Matchmakers are received in the bride's house, then in the groom's.
- The bride lifts her veil and the groom recognizes her.
Influenced by
- Pyotr Sukhonin's play A Russian Wedding at the End of the 16th Century
- Paintings by Konstantin Makovsky
Also available
- Wikimedia Commons (Русская свадьба XVI столетия. (1909).webm)
