Drama in a Gypsy Camp Near Moscow
About Drama in a Gypsy Camp Near Moscow
Near Kuntsevo, Aza marries Aleko, who then loses his money, his horse, and Aza herself to a rival at cards, and the camp drives him out. At night she refuses to run away with him. He stabs her and throws himself from a bank of the Moscow River. A 1908 Cine-Phono synopsis is the source of that plot. Vladimir Siversen wrote and directed the Khanzhonkov short.
Cast & crew
More about Drama in a Gypsy Camp Near Moscow
Aleksandr Khanzhonkov produced it, and Wikidata also lists Siversen as cinematographer, with a length of 6 minutes. Khanzhonkov wrote that it was planned as the first Russian everyday drama and staged in a real camp, without props. Only a fragment survives, without subtitles, and the Wikimedia file is labeled 1908.
Themes
Making
The camp near Kuntsevo Park was the set. Khanzhonkov stressed that no props were used.
Look
Vladimir Siversen is credited on Wikidata as both director and cinematographer.
Preservation
Only a fragment survives, and it has no intertitles.
Notes
- Cine-Phono printed the synopsis in 1908, the year before the film's Wikidata date.
- Khanzhonkov said the gypsy players were poor in front of the camera.
- Rachel Morley discusses the film in Performing Femininity, pages 76–82 of the edition cited on the English Wikipedia.
- The catalog's shorter telling matches the stabbing and the leap, and leaves out the card game.
Scenes
- Aleko bets Aza at cards and loses her to the rival.
- He stabs her when she will not flee, then jumps from the Moscow River bank.
Also available
- Wikimedia Commons (Драма в таборе подмосковных цыган. (1908).webm)