Father Sergius
About Father Sergius
Prince Stepan Kasatsky (Ivan Mozzhukhin) admires Tsar Nicholas I (Vladimir Gaidarov) and is engaged to Maria Korotkova. He learns she has been the Tsar's mistress. He breaks the engagement, leaves the Guards, and enters a monastery as Father Sergius. The film follows Tolstoy's story from that break onward.
Cast & crew
More about Father Sergius
Yakov Protazanov directed. Alexandre Volkoff wrote the script and took over on the set when Protazanov was ill, so he is credited as co-director. Joseph Ermolieff produced. Fédote Bourgasoff and Nikolai Rudakov photographed it. Y. Bukke wrote music for showings. Shooting ran from the middle of 1917 into early 1918. A release date of 14 May 1918 is recorded. The listed length is 112 minutes. A circulating copy runs about 78 minutes. Nathalie Lissenko and Vera Orlova are in the cast. The Russian title is Отец Сергий. It is the first film of Tolstoy's 1911 story. Priests could not be shown in Russian Empire films until after October 1917.
Themes
Background
Tolstoy's story was published in 1911. Until the October Revolution, Russian producers were not allowed to put a priest on screen, so this is the first filming of it.
Making
Ermolieff's company started the film while the ban on clerical subjects was lifting, and finished it in the first months of 1918.
Look
Fédote Bourgasoff and Nikolai Rudakov photographed the court scenes and the monastery.
Music
Y. Bukke is credited with music for the film. The picture itself is silent, with Russian intertitles.
Preservation
A print survives. The release listing is 112 minutes. A copy in circulation runs about 78 minutes.
Notes
- Mozzhukhin plays Kasatsky from the court uniform into the monk's robe.
- Gaidarov, not a newsreel of the Tsar, plays Nicholas I.
- The company credit is Ermolieff, not Khanzhonkov.
- Volkoff's directing credit is the weeks Protazanov was sick, not a second film.
- A print shorter than the 112-minute listing is the one usually shown.
Scenes
- Kasatsky learns that Maria has been the Tsar's mistress.
- He leaves the Guards and takes the name Father Sergius.
Influenced by
- Father Sergius by Leo Tolstoy (1911)
