Stenka Razin
About Stenka Razin
The Cossack leader Stenka Razin falls in love with a Persian princess his band has captured. His men resent her. They break into her dance with a Russian dance of their own, then frame her as unfaithful. Razin believes them and throws her into the Volga.
Cast & crew
More about Stenka Razin
Vladimir Romashkov directed. Vasily Goncharov wrote the script. Alexander Drankov produced and photographed the film, with Nikolai Kozlovsky also credited on camera. Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov wrote a score built on the folk song Down Along Mother Volga. Drankov's company released it on October 15, 1908.
Themes
Background
Drankov's company released the short on October 15, 1908.
In film history
Generally considered the first Russian feature film, and built around a folk song the audience was invited to sing.
Making
Drankov, who ran the company, also shot the film. The score asks the crowd to join a song they already knew.
Look
Alexander Drankov and Nikolai Kozlovsky photographed the film.
Music
Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov wrote a score on the folk song Down Along Mother Volga. Drankov encouraged the audience to sing it.
Preservation
A print survives and circulates under the Russian title Ponizovaya volnitsa.
Notes
- Yevgeny Petrov-Krayevsky plays Stenka Razin.
- Drankov asked audiences to sing the folk song, known as the drunkard's ballad, during the screening.
- Romashkov did not direct another film.
- The picture is also called Free Men of the Volga. The Russian title used on surviving copies is Ponizovaya volnitsa.
Scenes
- The men interrupt the princess's dance with a Russian dance.
- Razin throws her into the Volga after they convince him she has been unfaithful.
Also available
- Wikimedia Commons (1908. Понизовая вольница.ogv)
