The Portrait

Plot

Based on Nikolai Gogol's chilling tale, 'The Portrait' follows a young, impoverished artist named Chartkov who acquires a mysterious portrait of an old man with disturbingly lifelike eyes. The portrait seems to exert a supernatural influence over Chartkov, initially bringing him wealth and success but gradually corrupting his artistic soul and driving him toward madness. As the portrait's power grows, Chartkov becomes obsessed with destroying it while simultaneously being unable to resist its dark allure. The film explores themes of artistic integrity, supernatural obsession, and the price of worldly success, culminating in Chartkov's desperate attempts to escape the portrait's malevolent influence.

Historical Background

The Portrait was produced in 1915 during a tumultuous period in Russian history, as World War I raged across Europe and social tensions were building toward the 1917 revolutions. The Russian Empire was experiencing a cultural renaissance in cinema, with Moscow and St. Petersburg becoming centers of artistic innovation. This era saw Russian filmmakers developing sophisticated visual techniques and exploring complex literary adaptations, particularly of works by authors like Gogol, Dostoevsky, and Tolstoy. The horror genre was in its infancy globally, and Russian filmmakers were among the pioneers exploring supernatural themes on screen. The film's creation during wartime meant resources were increasingly scarce, yet the Russian film industry was reaching new artistic heights just before the Bolshevik Revolution would dramatically transform the country's cultural landscape.

Making Of

Władysław Starewicz, primarily celebrated for his revolutionary stop-motion techniques with dead insects and articulated puppets, ventured into live-action horror with this adaptation of Gogol's supernatural tale. The production took place at the Khanzhonkov Company's Moscow studios during the height of Russian cinema's artistic golden age. Starewicz brought his meticulous attention to detail from animation to this live-action project, reportedly spending considerable time on the portrait prop itself to ensure it had the unsettling quality described in Gogol's story. The filming coincided with World War I, which created production challenges including material shortages and the mobilization of some crew members. The surviving fragment suggests Starewicz experimented with innovative lighting techniques and camera angles to create the film's unsettling atmosphere, techniques that would influence his later animated works.

Visual Style

The surviving fragment of 'The Portrait' demonstrates sophisticated cinematographic techniques for its time, including dramatic lighting contrasts and carefully composed shots that enhance the film's unsettling atmosphere. The cinematography appears to have utilized chiaroscuro effects to create shadows and highlights that emphasize the supernatural elements of the story. Camera positioning seems deliberate and thoughtful, with angles designed to create psychological tension. The lighting techniques suggest the influence of German expressionist cinema that was developing around the same period. The portrait itself appears to have been filmed with special attention to make it seem uncannily lifelike, using lighting and possibly subtle camera movements to enhance its supernatural quality.

Innovations

While specific technical details are limited due to the film's fragmentary survival, 'The Portrait' appears to have employed several innovative techniques for its time. The film likely utilized multiple exposure techniques to create supernatural effects, particularly in scenes involving the portrait's seemingly living eyes. The makeup and special effects for creating the unsettling appearance of the portrait's subject would have required advanced techniques for 1915. The film's atmospheric lighting suggests sophisticated control of artificial lighting sources, which was still developing in cinema of this era. Starewicz's background in animation may have influenced the film's technical approach, bringing a meticulous attention to visual detail that was uncommon in live-action films of the period.

Music

As a silent film, 'The Portrait' would have been accompanied by live musical performance during its original theatrical run. The typical practice in Russian cinemas of 1915 would have involved either a pianist or small orchestra providing improvised or selected classical music to accompany the film. For a horror film like this, the musical accompaniment would likely have included dramatic, suspenseful pieces, possibly drawing from Russian classical composers like Mussorgsky or Tchaikovsky. The exact musical selections or any composed score specifically for the film are not documented. Modern screenings of the surviving fragment typically feature newly composed scores or carefully selected period-appropriate music to recreate the silent film experience.

Memorable Scenes

• The scene where Chartkov first acquires the portrait and notices its uncannily lifelike eyes
• The moment when the portrait's influence begins to corrupt Chartkov's artistic vision
• The climatic sequence where Chartkov attempts to destroy the cursed painting

What Critics Said

Contemporary reviews of 'The Portrait' are scarce due to the passage of time and the film's fragmentary survival. However, film historians who have studied the surviving fragment praise its atmospheric qualities and sophisticated visual techniques. Modern critics recognize it as an important example of early Russian horror cinema and a significant adaptation of Gogol's work. The film is frequently cited in scholarly works about lost films and the development of horror as a cinematic genre. Retrospective analyses often note how Starewicz brought his animator's sensibility to the live-action format, creating carefully composed shots and unsettling visual effects. The fragment that survives suggests the film was ahead of its time in its psychological approach to horror, focusing on internal torment rather than external threats.

What Audiences Thought

Original audience reactions to 'The Portrait' are not well-documented, though contemporary accounts suggest that Russian audiences of the 1910s were increasingly sophisticated in their appreciation of literary adaptations and psychological dramas. The film's supernatural themes would have resonated with Russian audiences familiar with Gogol's work and the country's rich tradition of ghost stories and folk tales. Modern audiences who have seen the surviving fragment often express fascination with its atmospheric qualities and frustration that so little of the film remains. The fragment is sometimes screened at film festivals and archives specializing in silent cinema, where it generates interest from film enthusiasts and scholars as a rare glimpse into early Russian horror cinema.

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