Spoilers Warning Elaborated: In this comment, I discuss the ending to this film (and other narrative moments), as well as the ending to "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" (Das Kabinett des Doktor Caligari) (1920).
With this film, "The Queen of Spades", director Yakov Protazanov avoids what seemed to me his greatest weakness in the other three films of his I've seen: "Departure of a Grand Old Man" (1912), "Father Sergius" (1917) and "Aelita" (1924). That is, his films are a series of boring long takes of long shots. In this film, the camera rarely moves, but there's some editing, especially with the fantasy sequences. It also doesn't hurt that it's from a story by Pushkin, which Tchaikovsky had adapted into an opera.
The flashbacks help brake up the monotony of the static camera shots, and they do well to give the background story of the Countess. The first flashback is told by a secondary source narrator and features some well-done crosscutting between the imagined story and the storyteller. There's also a suggestion of overlapping between reality and fantasy, although not quite in the way of "Aelita". In one scene, the Countess dreams of a youthful liaison, only to have it dissolve to current reality where German is entering the room. There's also a scene with fantasy and reality in split-screen.
The ambiguity over what is real is made more evident in the film's dénouement when German becomes mad. The scene at the mental hospital mildly suggests the possibility that a madman had narrated the entire story. I might, however, be reading too much into it, as it doesn't seem so intentional as in the classic case of "Dr. Caligari". The suggestion is enough, though, and, as a result, I don't fault the film for a jump cut (which is, technically, stopping filming during a shot and then resuming without having altered the camera positioning significantly) in a scene where an extra disappears before exiting the frame.
The Countess' ghost casting a shadow may be seen as an error. And, the acting is typical for the time, even though Ivan Mozzhukhin became Russia's leading star from his partnership with Protazanov. Mozzhukhin was on the side of actors who practiced stiffness, rather than gesticulation, to express their characters. Both styles are noticeably artificial and, at times, bothersome. He does a lot with the eyes, which is emphasized by the heavy mascara; a tracking shot of him, as German, entering the casino a third time highlights this.
Protazanov managed, after a brief refuge in France, to continue making films in the Soviet Union; although, as far as I know, he never subscribed to the montage school, as demonstrated by "Aelita", which does have a communist standpoint nonetheless. He certainly didn't have the genius of Yevgeni Bauer, but that's an unfair comparison. With "The Queen of Spades", he does show skill, and, if I ever get a chance, I'd be happy to see more of his work.
With this film, "The Queen of Spades", director Yakov Protazanov avoids what seemed to me his greatest weakness in the other three films of his I've seen: "Departure of a Grand Old Man" (1912), "Father Sergius" (1917) and "Aelita" (1924). That is, his films are a series of boring long takes of long shots. In this film, the camera rarely moves, but there's some editing, especially with the fantasy sequences. It also doesn't hurt that it's from a story by Pushkin, which Tchaikovsky had adapted into an opera.
The flashbacks help brake up the monotony of the static camera shots, and they do well to give the background story of the Countess. The first flashback is told by a secondary source narrator and features some well-done crosscutting between the imagined story and the storyteller. There's also a suggestion of overlapping between reality and fantasy, although not quite in the way of "Aelita". In one scene, the Countess dreams of a youthful liaison, only to have it dissolve to current reality where German is entering the room. There's also a scene with fantasy and reality in split-screen.
The ambiguity over what is real is made more evident in the film's dénouement when German becomes mad. The scene at the mental hospital mildly suggests the possibility that a madman had narrated the entire story. I might, however, be reading too much into it, as it doesn't seem so intentional as in the classic case of "Dr. Caligari". The suggestion is enough, though, and, as a result, I don't fault the film for a jump cut (which is, technically, stopping filming during a shot and then resuming without having altered the camera positioning significantly) in a scene where an extra disappears before exiting the frame.
The Countess' ghost casting a shadow may be seen as an error. And, the acting is typical for the time, even though Ivan Mozzhukhin became Russia's leading star from his partnership with Protazanov. Mozzhukhin was on the side of actors who practiced stiffness, rather than gesticulation, to express their characters. Both styles are noticeably artificial and, at times, bothersome. He does a lot with the eyes, which is emphasized by the heavy mascara; a tracking shot of him, as German, entering the casino a third time highlights this.
Protazanov managed, after a brief refuge in France, to continue making films in the Soviet Union; although, as far as I know, he never subscribed to the montage school, as demonstrated by "Aelita", which does have a communist standpoint nonetheless. He certainly didn't have the genius of Yevgeni Bauer, but that's an unfair comparison. With "The Queen of Spades", he does show skill, and, if I ever get a chance, I'd be happy to see more of his work.