How Czar Peter the Great Married Off His Moor

How Czar Peter the Great Married Off His Moor
Directed by	Aleksandr Mitta
Written by	Yuli Dunsky Valeri Frid Aleksandr Mitta
Starring	Vladimir Vysotskiy Alexei Petrenko Ivan Ryzhov Irina Mazurkevich Mikhail Kokshenov Yevgeni Mitta
Music by	Alfred Shnitke
Cinematography	Valeri Shuvalov
Edited by	Z. Karpukhina Nadezhda Veselyovskaya
Production company	Gorky Film Studio
Release dates	1976 (1976)
Running time	100 minutes
Country	Soviet Union
Language	Russian

How Czar Peter the Great Married Off His Moor (Russian: Сказ про то, как царь Пётр арапа женил, Skaz pro to, kak tsar Pyotr arapa zhenil) is a 1976 musical film directed by the Russian filmmaker Aleksandr Mitta. The film features Vladimir Vysotsky as the protagonist Abram Gannibal, the North African godson of Peter the Great. Also starring in the film are Aleksei Petrenko as Czar Peter, and Irina Mazurkevich as Natasha Rtishcheva.^[1] It's an adaptation of the book Peter the Great's Negro by Gannibal's great-grandson Aleksandr Pushkin, written in 1827. The music for the film was done by the composer Alfred Shnitke. In 1976, the film was the sixth most popular film in the Soviet Union, being seen 33,100,000 times.

Plot

The beginning of the film contains some animations depicting Abram's acquisition from his native land and eventually we find him in the courts of Paris. He gets himself in trouble when a French countess, whom he had romances with, bears a black child. Abram is challenged to a duel which is played out humorously in a sped up timeframe. He leaves Paris shortly thereafter to return to his home in St. Petersburg where his godfather, and czar of Russia Peter the Great enthusiastically awaits his return. Upon arriving Abram expresses he is done with love, as his lover denounces him as a savage and his son is never fated to know his father. In an attempt to help Abram, as well as tie him into the nobility of Russia, Peter announces Abram and Natasha Rtishcheva are to be wed, to the despair of the family and her current suitor. Abram, however, refuses the marriage on the grounds that he believes Natasha is in love with another. This angers the czar who in turn begins to alienate both Abram and Natasha's family from his favor. The conundrum plays out in humorous and dramatic ways and eventually resolves in a pleasant and light-hearted manner.

Cinematography

The film is in color and makes use of animation at times, as well as a combination of animated scenes and live actors. The colors are lively and in a few instances the timescale is sped up, making light of otherwise dire situations. Also Mitta makes use of point-of-view angles, for example when a nervous mariner crosses a long, elevated plank in order to reach Peter the camera looks down at his feet as he nervously crosses. The shot shows the drop below and the characters feet cautiously making each step, poking fun at the hesitation.

References

External links

How Czar Peter the Great Married Off His Moor at the Internet Movie Database