''The Living Corpse'' (german: Der lebende Leichnam, russian: Живой труп, Zhivoy trup) is a 1929 German-Soviet
silent drama film directed by
Fyodor Otsep
Fedor Ozep or Fyodor Otsep (russian: Фёдор Алекса́ндрович О́цеп, ''Fyodor Aleksandrovich Otsep''; February 9, 1895 – June 20, 1949) was a Russian-American film director and screenwriter, born in Moscow. An important earl ...
and starring
Vsevolod Pudovkin,
Maria Jacobini and
Viola Garden.
[Taylor p.55] It is based on the 1911 posthumously debuted play ''
The Living Corpse'' by
Leo Tolstoy. It was made as a
co-production between the Russian-based
Mezhrabpomfilm and the
Communist
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
-backed German company
Prometheus Film.
Plot
At the center of the action is Fyodor Protassov whose marriage with his wife Liza is largely finished. As the
Russian Orthodox Church does not tolerate
divorce, he one day fakes his
suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...
so that his wife can be with her lover Viktor Karenin. While he begins to lead a life of illegality and subterfuge which despite his new companion does not make him content, this decisive step to the fake death which has made him a "living corpse" is no real happiness.
One day it is found out that Fyodor is still alive and that Liza is guilty of
bigamy. She is accused and a sentence for her "offense" waits for her, which is in actuality Fyodor's. Protassov, who never wanted to take this so far, decides therefore to one last sacrifice: he now completes the deceived act and actually commits suicide by shooting himself.
Cast
*
Vsevolod Pudovkin
Vsevolod Illarionovich Pudovkin ( rus, Всеволод Илларионович Пудовкин, p=ˈfsʲevələt ɪl(ː)ərʲɪˈonəvʲɪtɕ pʊˈdofkʲɪn; 28 February 1893 – 30 June 1953) was a Soviet film director, screenwriter and acto ...
as Fyodor Protasov
*
Maria Jacobini
Maria Jacobini (17 February 1892 – 20 November 1944) was an Italian film actress. She was married to the film director Gennaro Righelli and appeared in many of his silent films for the Vesuvio Film Company.Moliterno p.266 She worked in the Cinem ...
as Yelizaveta Andreyevna Protasova (Liza)
*
Viola Garden
; german: Bratsche
, alt=Viola shown from the front and the side
, image=Bratsche.jpg
, caption=
, background=string
, hornbostel_sachs=321.322-71
, hornbostel_sachs_desc=Composite chordophone sounded by a bow
, range=
, related=
*Violin family ...
as Sasha (Liza's sister)
*
Julia Serda
Julia Serda (6 April 1875 – 3 December 1965) was an Austrian stage and film actress.Grange p.120 She was married to the actor Hans Junkermann.
Biography
Julia Serda was born on 6 April 1875 in Vienna. She became fascinated by the stage at an ...
as Anna Pavlovna
*
Nato Vachnadze
Natalia "Nato" Vachnadze ( ka, ნატო ვაჩნაძე), born Natalia Andronikashvili ( ka, ნატო ანდრონიკაშვილი), (14 June 1904 – 14 June 1953) was a Georgian and Soviet film actress. She started h ...
as Masha, a gypsy
*
Gustav Diessl
Gustav Diessl (30 December 1899 – 20 March 1948) was an Austrian artist, and film and stage actor.
Biography
Diessl was born Gustav Karl Balthasar Diessl in Vienna. In 1916, he was an extra on different stages in Vienna but was soon recruite ...
as Viktor Mikhajlovich Karenin
*
Vera Maretskaya as Prostitute
*
Daniil Vvedenskiy as Artem'ev (The Good Spirit)
*
Vladimir Uralsky
Vladimir Mikhailovich Uralsky (russian: link=no, Владимир Миха́йлович Уральский) was a Soviet actor. Vladimir played in more than 100 films.
Selected filmography
* 1924 — '' Aelita''
* 1925 — '' Strike''
* 1925 ...
as Petushkov
*
Boris Barnet as Sailor in tavern
*
Carola Höhn
*
Karl Junge-Swinburne Karl may refer to:
People
* Karl (given name), including a list of people and characters with the name
* Karl der Große, commonly known in English as Charlemagne
* Karl Marx, German philosopher and political writer
* Karl of Austria, last Austrian ...
*
Porfiri Podobed
*
Pyotr Repnin
*
Sylvia Torf
Sylvia may refer to:
People
*Sylvia (given name)
*Sylvia (singer), American country music and country pop singer and songwriter
*Sylvia Robinson, American singer, record producer, and record label executive
* Sylvia Vrethammar, Swedish singer cred ...
References
Bibliography
* Taylor, Richard. ''Film Propaganda: Soviet Russia and Nazi Germany''. I.B.Tauris, 1998.
External links
*
Films of the Weimar Republic
Soviet silent feature films
German silent feature films
Films directed by Fedor Ozep
Films based on works by Leo Tolstoy
Soviet black-and-white films
German black-and-white films
Soviet films based on plays
German films based on plays
{{1920s-USSR-film-stub