''The Marriage of the Bear'' (russian: Медвежья свадьба, Medvezhya svadba) (aka ''The Bear's Wedding'') is a 1925 Soviet silent horror-

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by

Konstantin Eggert Konstantin Vladimorovich Eggert (russian: Константин Владимирович Эггерт; 9 October 1883 – 24 October 1955) was a Russian actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The acto ...

and

Vladimir Gardin Vladimir Rostislavovich Gardin (russian: Влади́мир Ростисла́вович Га́рдин) (born Vladimir Rostislavovich Blagonravov (Благонра́вов); – 28 May 1965) was a pioneering Russian film director and actor who ...

. It is based on the play with the same name by

Anatoli Lunacharsky Anatoly Vasilyevich Lunacharsky (russian: Анато́лий Васи́льевич Лунача́рский) (born Anatoly Aleksandrovich Antonov, – 26 December 1933) was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and the first Bolshevik Soviet People' ...

, which in turn was based on

Prosper Mérimée Prosper Mérimée (; 28 September 1803 – 23 September 1870) was a French writer in the movement of Romanticism, and one of the pioneers of the novella, a short novel or long short story. He was also a noted archaeologist and historian, and a ...

's novella '' Lokis'' (Lithuanian for "bear"). Prosper Mérimée wrote many short stories of which ''Lokis'' is one. He was also the author of '' La Venus d'Ille'' which Italian horror director

Mario Bava Mario Bava (31 July 1914 – 27 April 1980) was an Italian filmmaker who worked variously as a director, cinematographer, special effects artist and screenwriter, frequently referred to as the "Master of Italian Horror" and the "Master of the M ...

adapted to film in 1978. The Russian silent film with its lycanthropic theme predates Universal's later werewolf films, such as ''The Werewolf of London'' (1935) and ''The Wolf Man'' (1941). But with prints of this film almost impossible to view (although it is said to still exist in a couple of archives), it's difficult to determine if the "man-into-beast" scenes of the film refers to a literal shapeshifter, or if it's just a psychological condition that affects the main character's mind. Despite this claim by critic Troy Howarth that the film is possibly lost there is clear evidence the film screened on television in Russia during the vhs era and a recording of one such broadcast is in circulation. Critic Troy Howarth calls it "possibly the first depiction of a man-into-beast scenario (in a horror film)".Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 283. . However, as stated by film critic Kat Ellinger, who has seen the film, no such transition occurs. The Count’s potential status as a lycanthrope is suggested through surreal dream sequences and third party story telling. The film’s climax where the bride is killed, is shown only in the aftermath and it is ambiguous as to whether the Count was in bear form when he murdered her. This interpretation is in line with the original Merimee text, which is also ambiguous. Merimee’s novella has two other adaptations on film that are known so far: 1971 as ''Lokis'' by Polish director Janusz Majewski, and again in 1975 as ''The Beast'' by Polish auteur

Walerian Borowczyk Walerian Borowczyk (21 October 1923 – 3 February 2006) was an internationally known Polish film director described by film critics as a 'genius who also happened to be a pornographer'. He directed 40 films between 1946 and 1988. Borowczyk set ...

Plot

When a pregnant Russian countess is frightened by a bear, she later gives birth to a male child who acts in some ways like an animal. As the boys matures, he takes to stalking young women in the forest while wearing the skin of a bear. When he becomes an adult, the boy marries a young girl and appears to be normal. But on their honeymoon, he turns into a bear and murders his wife, drinking her blood. But it's not clear whether the transformation is real, or if the young man just believes he is a bear and is acting like one.

Cast

* Vera Malinovskaya as Yulka * B. Afonin * Varvara Alyokhina as Old Adelina * Alexander Geirot * Aleksandra Kartseva as Adelina Shemet *

Galina Kravchenko Galina Sergeevna Kravchenko (Russian: Галина Сергеевна Кравченко; 11 February 19055 March 1996) was a Soviet actress. Biography Galina Kravchenko was born on 11 February 1905 in Kazan, Russian Empire (now Kazan, Tatarsta ...

* Olga Lenskaya * * M. Rozenstein * N. Stal * Nikolai Vitovtov * Vladimir Vladislavskiy * Ye. Volkonskaya *

Yuri Zavadsky Yuri Aleksandrovich Zavadsky (russian: Юрий Александрович Завадский; 12 July 1894, Moscow — 5 April 1977, Moscow) was a Soviet and Russian theater director, actor and pedagogue. People's Artist of the USSR (1948) and ...

as Olgert

References

Bibliography

* Liz-Anne Bawden. ''The Oxford companion to film''. Oxford University Press, 1976.

External links

* 1925 films 1925 drama films 1925 horror films 1920s fantasy films Soviet silent feature films Soviet drama films Soviet fantasy films 1920s Russian-language films Films based on works by Prosper Mérimée Films directed by Vladimir Gardin Films directed by Konstantin Eggert Soviet black-and-white films Soviet horror films Silent drama films Silent horror films {{1920s-horror-film-stub