The Czar Wants to Sleep (1934)

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9 December 1934 (USA)

7.0

Ratings: 7.0/10 from 41 users
Reviews: 5 user

A sarcastic comedy about the Russian-Soviet bureaucracy, based on the eponymous novella by Yuri Tynyanov... See full summary »

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Cast

Cast overview:
	Mikhail Yanshin	...	Tsar Pavel I
	Boris Gorin-Goryainov	...	Count von Pahlen
	Nina Shaternikova	...	Princess Gagarina
	Sofiya Magarill	...	Princess Gagarina's companion
	Erast Garin	...	Adjutant
	Mikhail Rostovtsev	...	Fortress commandant

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Storyline

A sarcastic comedy about the Russian-Soviet bureaucracy, based on the eponymous novella by Yuri Tynyanov. Set in the reign of Emperor Paul I. A copying error by a military scribe turns the Russian words for "the lieutenants, however" into what looks like "lieutenant Kizhe". The Tsar reads the error, and wants to meet this (non-existent) Lieutenant Kizhe. His courtiers are at first too frightened to contradict the Tsar, but then the fiction turns out to be all too convenient for them. So Lieutenant Kizhe gets himself exiled to Siberia, recalled from exile, promoted, and married. He dies and receives a state funeral. In many ways, he is the most charming and lovable character in the film, even though he remains throughout the film a "confidential person, without a shape". Written by Steve Shelokhonov, rev. by Skripach

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Public Domain

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Details

Country:

Soviet Union

Language:

Russian

Release Date:

9 December 1934 (USA) See more »

Also Known As:

Lieutenant Kije See more »

Company Credits

Production Co:

Belgoskino See more »

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Did You Know?

Trivia

The melody of the song sung by Nina Shaternikova to harp accompaniment was used by Sting as the basis for his 1985 song "Russians." See more »

Goofs

Continuity: The document with the crucial slip of the pen as corrected by Tsar Paul I is clearly not the same as the one written by the army scribe in the previous scene. In the first version, the second (mistaken) letter K is clearly larger than the first. In the version corrected by the Tsar, they are the same size. (Though the subtitles have the Tsar capitalizing the second K, what he is actually doing is adding a letter between the two two Ks - the Russian "hard sign" required at the end of many words in the pre-revolutionary spelling system. The effect is the same: to create a fictional Lieutenant Kizhe.) See more »

Quotes

Palen: [subtitled version] The prisoner is confidential, and has no shape.
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Connections

Referenced in The Horse's Mouth (1958) See more »

Soundtracks

"Lieutenant Kije"
Sergei Prokofiev See more »