The Cameraman's Revenge | |
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Russian: Месть кинематографического оператора | |
Directed by | Władysław Starewicz |
Written by | Ladislas Starevich |
Produced by | Aleksandr Khanzhonkov |
Release date |
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Running time | 12 minutes |
Country | Russia |
The Cameraman's Revenge (Russian: Месть кинематографического оператора, romanized: Mest' kinematograficheskogo operatora) is a 1912 Russian short film written and directed by Ladislas Starevich.[1][2][3] It, along with other works by Starevich, stands out in the history of stop-motion animation for its use of actual dried insect specimens (beetles, grasshoppers, dragonflies, etc.) as articulated stop-motion puppets portraying all of the characters.
"The Cameraman’s Revenge is a perfect example of young Starewitch’s unsentimental, unmoralistic style. The story is perfectly suited for animal characters. As in Aesop and Phaedrus’ fables, it is universal because its protagonists are animals – i.e. symbols. Mr. and Mrs. Beetle are a typical middle-class couple bored by family life. Starewitch’s characters are also good actors: The spectator has fun and identifies himself in the incoherent and very realistic Mr. Beetle. His acting is, again, a balanced mix between human and animal action: His human feelings are clear but, at the same time, his features and anatomical structure are scientifically correct.[4]"
Plot
[edit]Bored with married life, Mr. Beetle goes to a nightclub and fights off a grasshopper for the attention of a dragonfly dancer. Little he knows, the grasshopper is a cameraman who follows the couple to the home of the dragonfly and films their amorous encounter. When Mr. Beetle returns home, he finds Mrs. Beetle in the arms of a young artist, another beetle. After throwing the intruder out, Mr. Beetle magnanimously forgives his wife. Together they go to the movies, and, to their surprise, the film being shown is of Mr. Beetle’s infidelity. Mrs. Beetle is not happy. The date ends when the couple gets thrown in a prison cell.
References
[edit]- ^ ""Вечер немого кино" в "Аптекарском огороде"". www.molnet.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 2019-11-05.
- ^ "В Москве пройдет показ мультфильмов начала XX века". The Village. 2017-07-05. Retrieved 2019-11-05.
- ^ "Показы немого кино будут проходить в Москве". ovideo.ru. Retrieved 2019-11-05.
- ^ Bendazzi, Giannalberto (2016). Animation : A World History - Vol. I (1st ed.). Boca Raton: CRC Press. p. 74. ISBN 1-315-72105-8.
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: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
External links
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