But Lungin is no amateur, and the torrid tone starts making more sense as the story evolves beyond realism into something more artfully stylized. The opening act will test viewer endurance with its soapy emotional dynamics and broad-bush archetypes, especially Sofia, a cackling femme fatale who appears to be channeling Cruella de Vil. The Queen of Spades has a kind of fruity, oversaturated, borderline-camp mania that feels all too Russian at first. Sofia then seduces Andrey in full view of Lisa, creating an explosive sexual tension which reaches its murderous crescendo when all three are onstage during the climactic opera scenes. A Machiavellian manipulator with a heart of ice, Sofia initiates her young disciple into a glamorous late-night shadow world of illegal high-stakes casinos, where he soon develops a gambling addiction and unwisely makes Faustian deals with brutal gangland godfathers. Gifted with the freakish ability to shatter glass with his powerful voice ever since he was pushed into a frozen lake as a child, the obsessive Andrey slowly insinuates his way into the playing the male lead in The Queen of Spades. Sofia also sees potential in Lisa’s broodingly intense boyfriend Andrey (Ivan Yankovsiy), an amateur tenor who has idolized the diva all his life. To help realize her grand schemes, she recruits wealthy oligarchs, shady gangsters and her grudgingly cooperative twentysomething niece Lisa ( Mariya Kurdenovich). But just before the captain can play his winning ace, it suddenly turns into the Queen of Spades and he loses everything–including his marbles.After decades in self-imposed exile, legendary soprano Sofia Meyer ( Kseniya Rappoport) returns to Moscow to rebuild her reputation by directing and starring in The Queen of Spades, the Tchaikovsky opera which made her famous. But the captain has gone bonkers and believes the chapter in the book entitled ‘The Dead Shall Give Up Their Secrets’, and gets into a high-stakes faro game with a rival officer Andrei ( Ronald Howard). When the captain enters the countess’ bedroom through the secret passage, he frightens her to death before he can learn of the card secret. Through the naive girl, the captain manipulates, he learns of a secret entrance to the countess’s library and bedroom by means of a hidden stairway. The captain schemes to gain access to the Old Countess by feigning a romantic interest through a letter to the countess’s unhappy granddaughter ward and companion, Lizaveta Ivanova (Yvonne Mitchell). The captain is obsessed with becoming rich and dreams if he knew the secret of how to win at cards, he would gain happiness as a respected wealthy man of great status. Germain and reads how the still living 100-year-old mean-spirited Russian countess, Ranevskaya (Edith Evans), some sixty years ago, made a pact with the devil by selling her soul to him to learn the secret of winning in cards. One day the captain buys a mystical book by St. Herman Suvorin ( Anton Walbrook), is obsessed with faro, but despite every evening watching the Russian army officers gamble at the local gambling den he never plays to the annoyance of the others. Petersburg, the glum and impoverished German captain, in the Russian engineers corps, Capt. The literary film paints a disturbing picture of a decadent Imperial Russia in 1806. Though starting slowly, it builds in tension to an impressive crescendo. The haunting film has imaginative sets and makes good use of its illuminating black and white photography by cinematographer Otto Heller. The macabre script is finely written by Arthur Boys and Rodney Ackland. It’s based on a short story by the great Russian writer Alexander Pushkin, whose story was filmed numerous times but never as good as this version. ![]() It might be the director’s most accomplished work. “ A masterfully filmed surreal atmospheric supernatural tale.”Ī masterfully filmed surreal atmospheric supernatural tale directed by the legendary Brit filmmaker Thorold Dickinson (“Hill 24 Doesn’t Answer”/” Secret People“/”Gaslight”). ![]() ![]() Herman Suvorin), Edith Evans ( The Old Countess Ranevskaya), Yvonne Mitchell ( Lizaveta Ivanova), Ronald Howard ( Andrei), Mary Jerrold ( Old Varvarushka), Anthony Dawson ( Fyodor), Miles Malleson ( Tchybukin), Michael Medwin ( Hovaisky), Athene Seyler ( Princess Ivashin), Ivor Barnard ( Bookseller), Maroussia Dimitrevitch ( Gypsy singer), Violette Elvin ( Gypsy dancer), Pauline Tennant ( Young countess), Jacqueline Clarke ( Milliner’s assistant), Josef Ramart ( Countess’ lover) Runtime: 91 MPAA Rating: NR producer: Anatole de Grunwald HBO Video (Monogram Pictures) 1949-UK) (director: Thorold Dickinson screenwriters: based on a short story by Alexander Pushkin/Arthur Boys/ Rodney Ackland cinematographer: Otto Heller editor: Hazel Wilkinson music: Georges Auric cast: Anton Walbrook ( Capt.
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