Against Adaptation? The Strange Case of (Pod) Poruchik Kizhe
Against Adaptation? The Strange Case of (Pod) Poruchik Kizhe
This chapter explores Iurii Tynianov’s 1934 film Lieutenant Kizhe, directed by Aleksandr Faintsimmer and based on Tynianov’s own novel, which concerns a hero created in official documents due to a clerk’s transcription error. Tynianov’s adaptation involves an unusual border crossing in that the novel was written after the screenplay. In the chapter, it is argued that the director failed to find successful devices for meeting the challenge to realist fiction proferred by Tynianov’s narrative of a non-existent hero. The chapter explores the mutual relationship between Tynianov’s novel and screenplay and his theoretical writings on adaptation.
Keywords: adaptation, border crossing, Faintsimmer, novel, realist, screenplay, Tynianov
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