Mussorgsky (Russian: Мусоргский, romanizedMusorgskiy) is a 1950 Soviet biopic film directed by Grigori Roshal, about the emergence of Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky. It was entered into the 1951 Cannes Film Festival.[1]

Mussorgsky
Film poster
Directed byGrigori Roshal
Written byAnna Abramova
Grigori Roshal
Produced byZ. Gal
Gennadi Kazansky
Ye. Serdechkova
StarringAleksandr Borisov
Nikolay Cherkasov
CinematographyMikhail Magid
Lev Sokolsky
Edited byV. Mironova
Music byDmitry Kabalevsky
Release date
  • 27 November 1950 (1950-11-27)
Running time
120 minutes
CountrySoviet Union
LanguageRussian

Plot

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The film tells about the activities of the association of composers "The Five", who were drawing inspiration from Russian folk art. Like many representatives of the Russian intelligentsia, members of this musical community were imbued with the plight of the peasants and sought to write works that would draw people's attention to this poorest layer of society.

The young composer Modest Mussorgsky decides to devote his life to music and to make it the property of the people. Only his mother supports his “ignoble” undertakings. The young man leaves military service and ponders writing a work about the peasants, together with members of The Five.

The Imperial Musical Society is not pleased with the activities of composers; it excludes Mily Balakirev. The writer Vladimir Stasov expresses his opinion by calling the Society newspaper musical liars, eventually ending up in court for libel, and being sued for a monetary penalty. During a trial, many supporters of "The Five" are presented.

A peasant music school, created by composers, is described for debts. Meanwhile, not one of the editions of Mussorgsky’s opera Boris Godunov was allowed to appear in the imperial theaters. The directorate surrenders when the whole city begins to protest; the opera is a tremendous success. Boris Godunov radically changes the direction of the work of Russian composers.

Cast

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Uncredited:

References

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  1. ^ "Festival de Cannes: Mussorgsky". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 13 January 2009.
  2. ^ "Юлия Платонова" [Yulia Platonova] (in Russian). Retrieved 9 December 2019.
  3. ^ ""Мусоргский" (1950)". cinemafirst.ru (in Russian). 2 November 2017. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
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External videos
  Mussorgsky with English subtitles, released by the YouTube channel