The Killers (1956 film)

The Killers (Russian: Убийцы, translit. Ubiytsy) is a 1956 student film by the Soviet and Russian film director Andrei Tarkovsky and his fellow students Marika Beiku and Aleksandr Gordon.[1] The film is based on the short story The Killers by Ernest Hemingway, written in 1927.[2] It was Tarkovsky's first film, produced when he was a student at the Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography (VGIK).[3]

The Killers
Title card
Directed byMarika Beiku
Aleksandr Gordon
Andrei Tarkovsky
Screenplay byAleksandr Gordon
Andrei Tarkovsky
Based on"The Killers"
1927 story
by Ernest Hemingway
StarringYuli Fait
Aleksandr Gordon
Valentin Vinogradov
Andrei Tarkovsky
Vasily Shukshin
CinematographyAlfredo Alvarez
Aleksandr Rybin
Release date
  • 1956 (1956) (USSR)
Running time
19 minutes
CountrySoviet Union
LanguageRussian

Plot

edit

The Killers is an adaptation of a short story by Ernest Hemingway. The story is divided into three scenes. The first and third scenes were directed by Beiku and Tarkovsky, the second by Gordon.

The first scene shows Nick Adams (Yuli Fait) observing two gangsters (Valentin Vinogradov and Vadim Novikov) in black coats and black hats entering a small-town diner where Adams is eating. They tell the owner, George (Aleksandr Gordon), that they are searching for the boxer Ole Andreson and that they want to kill him. They tie up Nick Adams and Sam the cook, and wait for Ole Andreson to appear. Three customers enter the restaurant and are sent away by George. One of the customers is played by Tarkovsky, who whistles Lullaby of Birdland.

The second scene shows Nick Adams visiting Ole Andreson (Vasily Shukshin) in his hide-out, a small room. He warns Andreson about the two gangsters, but Andreson is resigned to his fate and unwilling to flee.

The third scene shows Adams returning to the diner and informing the owner of Andreson's decision.

Cast

edit

Production

edit

Students were required to work on films in groups of two or threes due to a lack of equipment at the film school VGIK. Andrei Tarkovsky and Aleksandr Gordon asked Marika Beiku to work with them. The idea for adapting Ernest Hemingway's short story was Tarkovsky's. All roles were played by students of the VGIK, and the camera and lighting was handled by fellow students Alfredo Álvarez and Aleksandr Rybin.[4]

Beiku, Gordon and Tarkovsky set up an American bar in the studio of the film school, at this time a symbol of depravity and becoming a minor attraction among students. Props were brought by students from their homes, and from relatives and friends. The film was praised by Mikhail Romm, the professor and teacher of Beiku, Gordon and Tarkovsky.[5]

See also

edit

Other adaptations of the Hemingway story

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ "The Killers (A. Tarkovsky, 1956)". IST. 2017-01-13. Retrieved 2023-06-23.
  2. ^ "When Andrei Tarkovsky made an Ernest Hemingway adaptation". faroutmagazine.co.uk. 2023-03-10. Retrieved 2023-06-23.
  3. ^ ""the Killers" Andrei Tarkovksy's First Feature Film | Faena". www.faena.com. Retrieved 2023-06-23.
  4. ^ "43ª Mostra Internacional de Cinema - Movie - The Killers". 43.mostra.org. Retrieved 2023-06-23.
  5. ^ Alexander Gordon (1990). "Student Years". Nostalgia.com. Retrieved 2013-06-28.
edit