Yevgeni Bauer - Umirayushchii lebed [The Dying Swan] (1917)

Umirayushchii lebed (1917)

English title: The Dying Swan

Country: Russia

Language: Russian

Release Date: 17 January 1917 (Russia)

Drama/Silent/B&W/49 minutes

Director: Yevgeni Bauer

Writer: Zoya Barantsevich

Producer: Aleksandr Khanzhonkov 

Cinematography by Boris Zavelev

Cast:

Vera Karalli . . . Gizella - mute dancer

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Aleksandr Kheruvimov . . . Gizella's Father

Vitold Polonsky . . . Viktor Krasovsky

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Andrej Gromov . . . Valeriy Glinskiy - the artist

Ivane Perestiani . . . Glinskiy's friend

A grief-stricken ballerina becomes the obsession of an increasingly unhinged artist.

When Viktor meets Gizella one day beside the lake, he takes an interest in her and begins to call on her regularly. The one passion in the life of Gizella, who is unable to speak, is dancing. When Viktor deceives her and she finds him with another woman, she moves away and begins a career as a ballerina. Later, as she is on tour performing "The Dying Swan", the artist Glinskiy attends her performance. Glinskiy, whose own obsession is to depict death in his art, becomes fascinated by Gizella, and he is determined to use her as a model for a special project.

The Dying Swan features an innovative tracking shot. Gizella is asleep on a stormy night. Signalling the onset of a dream, the camera begins to move back, revealing flashes of lightning through the bedroom windows: the dream is going to be a nightmare, ending with a frightening shot of many pairs of disembodied hands reaching out to grab her.