Joseph F.

McCrindle Foundation

Grigori Kozintsev: Talking about his "Lear" and "Hamlet" films with RONALD HAYMAN Author(s): Grigori Kozintsev and RONALD HAYMAN Source: The Transatlantic Review, No. 46/47 (Summer 1973), pp. 10-15 Published by: Joseph F. McCrindle Foundation Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41513324 . Accessed: 12/02/2014 10:10
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Grigori

Kozintsev

" " RONALD HAYMAN Talkingabout his Lear and "Hamlet"filmswith loss. Most of theraidsthatthe s deathis an enormous Kozintsev' Grigori The size of thebooty insensitive. cinemamakeson literature are piratically was oneof morethanthedamageinflicted ingrabbing it.Kozintsev matters rank andhisHamletmust the with a deepfeeling forliterature few directors as thebestShakespeare . filmevermade R.M. , Time and Conscience Grigori Kozintsev's firstbook, Shakespeare a greatdeal and threw containeda diaryof his workon the Hamletfilm - stone,fire, sea and of lighton his use of elemental in the film imagery is called earth.His secondShakespeare book, whichhe was just finishing, his The Space of Tragedy. He was working on partsof it whilepreparing a pointerto the filmof KingLear and the titleis, among otherthings, and on his cinema.He was Gordon Craig had on his thinking influence to me about thiswhenhe was in London fortheopeningofLear. talking Towardsa New Cinema, a NewTheatre 'His great book Towards is,I think, of the tragic his his and I was greatly ideas, understanding by impressed visual in of of his Shakespeare. imagery big understanding meaning space, about Macbeth He has written , whichis a verysimpleplay,withonlytwo big images,a rock,a mountainof stone on whichwarlikepeople were living.That's one. The otheris fog, a mist,whereghosts were living. Mist is made of water, and water destroysthe mountain. And as in the theatrewould unfortunately Gordon Craig puts it, the director like to explain the play in termsof archaeologicalresearchinto the materials of the castles of Cawdor and Glamis. But the two images of I was greatly areenough. influenced stoneand mist by theideas of Gordon ofHamletin 1912at theMoscow ArtTheatre hisproduction Craig.I think ofmodern ofthetwogeniuses becauseitwas a meeting was ofgreat interest with Gordon Craig and Stanislavski. Gordon Craig (together theatre, the tragicmeaningof the whole to understand was the first Meyerhold) was thefirst thewholeuse of space. And Stanislavski visualimagination, and thatit was necessary are realistic thatall figures to understand figures of speakingverse.This Hamlet thehighstyle to fight againstdeclamation, for the whole deveopmentof of 1912 was an important experiment moderntheatre.'

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KOZINTSEV11 GRIGORI arenotmerecinematic which ofbothKozintsev's The achievement films, out of the a but which coax new of imagery transcriptions stage plays, the be understood can backgroundof against Shakespearianbedrock, theseideas. 'In myview Shakespeareon the screenmustbecome more a betweencharacters and tragicpoem than a play, more of a relationship But a historical and simple geographical representation. landscape, historicalnaturalismhas no connectionwith Shakespeare. Historical the poeticunityof Shakespearian materialism can destroy plays. It's not the camera and moving verse front of a of in merely question speaking a to createa pictorial to close-up.It's necessary fromlong-shot imagery, verse.' with the same qualityas thatof the Shakespearian visualpoetry as Hamletcan. 'The time Lear, in anycase, cannotbe placed in history to be thatof ElizabethanEngland.I don't of Hamletcan be understood but Hamletneeds historical sets and costumes, especiallylike specifically fromthatof KingLear, different a kind of Elizabethanethos,absolutely as a Lear was presented whichis moretimeless and universal. Veryoften fresco. like a or a hero as a in Titan, Michelangelo figure greatmythical I don't think and paradoxicalsituation: he should be. It's an interesting in his kingdom, withhis Lear was a greatking,thedominant personality But the he's also eccentric his his will, thoughts, feelings. quiteordinary has And no tyrant behaviour of Titansis not partof anynationalhistory. ever been in a positionto understand his own defects.But when Lear becomeslikeeverybody else,likea beggarin themidstof a crowdof poor as a tragic of his greatness this is moment the real beginning people I his is it. His wisdom and This the way understand capacityfor figure. is he was a towering start from that when thatmoment. The paradox pity was at his most else to him he witheverybody verysmallin relation figure Gloucester ordinary.But his soliloquies and his dialogues with blind make his own earlierbehaviourand the whole structure of relationships thekingdom look veryfoolish. within 'He has a chance to see everything froma totallydifferent angle of vision. When he becomes a simplehuman being,like the "poor naked at wretches" he beginsto be a philosopher. It's an ironicalphilosophy first but thisis onlythe beginning. When he meetsCordelia and he asks - not like a greatkingnow- thisis thebeginning formercy of his underof the real values are life what the false what human and in standing valuesare. I think thekeyto theimagery in KingLear is thegreatcontrast and the real values in the betweengoldenappearancewithits emptiness of the betweenthe clothes and difference civilisation, history humanity and thereal man.

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12

REVIEW TRANSATLANTIC 46/47

and filmproduction 'But the differences betweena stage production It's a questionof underdo not primarily involvequestionsof technique. I'm not interested the deep philosophyof the tragedy. in the standing of extras. for sets and crowds that cinema big provides huge opportunities For mewhat'smostimportant is thechanceto explainthedeeply complicaof Jan of the tragedy ted philosophy in real terms.' Here theinfluence In his chapteron of Kozintsev's,is discernible. Kott, who was a friend , Kott says, 'King Lear or Endgame' in Shakespeareour Contemporary 'The feudal orderis absurd and can be describedonly in termsof the absurd.' He also writesof the relationship betweenthe old-style tragic character in a modern heroand thecentral comedy.The downgrotesque of the absolute; fallof thetragic hero is a confirmation and recognition oftheabsolute ofthegrotesque actormeansmockery whereas thedownfall and its desecration.' would be was morepronethanmostEnglishShakespearians Kozintsev to talk as if therewere a coherent Shakespeare's underlying philosophy but he was protectedby his respectfor the philosophyhe tragedies, to recreate the play as a desecrationof diagnosedfromany temptation as theabsolute.Nevertheless his casting of theEstonianactorYuri Jarvet of from 19th Lear pitchesthe filmdecisively century conceptions away Lear becomesa frailand petulant old man,subjectboth heroicgrandeur. to accesses of Dostoevskianpassion and phases of grotesqueunreasonI. of Ionesco's Brenger ablenessreminiscent is enlarged But ifLear theindividual is slightly his kingdom shrunk, by ofhuman thefilm to universal 4InKingLear thewholehistory dimensions. to themodern hearth civilisation is summed thepre-historic irony up, from and of of catastrophe of the possibility and the modernunderstanding Victor what is necessaryto stop this catastrophe. In the 19th century I think hatred." is sick from hatred said "The world hatred, against Hugo that'sa verygood sloganforKing Lear.' is represented The pre-historic hearth in our first glimpseof the play's whichintroIt was the ancient near an fireplace, fireplace. royalfamily - the A father duces a touchof pre-historical fire. and his three daughters to bad It It be fire. a touch. would the the is near very family, clan, only a this in explain heavyway.' are also of Westerncivilisation Othermilestones in the development of Cordelia to showthemarriage indicated. Tor me it was also important on the screen,not in a church,but on the road. It is the first year of And it ideas. of Christian is a in Cordelia there suggestion Christianity was important to show thatthe Fool was livingamongthedogs and like

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GRIGORI KOZINTSEV13 a dog. For thesepeople he's not like a personbut a pet. It also fits with with dogs and falcons,the ten knightsand Lear's imageryof hunting squiresand so on.' to be unusuallyalert As in the Hamletfilm, Kozintsevshowedhimself to the presencein the text of values and attitudes whichwere characcharacters teristic of the Renaissance. 'Albany is one of my favourite He's a humanist who's fitted because he's a typicalRenaissancefigure. but he's obligedto go outsidethelibrary. For me it's very forthelibrary a He has desire forpowerin to no in Albany library. important present forthethrone but in defence of humandignity. thestate:he's notfighting about herhusband.' Gonerilunderstands nothing also saw in Craig-liketermsas being In Hamlet which Kozintsev , the main focus of centredon two main images,Wittenberg represents the Renaissancevalues. 'Wittenberg represents highpointof Renaissance of Hamlet's days as a humanistic ideas and it represents the pre-history - beforethetragedy The student second which imageor metaphor began. is Elsinore,a state which is absolutelyhumanistic the first contradicts in its methodsof in its relationships betweenpeople but unhumanistic of as see Polonius's his There's the we treatment children. in education, of Rosencrantz there'sthe killingof love in careerism and Guildenstern; the relationship betweenPolonius,Laertesand Ophelia. And so on. The of all normalrelationships bothin thefamily and in thestate. destruction This is Hamlet . Two worlds:Wittenberg and Elsinore." ofimage-clusters is morecomplex.Tn Hamlet In KingLear thestructure there'sthe one greatfigure of Hamletwiththewhole worldagainsthim. aremanyimportant ButKingLear is muchmorecomplicated becausethere From on the I've never reallyfoundout who figures. productions stage theDuke ofAlbanyis,who theKing of Franceis. And in myopinionthese are veryimportant. It is necessary to explainall thefigures in the figures as but of or characters as not materialisations play only cruelty goodness, theworstpartsof humannatureor thebest.Thereare manycharacters - who explainthegood side.The figure likeCordelia,theFool and Albany of the Fool is expressive not only as a courtcomedian,a jester.In my also he the voice of the poor people. He has a good opinion represents a as he He technique harlequin, can dance and singbut he tellsthetruth. is theonlyman in theplaywho knowsreality forwhatit is, buteverybody takes what he says as a joke. Nothingis more laughablethanthe truth. And hisunderstanding is not thatof an old man but of theyounggeneration. He is a figure not unlikethe orchestra thatwas made in Auschwitz of to men death. were to condemned beaten make themplay up They

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14

TRANSATLANTIC REVIEW 46/47

But it is a very better. He is the voice of the truth in a worldof cruelty. like the Fool, Cordelia,the King of France voice, and thefigures strong as elements in what,after and Albanyare veryimportant all, is not just of Shakespeare's a tragedy ofcruelty but a tragedy ofmercy. The greatness live the lifeof a figures geniusshowsin theway he makesthesemerciful new generation.' thepoetic If thehistorical is basic to thefilm's conception, perspective out of it. Each of the main characters has his geography growsdirectly of the storm own climate,and 'when Lear goes mad at the beginning new relationship withnature. of an absolutely scene,thisis thebeginning I try whichis notbare,notcruel. to illustrate withthislandscapea country His as a part of nature,in a fieldof flowers. I tryto show Lear himself hairof nature.Once man is seen as a part hairspreadslikemoss,thegrey towardsregeneration can begin. Cordelia too of nature,the movement - sea and a verywide landscape - with waves had her own landscape characters have theirown atmosphere and seagulls.All the important but between notjust on thelevel of character and thereare relationships of different nature. aspects are like the Kingdomof Lear which 'The naked bare forkedcreatures But thisisn'tmyidea, thisis Shakespeare's is also naked,bare and forked. is themostimportant of thewholeuniverse idea- thesuffering part.The As is seen in termsof naked wretches. whole populationof the country What is the Poor Tom, Edgar is like a chorus leader in the tragedy. all thoseproverbs he has? Thereare so many reasonforall thosesayings, comes out with.It is the voice so he much beggars'slang peasantsongs, of the Kingdom.' Here Kozintsev's approach gives him a means of one of theweakestlinksin Shakespeare's play: Edgar gets strengthening froma dementedbeggarhe the idea for the Poor Tom impersonation it withhomeless meets.The hovelsceneis also transformed by populating the storm. from down-and-outs sheltering viewofLear; perhapsit is a Russianview. Perhapsthisis a sociological 'Everynation has its own Shakespeareand I thinkmine is a Russian He's thebeginning of Shakespeare. a Russianunderstanding Shakespeare, such as Pushkin Russian literature of the greatfigures of 19thcentury ofmyHamlet review Some whileago I readan American and Dostoevsky. Karamazov titledThe Brother fromElsinore.Perhaps.But I'm also very influenced by Englishculture.' sense in whichit is a personal There is also, of course,an important derives in thefilm thatsomething has suggested Yutkevich view,and Sergei Alexei of directing theexperience Kozintsevhad whenhe was fifteen from

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KOZINTSEV15 GRIGORI Remizov's adaptation of the folk drama Tsar Maximilian in the , first sittingroom of his father'sflat and then in the streets.'Here began to the first to Gogol on stage Kozintsev'sroad to Eccentrism, agit films, to the revolutionary and screen,and ultimately romantic,Maxim, to and finally to Shakespeare.' Cervantes, is the biographyof the As Kozintsev put it himself, 'Interpretation of folkplays in the director. The beginning of my life,the performances - all this streets,the squares during the firstyear of the Revolution because childhood impressions are very importantto my contributes of KingLear.' Even the experience of directing theplay in understanding thatwas to influence to thestockpile of memories thetheatre contributed the film. 'Some performances were duringthe blockade of Leningrad. and it was a very Therewas bombardment going on outsidethe theatre difficult timeforthepeople.' have made to that Pasternakand Shostakovich The contributions both Kozintsev'sShakespearefilms mustnot be overlooked."Pasternak Only a truly produceda veryRussian versionof Shakespearian tragedy. He could be so translated greatpoet courageous. Shakespeareinto conWe also have a We of translation. schools Russian. have temporary many foreach single an Russian with in scientific translation line equivalent very line of Shakespeare.Justas Shakespeareuses ancientsentence-constructions and ancient grammar,our translatorLazinski uses pre-Pushkin modernRussian.' Pasternak's language.But I prefer "I've been workingwith Shostakovichall my life, and I thinkhis of thewhole tragicand grotesque in Shakespeare understanding imagery and drumis perfect. fanfares And in KingLear I didn'tuse just dignifying I love thepipemusiche composed rolls.Thereis also thevoice ofsuffering. fortheFool. I think thisis a realvoiceofShakespeare and I'm very grateful to Shostakovich. music I thinkI've heard When I hear Shostakovich's verse.It is possibleto cut some of theverseifyou have his Shakespeare's score to substitute, and I did actuallymake cuts speciallybecause of beforeI begin to shoot, musiche wroteand in manyplaces in myscript, I knowthatI willbe usingnothumanvoicesbutthevoiceofShostokovich's music.In the stormscene,forinstance, the main voice is the music.It's a victory of evil,of thewholepowerof theevil of cruelty.'

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