"1812"- The first ever film about the war of Russia against Napoleon's invasion-1912-Silent movie

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• published: 16 May 2013
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Vasily Mikhailovich Goncharov (Russian: Василий Михайлович Гончаров) (1861 -- 23 August 1915) was a Russian film director and screenwriter, one of the pioneers of the film industry in the Russian Empire. The premiere took place on the 30th of July 1912. The film was shot to mark the centenary of that historical event and was titled "1812". A year before the anniversary, two film-making companies asked the Imperial Court for permission to make a film about the war against Napoleon. They were the Russian "Joint-Stock Company Alexander Khanzhonkov" and the French "Pathe-Freres". They both were given permission and started shooting the film, the cinema historian Svetlana Skovorodnikova told "The Voice of Russia": "The "Pathe-Freres" film was based on paintings by outstanding Russian artists, in particular, Vasily Vereshchagin. Some episodes of the film look as if they were animation of Vereshchagin's pictures "Napoleon on the Kremlin Wall" or "Council of War at Fili". In Khanzhonkov's version mass scenes prevailed, with troops participating. His film also offered a lot of breath-taking open-air winter scenes. The film could hardly be called historical without them." Cossacks and soldiers and people from the near-by villages took part in shooting the Russian film. The work was in full swing but neither the Russian nor the French crews managed to meet the deadlines. So, an unprecedented decision was made to combine both versions under the brand "Pathe and Khanzhonkov". The former rivals became co-authors. In the final version of the film, two Napoleons were kept: actor Pavel Knorr from the French film and Vasily Seriozhnikov from the Russian one. The 33-minute (original speed) black-and-white silent film "1812" caused a sensation in Moscow. The film was accompanied by live music, the orchestra performed "Marseillaise" and "1812 Overture" by Tchaikovsky. The cameraman was very highly praised. Many techniques were used for the first time, for example, "the depth sequence". Today it is common knowledge but at the beginning of the cinema it was genuine know-how. The French Invasion of Russia in 1812, also known as the Russian Campaign in France (French: Campagne de Russie) and the Patriotic War of 1812 in Russia (Russian: Отечественная война 1812 года), was a turning point during the Napoleonic Wars. It reduced the French and allied invasion forces (the Grande Armée) to a tiny fraction of their initial strength and triggered a major shift in European politics as it dramatically weakened French hegemony in Europe. The reputation of Napoleon as an undefeated military genius was severely shaken, while the French Empire's former allies, at first Prussia and then the Austrian Empire, broke their alliance with France and switched camps, which triggered the War of the Sixth Coalition. The Grand Armée had lost some 380,000 men dead and 100,000 captured. Napoleon then abandoned his men and returned to Paris to protect his position as Emperor and to prepare to resist the advancing Russians. The campaign effectively ended on 14 December 1812, when the last French troops left Russia. Resources: wikipedia.org, imdb.org, "The Voice of Russia" New soundtrack and dubbing: CinemaHistoryChannel Music: Kevin Mac Leod (www.incompetch.com) licensed under Creative Commons licence http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/ . Attribution 3.0 Unported (CC BY 3.0). http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/