Hidden Genre Gems for Fans of Panna Meri: Cult Guide

Dir: Yakov Protazanov

The main protagonists of the film are Katya (Varvara Popova), the daughter of a factory worker and Andrey (Ivan Koval-Samborsky), the son of the former owner of the factory who illegally returns to the USSR to find treasures hidden by his father. The film title refers to the Communist party's appeal, after Lenin's death, to enlarge its membership.

Dir: Yakov Protazanov

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Queen of Spades perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

While hosting a game of cards one night, Narumov tells his friends a story about his grandmother, a Countess. As a young woman, she had once incurred an enormous gambling debt, which she was able to erase by learning a secret that guaranteed that she could win by playing her cards in a certain order. One of Narumov's friends, German, has never gambled, but he is intrigued by the story about the Countess and her secret. He soon becomes obsessed with learning this secret from her, and he starts by courting her young ward Lizaveta, hoping to use her to gain access to the Countess.

Dir: Yakov Protazanov

An silent comedy about a provincial tailor who won a lottery in the 1925 Soviet Union.

Dir: Yakov Protazanov

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Zakroyshchik iz Torzhka perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Ivan Savonsky, popular society artist, meets Olga Kartoff, a young woman high in social circles, and while she is instantly attracted by him, he sees in her only the perfect model for his picture, "The Dagger Woman." Studying her, and by carefully playing on her emotions he gains her confidence, and afterward she consents to pose for him. The picture completed, she is grieved and then angered to discover that Ivan's interest rests solely in it, and how it will fare at the exhibition. She pleads with him in vain. The picture is pronounced a masterpiece, and Ivan is in his triumph as he returns to his studio. Here Olga has secreted herself. Humiliated by the reports circulated regarding herself and the artist, and unable longer to bear his disinterest she plunges a dagger to his heart and kills him.

Dir: Yakov Protazanov

Melodrama centered around a fateful misunderstanding between two lovers.

Dir: Yakov Protazanov

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of The Dagger Woman perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

After the death of Count Chambery his wife and daughter were left without means of subsistence. Seeing no other way out, a young woman settles maid in the house of Baroness Angers.

Dir: Yakov Protazanov

Tragic romance between a female Red Army sharpshooter and a White Army officer.

Dir: Yakov Protazanov

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Justice d'abord perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Pastor Talnox furiously urges the flock to fight temptations, but he himself becomes a victim of temptation. In his house appears Satan, pushing the hero to theft and spiritual fall.

Dir: Yakov Protazanov

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: Yakov Protazanov

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.