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Abstract:

The article is devoted to the role of cinematography in the biography of S.A. Esenin. It is known that the poet was interested in this new for the early 20th century art form. According to the memoirs of his contemporaries, Esenin loved cinema very much. He often visited cinemas — during his youth in Ryazan, abroad with A. Duncan, during a trip to the East (in Batumi and Mardakian) and in Moscow with S.A. Tolstaya. Thanks to the recordings of the poet’s last wife, it is known that Esenin watched the following films: “The Broadway Dancer” (“The Gilded Lily”), “Karin Daughter of Ingmar” (“Karin Ingmarsdotter”), “The Ice Carnival” (“Dangerous Paths”, “Auf Gefährlichen Spuren”), “The Tobacco Girl from Seville” (“Gypsy Blood”, “Carmen”), “The Maestro’s Son” (“Daddy”), “Michael”, “The White Moth”, “The Cross and the Mauser”, “The Terrible Hour” (“Flowing Gold”), saw famous actors of his era on the screen (Harry Peel, Jackie Coogan). The article presents information about the films that the poet saw, taking into account the historical and cultural context. The researcher identifies Esenin’s role in the creation of the collective screenplay “Calling Dawns” (1918) and notes the opinions of contemporaries who compared the poet with movie heroes and his life with a film. In the article the facts of the poet’s filming, his communication with actors who starred in films of the silent cinema, as well as filming and showing Еsenin’s funeral in cinemas are indicated.