Film Adaptation of Gogol's "Viy"

[Valentino, Russell]

Hi David. I've used it in a course on film adaptations of Russian
literary works. We also watched the '67 Yershov adaptation. The students
responded to it. Yes, it's Italian and something of a cult favorite
among horror film buffs, who adore Mario Bava in general, but it's
international in scope (Barbara Steele in lead), all made possible by
the usual Italian post-syncronization sound method (a la Spaghetti
Westerns). It has loose connections to Gogol's story, things students
notice very quickly, such as the film's somewhat uncertain setting,
which appears to be generally Central/Eastern European. It's got gore.
There are DVD versions of both films. That combined with the shortness
of the story make them a highly teachable sequence for people interested
in issues of adaptation and the subsequent life of Gogol tales.

Russell
 

Russell Valentino
Assoc. Professor of Russian and Comparative Literature
Faculty Associate Director
Obermann Center for Advanced Studies
Interim Director, Project on the Rhetoric of Inquiry
University of Iowa
319.353.2193 (Russian)
319.335.4034 (OCAS)
319.335.2753 (POROI)

-----Original Message-----
From: SEELANGS: Slavic & East European Languages and Literatures list
[mailto:SEELANGS at BAMA.UA.EDU] On Behalf Of David Powelstock
Sent: Tuesday, April 10, 2007 7:58 PM
To: SEELANGS at BAMA.UA.EDU
Subject: Re: [SEELANGS] Film Adaptation of Gogol's "Viy"

Okay, enough kind people have written to me offline to inform me about
the
1967 Soviet film of "Viy" that I feel obliged to draw everyone's
attention
to the fact that the film I'm speaking about is Italian, filmed in 1960,
and
named not "Viy" but "Bloody Sunday" (in US release) and "La Maschera del
Demonio" in the original Italian. I suppose I wasn't clear enough. I
still
would like to hear from anyone who has seen this Italian film.
 
But also, thank you to those who wrote me with your opinions of the
other
film!
 
Cheers,
David


 
 On Apr 10, 2007, at 4:59 PM, David Powelstock wrote:


Dear SEELANGers,

I just read in the NY Times today about this schlocky-sounding 1960
horror
movie that is based on "Viy" (see the info on the director pasted in
below).
Has anyone seen this? Probably of very limited instructional value, but
it
could be a real hoot for the students as an after-hours amuse-oeil.
[more
info by searching "Black Sunday" on imdb.com]

Cheers,
David

P.S. I just watched the delightfully lurid trailer at netflix. Not sure
if
you need to be a netflix member to see it.

David Powelstock 
Asst. Prof. of Russian & East European Literatures 
Chair, Program in Russian & East European Studies 
Brandeis University 
GRALL, MS 024 
Waltham, MA  02454-9110 
781.736.3347 (Office) 

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