The Czar Wants to Sleep

Original title: Poruchik Kizhe

IMDb RATING

6.4/10

147

YOUR RATING

Izrail Bograd in The Czar Wants to Sleep (1934)

Comedy Drama

A sarcastic comedy about the Imperial Russian bureaucracy, based on the eponymous novella by Yuri Tynyanov. Set in the reign of Emperor Paul I. A copying error by a military scribe turns the... Read allA sarcastic comedy about the Imperial Russian bureaucracy, based on the eponymous novella by Yuri Tynyanov. Set in the reign of Emperor Paul I. A copying error by a military scribe turns the Russian words for "the lieutenants, however" into what looks like "lieutenant Kizhe". The... Read allA sarcastic comedy about the Imperial Russian bureaucracy, based on the eponymous novella by Yuri Tynyanov. Set in the reign of Emperor Paul I. A copying error by a military scribe turns the Russian words for "the lieutenants, however" into what looks like "lieutenant Kizhe". The Tsar reads the error, and wants to meet this (non-existent) Lieutenant Kizhe. His courtie... Read all

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.4/10

147

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Photos16

+ 10

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
Though the film is little known today, the five-movement suite Prokofiev arranged from his music for it (usually called "Lieutenant Kijé Suite") has become a standard classical concert piece and has been recorded often.

Goofs
The document with the crucial slip of the pen as corrected by Tsar Paul I is clearly not the same as the one written by the army scribe in the previous scene. In the first version, the second (mistaken) letter K is clearly larger than the first. In the version corrected by the Tsar, they are the same size. (Though the subtitles have the Tsar capitalizing the second K, what he is actually doing is adding a letter between the two two Ks - the Russian "hard sign" required at the end of many words in the pre-revolutionary spelling system. The effect is the same: to create a fictional Lieutenant Kizhe.)

Quotes
Palen: [subtitled version] The prisoner is confidential, and has no shape.

Connections
Featured in Legends of World Cinema: Erast Garin

Soundtracks
Lieutenant Kijé Op. 60
Written by Sergei Prokofiev

User reviews11

Review

Featured review

Is film available?

It is good to hear that this film exists. Do you know if this film is available to the public?

I am sure there is a tremendous interest here in the United States in seeing it. The Lieutenant Kije Suite is very popular here. I know that I, for one, have been dying to see this film almost all of my life. The story about antics pertaining to maintaining this fictitious personage -- at least what I heard of it through commentary accompanying the Suite -- sounds fascinating.

I really hope that the film is or becomes available. English subtitles would be nice for those who do not know Russian, but that can be worked around.

Lieutenant Kije fan