Belinsky (film)

Belinsky
Directed by	Grigori Kozintsev
Written by	Grigori Kozintsev Yury German
Starring	Sergei Kurilov Aleksandr Borisov Georgy Vitsin Yuri Lyubimov Yuri Tolubeyev Mikhail Nazvanov
Cinematography	Andrei Moskvin Sergei Ivanov Mark Magidson
Music by	Dmitri Shostakovich
Production company	Lenfilm
Release date	4 June 1953 (1953-06-04)
Running time	102 minutes
Country	Soviet Union
Language	Russian

Belinsky (Russian: Белинский) is a 1953 Soviet biopic film directed by Grigori Kozintsev, based on the life of Russian literary critic Vissarion Belinsky (1811–1848). The production of the film was completed in 1951 but it was not released until 1953, following the reshooting of various scenes demanded by Stalin.

Plot

Vissarion Grigoryevich Belinsky—a Russian thinker, writer, literary critic, publicist, and Westernizer philosopher—lived a remarkable but brief life. Initially captivated by Hegelian philosophy, particularly its assertion that "all that is real is rational," Belinsky passionately embraced this idea. However, as he delved deeper into the realities around him, he became a fervent critic of their irrationality.

Belinsky argued that Russian literature did not truly exist until the works of Nikolai Gogol emerged. Nevertheless, he dedicated a series of articles to Russian writers in the journal Otechestvennye Zapiski (Notes of the Fatherland), which were later compiled into a separate volume. This collection effectively served as a history of Russian literature, spanning from Mikhail Lomonosov to Alexander Pushkin.

Cast

• Sergei Kurilov as Vissarion Belinsky
• Aleksandr Borisov as Alexander Herzen
• Georgy Vitsin as Nikolai Gogol
• Yuri Lyubimov as Frolov
• Yuri Tolubeyev as Mikhail Shchepkin
• Vladimir Chestnokov as Nikolay Nekrasov
• Mikhail Nazvanov as Nicholas I
• Igor Gorbachyov as student
• Arkadi Trusov as sergeant
• Nikolay Simonov as landlord
• Olga Aroseva as actress
• Nikolay Trofimov as typographic worker
• Bruno Freindlich as Professor Shcheplovidov

External links

• Belinsky at IMDb