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OPEN CLASSIC CINEMA · 771

The Dying Swan

191749 minRussia
Drama

Synopsis

After a romantic disappointment, Gizella persuades her father to help her begin a new life as a dancer. Unable to speak, she wins attention through the expressive power of her performance in The Dying Swan. A count obsessed with images of death asks to paint her, turning admiration for her art into a dangerous demand on the woman herself.

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Video edition
Wikimedia Commons
Original language
No spoken dialogue. Intertitles: not identified.
This copy runs
49:11
Subtitles
No subtitle track in this language

No spoken dialogue. Intertitles: not identified. No subtitle track in this language.

Languages and subtitles

No subtitle track in this language

Wikimedia Commons · Yevgeni Bauer · Public domain

Cast

DirectorsYevgeni Bauer

Behind the scenes

Bauer casts dancer Vera Karalli in a role built around movement, silence and the contrast between a living performer and the image an admirer wants to preserve. The ballet becomes a central motif in the film's gothic drama.

Sources and availability

General references identify the work and its copy. A reference beside an editorial section is linked to the claims checked in that section.

Wikipedia — film referenceWikidata — film identity and credits

Work catalogued as public domain in the United States.

The public-domain references concern the original films in the United States. Rights can differ for other countries, editions, restorations, music or translations. Sources are listed on each film page.

Availability checked on September 12, 2026.

Photograph credit

Photographs cropped, resized and optimized as WebP, displayed in monochrome.

  • Vera Karalli — Адольф Исаевич (Абрам Исаакович) Горнштейн (1872—1926); https://goskatalog.ru/portal/#/collections?q=Горнштейн%20каралли&imageExists=null · Public domain
  • Vitold Polonsky — Unknown author Unknown author; http://tsarselo.ru/content/21/yenciklopedija-carskogo-sela/istorija-carskogo-sela-v-licah/polonskii-vitold-alfonsovich-1879--1919.html#.VF5_QJ_Dsa4 · Public domain
  • Andrey Gromov — Evgueni Bauer; Own work · Public domain
  • Ivane Perestiani — furnished; http://russiancinema.ru/template.php?dept_id=15&e_dept_id=1&e_person_id=4607 · Public domain

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