Plot

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 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 courtiers are at first too frightened to contradict the Tsar, but then the fiction turns out to be all too convenient for them. So Lieutenant Kizhe gets himself exiled to Siberia, recalled from exile, promoted, and married. He dies and receives a state funeral. In many ways, he is the most charming and lovable character in the film, even though he remains throughout the film a "confidential person, without a shape".—Steve Shelokhonov, rev. by Skripach

The plot is based on a supposedly true account in Vladimir Dahl's "Rasskazy o vremenakh Pavla I" ("Stories of the time of Paul I") in the journal Russkaya starina 1870. Yury Tynyanov expanded it into a novella and the movie. The music by Prokofiev is repeated as necessary throughout the movie as directed by the composer. The movie has no sound during the credits, but the faint trumpet mournful call heralds the plot during a shot of an equestrian statue. The opening scenes show servants and soldiers, like automatons, under Paul I doing identical tasks in mirrored groups to the accompaniment of a drum beat and shouts of "Ein Zwei" The next section shows the Czar and ,the Princess and her Companion asleep, but the Companion arises and proceeds to arrange a tryst with the Adjutant as they locate each other by meows and woofs in the halls. During the tryst the Companion pinches the Adjutant's behind and he shouts "graoul" which awakens the Czar. The Czar is furious and wants to know who shouted "guard", but nobody seems to know. In the following sequence a scribe is writing out the orders of the day and discovers a mistake, but the Adjutant hurriedly demands them for the Czar. This is the point where the birth of Kizhe theme is heard on the trumpet. The Czar wants the nonexistent Kizhe to be presented at the changing of the guard, but when the Adjutant tells Count Pavel about the mistake, Pavel has the inspiration to blame the shout on Kizhe. The Czar condemns Kizhe to flogging and to Siberia on foot. Meanwhile the Companion confesses to the Princess that her lover shouted graoul when pinched. There is a flogging sequence done in great seriousness although there is no body to flog. The Princess talks to the Czar and pinches his behind to show how the shout happened. He laughs and commands the return of Kizhe. Meanwhile a drummer and two soldiers leaving room between them for the invisible Kizhe are marching him to Siberia. Count Pavel is commissioned to retrieve Kizhe while Kizhe arrives at the Siberian fortress. The Czar receives a letter calling him snub nose and calls Count Pavel a flatterer when the count denies the description. There are more scenes with the Czar reviewing automaton like troops. Eventually the Adjutant arrives in Siberia and claims Kizhe. The Czar in an introspective moment over being snub nosed thinks he needs a reliable personal guard and promotes Kizhe to general. This is followed by the "troika" where the Adjutant takes Kizhe back to Petersburg comforted by a huge jug of vodka. Since the Czar knows the Companion is Kizhe's girlfriend, he orders them to be married. The very tipsy Companion complies, as the puzzled priest performs the ceremony in front of the huge assembly of guests. Nobody openly questions the invisibility of Kizhe. Kizhe is then promoted to major general. The Adjutant is distressed by the wedding, but climbs into the Companion's bed and is overjoyed by the wedding gift, treasury chest of gold. Finally Kizhe is promoted to commander of all the armies. When the Czar enters the bridal chamber in the morning, he spots the Adjutant under the bed and is told that Kizhe is very ill. Kizhe is transported to the doctor on a stretcher, but Count Pavel convinces the doctor that Kizhe is dead. The long funeral procession with the empty open coffin winds down the street in front of the palace with the Companion in black. The Czar asks for the gift chest back and discovers that there are no coins left. When he reads that Kizhe spent it all, he orders the funeral stopped, Kizhe demoted to private and Kizhe's burial in a private's grave. The Adjutant who revealed the theft to the Czar is promoted to general. The story ends with the Adjutant and Companion happily reunited and the Czar musing on his unfortunate fate. The final images show a sunset accompanied by the quiet Kizhe trumpet theme that opened the movie.