Cover of the 1971 edition of Twelve Chairs (12 стульев).
The Twelve Chairs is a 1928 satirical novel written by Soviet writers Ilya Ilyev and Yevgeni Petrov. Gaining widespread attention around the world, it is the most famous humorous satirical novel of the Soviet era and the most popular around the world.
Set in the Soviet Union's "New Economic Policy," the novel tells the story of Bekhutova, the mother-in-law of the old nobleman Vorobia ninof, who hid a batch of jewels in a set of 12 chairs at the outbreak of the revolution. Before her death, Bekhotova told her son-in-law Volopyaninov the secret. Volobyaninoff joined forces with a liar nicknamed "The Great Counselor", Ostap Binjar, and the two embark on a treasure hunt together, while Fedor, a priest who prays for his mother-in-law on his deathbed, also became greedy for money and secretly went on a treasure hunt alone, thus creating a series of hilarious stories.
The novel depicts the Soviet Union during the New Economic Policy period, which can be regarded as an encyclopedia of Soviet society at that time. What is interesting about the novel is that in the end, all the treasure hunters did not get a good ending: Bingel was killed by Volobia ninov on the eve of finding the last chair, and Father Fedor bought twelve fake chairs and went penniless. Volobyaninoff did not laugh at the end, and when he found the chair, he found that the treasure inside had long been discovered and used to build a beautiful workers' club. For the protagonist of the story, this is of course a tragic ending. But the whole novel is not desperate to read, but full of hope. As the novel concludes, "Treasures have been preserved, even increased." It can be touched by hand, but it cannot be removed. It in turn serves others. ”
The novel also satirizes the social situation in the Soviet Union at that time: the director of the welfare home who guarded the self-theft, the old aristocrat who tried to get something for nothing, the crappy poet who made a profit from plagiarism and thought that the Caucasian jackal was a snake, the housewife who disregarded her husband's income and wasted her family property in pursuit of vanity... However, as a novel that satirizes social reality, after reading it, people are full of confidence in beautiful things. The magnificent mountains of the Caucasus, the beautiful scenery on both sides of the Volga River, the beautiful female station manager of the nameless station, the engineer who does not ask about the world, and the simple and cute engineer... All of them reveal the author's love for the Soviet Union. This is also the reason why the novel was widely acclaimed immediately after its publication.
Ostap Binger in the film, nicknamed "The Great Strategist"
The novel's greatest success is that it creates the image of an interesting liar: the great strategist Ostap. This man is young and strong, a talented person, but he does not work hard, and he is engaged in pit deception. In essence, he is a very bad liar. However, this liar also has a very likable side: he is witty and cunning, and his mind is flexible. He had the fallen nobles pretend to be "tsarist cronies" and defrauded a large number of old nobles who harbored hatred for the Soviet regime; he had swindled them from the chair of the crappy poet who tried to seduce young girls; in a similar way, he deceived the vain housewives, the self-thief-keeping deans, the archivists who betrayed state materials, and lectured the greedy Father Fedor. Although he was paired with the old nobleman Volopyaninoff, he often taunted him, teased him, and made him jump violently but helplessly. He satirized the hypocrisy, greed and lustfulness of the old aristocracy, as well as the hypocrisy and aggression of the Western countries. His adventures along the way were mostly hypocritical and greedy villains or rich men who hated the Soviet regime; decent and kind engineers, journalists dedicated to the welfare of the guild, rarely went to Ostap's place—except for the occasional taunt he made. Therefore, after the introduction of the novel, this character was very popular with the Soviet character, and the two writers had to launch another novel" to revive this cute liar.
The old nobleman Volobyaninoff, although the master of the treasure, was always Binger's deputy in the treasure hunt
Two greedy treasure hunters Father Fedor (left) and the old nobleman Volobyaninoff (right). Father Fedor eventually went mad by buying twelve fake chairs
Twelve Chairs is a very interesting novel. It was welcomed by almost all camps after its launch. The first to bring the novel to the screen were Polish and Czechs, in 1933. Americans later introduced the American version, but the storyline was changed a lot. It was only then that the Soviets brought it to the screen, releasing two film versions in 1971 and 1977, and Cuba and Brazil also shot their own versions. The most interesting thing is that Nazi Germany also admired the novel, believing that it "exposed the cunning of the Jews", because the protagonist, the "great strategist", Ostap, seemed to be a Jew. The novel does not explicitly mention this, but Binger often says "My father was a Turkish subject", which seems to imply that Binger was a Jew born in Odessa, where local Jews often lived in Odessa for a long time in order to gain Turkish status for profit. But it is interesting to note that the novel's two authors, Irif and Petrov, are themselves Jews in the Odessa region. In addition, Borges also greatly appreciated the novel. In 2004, the Germans also released an opera version of The Twelve Chairs.
Polish and Czech 1933 co-production of the poster
A version taken by the Americans in 1970. This version changes the plot of the original book so much that the characters are very inconsistent
An opera version introduced by the Germans in 2004
Stills from The Adventures of the Italians in Russia. The play is played by the famous Soviet actor Andrei Mironov. On the far right is italian actress Antonia Santiago
There have been many adaptations of the novel since its launch, and some people have counted that there are more than twenty of them. The influence of "Twelve Chairs" was universal, and it also inspired many later literary and artistic works. The pattern of greed – treasure hunting – punished has also become a common pattern in many comedy films. The famous Soviet comedy film "The Adventures of the Italians in Russia" was inspired by "Twelve Chairs".
My personal favorite is this 1971 version. Director Leonid Geide is a well-known Comedy Director of the Soviet Union and graduated from the Gerasimov State Film Academy. His masterpiece "Diamond Arm" influenced generations in the Soviet Union and became a household name in the Soviet era. The two lead actors, Binger, played by the famous Soviet voice actor Georgi Witzen, who has voiced many famous Soviet cartoons. Playing the old nobleman is the famous actor Sergei Filippov born in the Tsarist era, who was a male god in the era of black and white films, playing Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night" and playing Ivan The Terrible in "Ivan the Terrible".
Sergey Filippov
The film's sets borrow a lot of stage play techniques
The rogue poetLipis seduces young women with crappy poetry. A major feature of his work is that all the characters are called Gavrilla, and there is a great lack of common sense in the poem, believing that the Caucasian jackal is a snake
Adoring the vain housewife Shukina, she would only say Oh to anything.
"Great Strategist" with the old nobility
The film borrows a lot of shooting techniques from the silent film era, and borrows a lot from stage plays on the set, using exaggerated body movements and expressions to show a large number of plots in the performance, and is more faithful to the original in the story, which is highly recommended.