ABSTRACT
The chapter investigates the various connections between Vsevolod Meyerhold and cinema. Meyerhold’s work in cinema was very diverse; he was a film director, a screenwriter, an actor, and he also had experience of writing and speaking professionally about film. This chapter is focused on those aspects and facts that have been underexplored or require revision. The author argues that the three films Meyerhold directed before the October revolution (Portret Doriana Greiia [The Picture of Dorian Gray], Sil’nyi chelovek [The Strong Man], and the unfinished Nav’i chary [Phantom Spells]) form a trilogy that shaped Meyerhold’s relationship with cinema for many years afterwards. The chronological start of the director’s work in cinema became the focus of vital future endeavours in the field and had a strong impact on his work in theatre. The case of Meyerhold’s performance A List of Assets (1931) based on Yuri Olesha’s play is discussed more thoroughly.
