Cinema · Books · Observations

One of the finest screen adaptations of Dostoevsky was made by Ivan Pyryev in 1958

One of the finest screen adaptations of Dostoevsky was made by Ivan Pyryev in 1958. Alas, the unfinished two-part film "The Idiot" was not duly appreciated in its day. The general mood after its release was such that Pyryev abandoned the idea of shooting the second part.

Cinema · Moscow · Observations · People

Yuliya Borisova and her roles at the Vakhtangov Theatre from 1947 until her death in 2023

I remember first meeting People's Artist of the Soviet Union Yulia Borisova, as I waited by the stage door for Lyudmila Maksakova, to have a word with her after the performance. The door opened and up the steps came a slight, slender Yulia Borisova with a small bouquet

NB! · Art · Museums · Observations · Paris

Drifting into the weekend with Gustave Caillebotte, acquired not long ago by the Musée d'Orsay for 3 million euros with the help of Bernard Arnault, who added a further 40 million from his company's coffers

A smiling woman in a light coat and hat holds the rail of a train window, with a man in dark clothing visible behind her.

NB! · Archive · Monarchies · Observations

Elizabeth II smiling from a train window in a black-and-white photograph

Elizabeth II at a train window. Sad, though it is some time now since she was seen off.

NB! · Coming Up · In the Press

Listen to me on Radio Mayak, on the programme “Understand Yourself If You Can”, with Artem Novichenkov and Vladislav Timkin

Architecture · Books · Monarchies · Society · Saint Petersburg

In 1922 a quatrain by Demyan Bedny was carved on the pedestal of the monument to Alexander III:

My son and my father were executed in their lifetime, And I have reaped the lot of posthumous ignominy: I stand here as a cast-iron scarecrow for a country That has cast off for ever the yoke of autocracy. Literal translation

Engraving of women seated around a table in an interior with a canopied bed and a fireplace, a servant bringing a dish, children and dogs in the foreground.

NB! · Art · Mores

Abraham Bosse's 1636 engraving of women dining together without their husbands

Women at table in the absence of their husbands. Abraham Bosse, 1636

NB! · Observations

A Wretched Copy and the Inimitable Original

NB! · Observations · Pop Culture · Humour

You Are Getting On a Bit If You Use These Emojis

NB! · Pop Culture · Humour

A Meme from 1992

Observations · People

Actress Vera Vasilyeva has died, and her role in Viktyuk's production is worth revisiting

Vera Vasilyeva, the radiant, kind and exalted Russian actress, has died. Let us revisit her mischievous performance in Viktyuk's touching production and remember this wonderful, remarkable woman with a kind word https://theparnassian.com/v-pamiat-o-romane-viktiuke-predlagaiu-posmotret-odnu-iz-ego-pozdnikh-teatralnykh-rabot-postanovku-

NB! · Architecture · London · Moscow · Observations

Alexandr Radayev