Od Połtawy do Odessy. Wiera Chołodnaja – fenomen gwiazdy kina niemego

Abstrakt

This article introduces the profi le of Vera Kholodnaya – a silent fi lm actress. The work of the artist, once regarded as one of the biggest stars of the Russian cinema, today is somewhat forgotten. One of the causes of Kholodnaya’s achievements is the fact that most of the fi lms with her participation have not survived to our times. After Bolsheviks came to power, the legacy of the actress, like that of many other fi lmmakers of the pre-revolutionary era, sank to oblivion. The article is an attempt to outline the most important stages of Kholodnaya’s life and artistic activity. The author focuses on the Ukrainian context of the actress’s life, which is usually ignored by researchers in their analysis. Most of them consider Kholodnaya solely a Russian actress (due to the fact that she was featured primarily in the Russian fi lm production). Her adherence to the Ukrainian culture is not only proved by her origin. The evidence of her emotional attachment to Ukraine is also proved by the fact that the last year of her life she spent in Kiev, Kharkov and Odessa performing in the theatre and cinema. The article analyses the causes of Kholodnaya’s popularity phenomenon who is often compared to today’s famous fi lm stars. This paper is an attempt to show the actress not only as «the queen of the screen» (as she was perceived by her contemporaries), but also as a remarkable woman, the inspiration for directors, actors and multitude of her admirers, for whom she was a role model.