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The Great Warrior Skanderbeg

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For other uses, see Skanderbeg (disambiguation).

The Great Warrior Skanderbeg
Film poster
Directed bySergei Yutkevich
Written byMikhail Papava
StarringAkaki Khorava
CinematographyYevgeniy Nikolayevich Andrikanis
Edited byKlavdiya Aleyeva
Music by
Distributed byArtkino Pictures
Release date
  • 28 November 1953 (1953-11-28)
Running time
120 minutes
CountriesSoviet Union
Albania
LanguageAlbanian

The Great Warrior Skanderbeg (Albanian: Luftëtari i madh i Shqipërisë Skënderbeu; Russian: Великий воин Албании Скандербег, romanized: Velikiy voin Albanii Skanderbeg) is a 1953 Soviet-Albanian biopic directed by Sergei Yutkevich. It was entered into the 1954 Cannes Film Festival where it earned the International Prize. Yutkevich also earned the Special Mention award for his direction.[1]

The film is a biography of George Kastriot Skanderbeg (1405–1468), widely known as Skanderbeg, a 15th-century Albanian lord who defended his land against the Ottoman Empire for more than two decades.

In 2012, for the 100th anniversary of Albanian independence, the film was remastered for high definition with new voices, music, and sound effects.[2]

Cast

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Production

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In April 1949, Enver Hoxha wrote to the Soviet Ministry of Foreign Affairs requesting that a film about Skanderbeg be made.[3] The film started production in 1951. The Soviet Union paid for 80% of the production with Albania paying the remaining 20%. The Soviets decided to make a film about a national hero as they previously done in coproductions with the Mongolian People's Republic, China, and East Germany.[4]

Most of the film was shot in the Soviet Union at the Mosfilm Studio and in Yalta, Sudak, and Kislovodsk. Some scenes were filmed in Albania such as Gjirokastër being used as Skanderbeg's stronghold in Krujë or scenes in Venice being filmed in the Saint Procopius Church of Tirana. The majority of the actors were from the Soviet Union, including the actor playing Skanderbeg.[5] Vahram Papazian, an Armenian, played the Ottoman sultan.[6]

The screenplay featured historical inaccuracies and anachronisms. The phrase "Science has no motherland" despite the word science not existing in the modern sense yet and Skanderbeg uses rice in a scene explaining his battle strategies. A scene of men smoking was removed as tobacco was not used in Albania at the time. The Albanians wanted to remove a scene in which Skanderbeg ends a local blood feud through peaceful methods as it was historically and culturally inaccurate, but it remained in the film.[7] Historian Aleks Buda was a consultant for the film.[8]

The original Albanian dub was considered to be of poor quality. Sergei Yutkevich criticized the monotone voice given to Skanderbeg and proposed that he should be voiced by Naim Frashëri. The film was redubbed in 2012 under the direction of Piro Milkani and Eno Milkani.[9]

Release

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The Great Warrior Skanderbeg premiered in Moscow and Tirana on 28 November, the 44th anniversary of Albania's independence. It was shown at the 1954 Cannes Film Festival and won an international prize.[10][11]

References

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  1. ^ "Festival de Cannes: The Great Warrior Skanderbeg". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 31 January 2009.
  2. ^ "Skenderbeu: HD". Top Channel. Retrieved 20 May 2014.
  3. ^ Grgić 2021, p. 285.
  4. ^ Williams 2023, pp. 84–85.
  5. ^ Williams 2023, pp. 85–86.
  6. ^ Mëhilli 2018, p. 623.
  7. ^ Williams 2023, p. 85.
  8. ^ Mëhilli 2018, p. 622.
  9. ^ Williams 2023, pp. 87–88.
  10. ^ Williams 2023, pp. 88–89.
  11. ^ Grgić 2021, pp. 284–285.

Works cited

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