Nikos Kazantzakis’ Unshot Adaptations of Don Quixote and Decameron

This article examines two of Nikos Kazantzakis’ unshot screenplays of the early 1930s: his adaptations of Cervantes’ Don Quixote and Boccaccio’s Decameron, kept in typed manuscripts at the Nikos Kazantzakis Museum Foundation in Iraklion, Crete. The article analyses Kazantzakis’ Don Quixote and Deca...

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Main Author: Panayiota Mini
Format: Article
Language:deu
Published: Ksiegarnia Akademicka Publishing 2021-12-01
Series:Classica Cracoviensia
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.akademicka.pl/cc/article/view/4068
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author Panayiota Mini
author_facet Panayiota Mini
author_sort Panayiota Mini
collection DOAJ
description This article examines two of Nikos Kazantzakis’ unshot screenplays of the early 1930s: his adaptations of Cervantes’ Don Quixote and Boccaccio’s Decameron, kept in typed manuscripts at the Nikos Kazantzakis Museum Foundation in Iraklion, Crete. The article analyses Kazantzakis’ Don Quixote and Decameron in the contexts of early talking cinema and his ideas of the image-language relationship. Written at a time when the artistic value of talking cinema was still debated, Kazantzakis’ adaptations demonstrate that he sought to express ideas with images rather than dialogue (Don Quixote) and use sound as a creative element (Decameron) in ways alluding to Eisenstein’s 1928-1929 writings, with which, as evidence suggests, the Greek author was familiar. Thus, Kazantzakis’ Don Quixote and Decameron show how a technological development in film history – the coming of sound – and the Soviet film theory influenced this author’s adaptation techniques, while also enhancing our understanding of his creative career as well as the worldwide resonance of Cervantes’ and Boccaccio’s literary milestones.
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spelling doaj.art-03f593accbf74fdea463f67ac1cd1db22022-12-22T00:36:33ZdeuKsiegarnia Akademicka PublishingClassica Cracoviensia1505-89132391-67532021-12-012410.12797/CC.24.2021.24.05Nikos Kazantzakis’ Unshot Adaptations of Don Quixote and DecameronPanayiota Mini0University of Crete This article examines two of Nikos Kazantzakis’ unshot screenplays of the early 1930s: his adaptations of Cervantes’ Don Quixote and Boccaccio’s Decameron, kept in typed manuscripts at the Nikos Kazantzakis Museum Foundation in Iraklion, Crete. The article analyses Kazantzakis’ Don Quixote and Decameron in the contexts of early talking cinema and his ideas of the image-language relationship. Written at a time when the artistic value of talking cinema was still debated, Kazantzakis’ adaptations demonstrate that he sought to express ideas with images rather than dialogue (Don Quixote) and use sound as a creative element (Decameron) in ways alluding to Eisenstein’s 1928-1929 writings, with which, as evidence suggests, the Greek author was familiar. Thus, Kazantzakis’ Don Quixote and Decameron show how a technological development in film history – the coming of sound – and the Soviet film theory influenced this author’s adaptation techniques, while also enhancing our understanding of his creative career as well as the worldwide resonance of Cervantes’ and Boccaccio’s literary milestones. https://journals.akademicka.pl/cc/article/view/4068Nikos Kazantzakisscreenwritingadaptation studiesDon QuixoteDecameronSoviet film theory
spellingShingle Panayiota Mini
Nikos Kazantzakis’ Unshot Adaptations of Don Quixote and Decameron
Classica Cracoviensia
Nikos Kazantzakis
screenwriting
adaptation studies
Don Quixote
Decameron
Soviet film theory
title Nikos Kazantzakis’ Unshot Adaptations of Don Quixote and Decameron
title_full Nikos Kazantzakis’ Unshot Adaptations of Don Quixote and Decameron
title_fullStr Nikos Kazantzakis’ Unshot Adaptations of Don Quixote and Decameron
title_full_unstemmed Nikos Kazantzakis’ Unshot Adaptations of Don Quixote and Decameron
title_short Nikos Kazantzakis’ Unshot Adaptations of Don Quixote and Decameron
title_sort nikos kazantzakis unshot adaptations of don quixote and decameron
topic Nikos Kazantzakis
screenwriting
adaptation studies
Don Quixote
Decameron
Soviet film theory
url https://journals.akademicka.pl/cc/article/view/4068
work_keys_str_mv AT panayiotamini nikoskazantzakisunshotadaptationsofdonquixoteanddecameron