The Cameraman's Revenge

The Cameraman's Revenge (Russian: Месть кинематографического оператора, romanized: Mest' kinematograficheskogo operatora) is a 1912 Russian short film written and directed by Ladislas Starevich.^[1][2][3] It, along with other works by Starevich, stands out in the history of stop-motion animation for its use of actual dried insect specimens (beetles, grasshoppers, dragonflies, etc.) as articulated stop-motion puppets portraying all of the characters.^[4][5][6][7]

The Cameraman's Revenge
Russian: Месть кинематографического оператора
Directed by	Ladislas Starevich
Written by	Ladislas Starevich
Produced by	Aleksandr Khanzhonkov
Release date	October 27, 1912 (1912-10-27)
Running time	12 minutes
Country	Russia

The Cameraman's Revenge (1912)

The film is a humorous look at adultery, voyeurism, and revenge porn. A married man cheats on his wife with a nightclub's dancer. A cameraman is secretly filming their amorous encounter. During a date with his wife at a movie theater, the man discovers that his supposedly private moments are on display at the theater.

Plot

Bored with married life, Mr. Beetle goes to a nightclub and fights off a grasshopper for the attention of a dragonfly dancer. The grasshopper is a cameraman who follows the couple to the home of the dragonfly and films their amorous encounter. When Mr. Beetle returns home, he finds Mrs. Beetle in the arms of a young artist, another beetle.

After throwing the intruder out, Mr. Beetle magnanimously forgives his wife. Together they go to the movies, and, to their surprise, the film being shown is of Mr. Beetle’s infidelity, as the grasshopper from before is, in fact, the projectionist. Mr. Beetle is not happy, and attacks the grasshopper after charging his booth. The date ends when the couple gets thrown in a prison cell.

Production

The film was one the last Starevich made in Russia.^[8]

Home video

A DVD version of the short exists.^[9]

Reception

The film was described as "Starevich's most famous Russian production"^[10] and his "most ambitious film".^[11]

Analysis

According to Giannalberto Bendazzi, "The Cameraman’s Revenge is a perfect example of young Starewitch’s unsentimental, unmoralistic style. The story is perfectly suited for animal characters. As in Aesop and Phaedrus’ fables, it is universal because its protagonists are animals – i.e. symbols. Mr. and Mrs. Beetle are a typical middle-class couple bored by family life. Starewitch’s characters are also good actors: The spectator has fun and identifies himself in the incoherent and very realistic Mr. Beetle. His acting is, again, a balanced mix between human and animal action: His human feelings are clear but, at the same time, his features and anatomical structure are scientifically correct.^[12]"