Summary
F. M. Dostoyevsky’s eponymous psychological novel from 1867 provided Soviet actor and director Alexsey Batalov with subject matter for this 1972 film that received support from Czechoslovakia (Czech actors were engaged in several supporting roles, while shooting took place in Mariánské Lázně). Hráč (Gambler) is the dramatic story of Aleksei Ivanovich, a young aristocrat fatefully in love, who succumbs to his gambling passion in the fictitious spa town of Rulettenburg. As a precise adaptation of a classic work of Russian literature, the motion picture stylishly evokes the period in which Dostoyevsky framed his captivating study of obsession. The lead role was performed by Nikolay Burlyaev, who had debuted in the title role of wartime drama Ivanovo dětství (Ivan’s Childhood, 1962) directed by Andrei Tarkovsky. Appearing in Hráč, he met another actor regularly cast by Tarkovsky: Aleksandr Kaydanovskiy (Stalker, 1979) who took on the part of English merchant Mr Astley.
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