Drama on the Volga (Merchant Bashkirov's Daughter) (1913) movie

Natalia, the title character, has fallen in love with Egorov, a young clerk who works in her father’s shop. The patriarchal Bashkirov, however, has already arranged her marriage to one of his colleagues; the two men sign the formal agreement, and then toast with vodka shots, to the evident distress of the merchant’s wife. When her mother arranges a few moments for the young lovers to be alone in Natalia’s room, the father returns home unexpectedly. The women hide Egorov under Natalia’s mattress, accidentally suffocating him. They enlist a brawny peasant to hide the corpse, which he nails into a barrel and then unceremoniously dumps into the Volga. When the body is discovered, the wily peasant then realizes that he has leverage over the women, and he blackmails Natalia into coming to his hut, where he rapes her. He then pressures her to meet him in a bar, where she keeps pouring the vodka until he and his buddy pass out. Natalia sets fire to the place after blocking the exits, and then dissolves into hysteria as she watches the flames.

Drama on the Volga (Merchant Bashkirov's Daughter) (1913) movie

Genre: Melodrama
Production Co.: Grigorii Libken’s Volga Co.

Directed by Nikolai Larin
Screenplay: Nikolai Larin
Producer: Grigorii Libken
Cinematographer: Ianis Dored