On Thursday, Dec. 1, the Program in Russian East European and Eurasian Studies at Princeton University hosted a film presentation and book talk on “Nabokov’s Magic Lantern” by Yuri Leving, professor of Slavic languages and literatures. Professor Leving’s film features interviews with Nabokov’s son and other figures, considering the famous author’s life and legacy through the natural landscape of Montreux and Nabokov’s unrealized desire that his last, unfinished work, Laura, be destroyed after his death.

The discussion with the audience that followed dealt with a number of key points from the film. In response to a question on whether he had interviewed those who appeared in the film or produced commentary on Nabokov’s legacy first, Leving noted that structure is the skeleton, not just tonality but a structure question. Leaving noted how much he loved Nabokov’s poem “An Evening of Russian Poetry” as well as the audio of Nabokov reading it. The burned film was a self-ironic reference to Nabokov’s desire for the destruction of Laura. Leving noted how he had a rather boring interview with Dmitri, Nabokov’s son, covering much of the same material chronologically unpacking Nabokov’s life that Dmitri has offered in interviews before, and ended up using portions of the interview such as Dmitri singing in Russian to humanize him. He also highlighted that the only portion where you hear Nabokov himself was in reading a poem of Tuchev. Leving thought it was important to convey how Nabokov’s language is outdated in a beautiful, soft spoken way — his cultivated, aristocratic St. Petersburg dialect. Leving said he viewed his role as a filmmaker not as to resolve the inconsistencies of Nabokov’s life and legacy and that he was fundamentally against “talking head” documentaries. He sought rather to use animation and surreal elements to offer a more imaginative retrospective on the Russian author.

The most controversial element was an interview with Nikita Struve, who alleged that Nabokov authored the novel Novel with Cocaine published under the pseudonym M. Ağayev, not Mark Levi, as many believe. Leving found Struve to be lacking the intellectual honesty to recognize that his thesis of Nabokov’s authorship had been discredited.

Ultimately, the film and discussion hinged on the decision of Dmitri to preserve Laura against his father’s wishes. On that question, Leving’s “Nabokov’s Magic Lantern” delegates judgement to its audience.

“Film Presentation and Discussion: Nabokov's Magic Lantern” was sponsored by the Program in Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies.

On Thursday, Dec. 1, the Program in Russian East European and Eurasian Studies at Princeton University hosted a film presentation and book talk on “Nabokov’s Magic Lantern” by Yuri Leving, professor of Slavic languages and literatures. Professor Leving’s film features interviews with Nabokov’s son and other figures, considering the famous author’s life and legacy through the natural landscape of Montreux and Nabokov’s unrealized desire that his last, unfinished work, Laura, be destroyed after his death.

The discussion with the audience that followed dealt with a number of key points from the film. In response to a question on whether he had interviewed those who appeared in the film or produced commentary on Nabokov’s legacy first, Leving noted that structure is the skeleton, not just tonality but a structure question. Leaving noted how much he loved Nabokov’s poem “An Evening of Russian Poetry” as well as the audio of Nabokov reading it. The burned film was a self-ironic reference to Nabokov’s desire for the destruction of Laura. Leving noted how he had a rather boring interview with Dmitri, Nabokov’s son, covering much of the same material chronologically unpacking Nabokov’s life that Dmitri has offered in interviews before, and ended up using portions of the interview such as Dmitri singing in Russian to humanize him. He also highlighted that the only portion where you hear Nabokov himself was in reading a poem of Tuchev. Leving thought it was important to convey how Nabokov’s language is outdated in a beautiful, soft spoken way — his cultivated, aristocratic St. Petersburg dialect. Leving said he viewed his role as a filmmaker not as to resolve the inconsistencies of Nabokov’s life and legacy and that he was fundamentally against “talking head” documentaries. He sought rather to use animation and surreal elements to offer a more imaginative retrospective on the Russian author.

The most controversial element was an interview with Nikita Struve, who alleged that Nabokov authored the novel Novel with Cocaine published under the pseudonym M. Ağayev, not Mark Levi, as many believe. Leving found Struve to be lacking the intellectual honesty to recognize that his thesis of Nabokov’s authorship had been discredited.

Ultimately, the film and discussion hinged on the decision of Dmitri to preserve Laura against his father’s wishes. On that question, Leving’s “Nabokov’s Magic Lantern” delegates judgement to its audience.

“Film Presentation and Discussion: Nabokov's Magic Lantern” was sponsored by the Program in Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies.