Story Structure — 5 Plot Phases
The Play Poster Appears
The film introduces the play through its poster, a bow, and comic faces. The opening may function as material intended for the end of the play.
Key Events
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Poster Introduction — The film opens with the poster announcing the play.
Location: Theater
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Cap and Bow — A performer removes his cap and bows before the poster.
Location: Theater
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Diary Owner Introduced — The diary's owner appears in front of the same poster.
Location: Theater
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Comic Faces — The main protagonists make a series of comic faces.
Location: Theater
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Opening Sequence Reframed — The opening material could have been screened at the play's end.
Location: Theater
The Diary Is Stolen
The diary theft initiates the second sequence. An actor leaves the stage and enters an improbable filmed chase.
Key Events
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Opening Sequence Reframed — The opening material could have been screened at the play's end.
Location: Theater
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Diary Theft — The second sequence shows how the diary was stolen.
Location: Theater stage
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Stage Escape — The actor runs out from the stage into the filmed sequence.
Location: Theater stage
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Facade Climb — The actor climbs along the building's facade.
Location: Building facade
Flight Across The City
The actor climbs the building facade, reaches the roof, and is picked up by an airplane. The airborne escape ends with a jump into a car.
Key Events
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Facade Climb — The actor climbs along the building's facade.
Location: Building facade
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Ascent To Roof — The climb continues until the actor reaches the roof.
Location: Building roof
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Airplane Pickup — An airplane picks up the actor from the roof.
Location: Building roof
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Leap From Airplane — The actor jumps out of the airplane.
Location: Airplane
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Landing In Car — The actor falls into a car after leaving the airplane.
Location: Car
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Return To Theater — The car brings the actor back to the theater's front door.
Location: Theater front door
The Reel Returns
The car brings the actor back to the theater front door. He returns to the stage holding a film reel, linking the filmed action back to the performance.
Key Events
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Return To Theater — The car brings the actor back to the theater's front door.
Location: Theater front door
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Reel Brought Onstage — The actor returns to the stage holding a film reel.
Location: Theater stage
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Diary Contents Begin — The third sequence metaphorically presents the diary's contents.
Location: Film sequence
Metaphors Of The Diary
The final sequence presents the diary's contents through stop motion substitutions. It concludes with a wedding involving Mashenka and a comic refusal of money requests.
Key Events
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Diary Contents Begin — The third sequence metaphorically presents the diary's contents.
Location: Film sequence
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Stop Motion Substitutions — The diary's contents use several stop motion substitutions.
Location: Film sequence
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Metaphorical Escalation — The substitutions continue as a metaphorical depiction of the diary.
Location: Film sequence
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Wedding Ceremony — The sequence ends with the wedding of Mashenka and the diary's owner. Characters: Mashenka
Location: Wedding setting
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Money Requests — The other protagonists make requests for money. Characters: Mashenka
Location: Wedding setting
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Fig Sign Ending — The diary's owner answers the money requests with a fig sign. Characters: Mashenka
Location: Wedding setting
Filmic insert to Eisenstein's modernized, free adaptation of Ostrovskiy's 19th-century Russian stage play, "The Wise Man" ("Na vsyakogo mudretsa dovolno prostoty"). The anti-hero Glumov tries to escape exposure in the midst of acrobatics, derring-do, and farcical clowning. Several members of Eisenstein's troupe at the legendary "Proletkult" stage theatre in Moscow briefly appear in this little film.
