Diogenes from Sinope [Диоген из Синопа] (1970)

5 min. / Russian: no subtitles / dir. David Cherkassky / Kievnauchfilm

This is a funny little film about the Cynic philosopher Diogenes of Sinope who allegedly lived in a barrel. We first observe him in the barrel, avidly scribbling down his thoughts. Two men appear and seem to argue outside the barrel about wine and war, but this doesn’t distract him from his work. Then the words “But Diogenes purchased an apartment” flash on the screen. He aims to continue writing but gets distracted with the furnishing of the apartment. We see him acquiring more furniture, cleaning and arranging all his possessions, becoming too tired to write. As he goes to buy another new table, he passes by the old barrel and recalls how productive he used to be. He decides to return to the barrel, but he has become too fat and wealthy, and as he enters the barrel it breaks into pieces.

The film was inspired by a 1967 poem entitled “Diogenes of Sinope” by Felix Krivin: https://rupoem.ru/krivin/diogen-poluchil-kvartiru.aspx

This short is part of a film called “Short Stories” (Короткие истории) that also featured the short ” How Panurge drowned the merchant and his rams in the sea” , an episode from Rabelais’ Gargantua and Pantagruel (You can watch in full here: https://mults.info/mults/?id=2221).