When it was initially filmed, this lecture was supposed to be a pilot for a possible series on PBS, "Artists in Residence," in January 1985. As far as I know, it was never made into a series. I was posing as a student in the lecture room. You can just see me over Plummer's right should as he enters the room and steps down the aisle, about two minutes in. I'm wearing the blue sweater, white blouse one chair in from the aisle in the back row. My first professional acting gig (and last).

Wow! 1 great actor playing 1 great writer discussing 1 great book. If only it was in HD.

I read the real lecture some time ago. It's so good. Surprisingly, this is spot on. Pretty impressive that Plummer memorized Nabokov's actual words so exactly. Props for Plummer.

Where there is beauty there is pity.

I like that Nabokov's lecturing style has become oddly fused with stand-up comedy in this film...

Thanks for posting this!

Actors’ performance is secondary here. Speech is very important though. The example of a boy by Nabokov defines the major characteristic and advantage of literature - imagination. Imagination is the only factor that makes us different from anything else. Living in fantasy is sometimes very detrimental, but the man unable to imagine anything is doomed for boredom and meaningless life. How can we deal with numerous horrors of life? Conflict, stress, unfulfilled dreams and daily routine inflict the damage to the human soul and there is only one cure - literature. Yes, beauty must die, we all must die, but imagination never dies. Unfathomable and unreal helps us to cope with the real and change it. And here the value of a human being lies. The problem Kafka unlashes is that majority of humans disagree with this percept. They degrade their souls by selfishness and love of pleasure. Kafka makes a person a beetle to express the fall of mankind. Anyone can become an insect due to the automaton of life. And we one-dimensional creatures never understand that. In spite of all, literature is still alive and imagination may help the one who’s fate is beetlehood.

Plummer, the great actor performing a great soliloquy.

What a spectacular performance.

Nabokov Hates Your Prose. (Something to be found on a t shirt at a meeting of young writers)

I agree. Not only is he excessive with dialogue, but some of his mannerisms -- like italicizing only one syllable of a word -- are, in the end, just mannerisms. But he is a master in using gestures to enliven the story. There are many gestures that stay with you forever after reading a Salinger story -- like some bits with an ashtray in "Franny & Zooey", or numerous things in "Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters" -- much as bits of dialogue can stay with you.

Genial ! Sala plina, daca ținea cursurile în acest stil probabil studenții nu ratau un singur curs.

This is the reasoned I joined you tube!

it takes him the whole lecture to get to the front of the room

6:20 made me laugh so hard! when he's putting his glasses on, oh man!

Grandezza di autore, grandezza di insegnamento.

Apart from the short story that even *Nabokov* liked ("A Perfect Day for Bananafish"), I agree with you.

brillian man

Have any of you seen this book review?

Plummer looks more like Borges than Nabokov here lol

"It was no dream."

@adelfiano Based on the few videos I've seen of Nabokov, Plummer is spot on. He adds a booming British backbone to the accent, but otherwise, its a marvelous performance.

can anybody (svsugvcarter preferably) upload the rest of the video pleeez...i think itz half an hour video

anyone know when this was shot?

@svsugvcarter: Where did you find the Christopher Plummer plays Nabokov video? My grandmother had him as a professor at Cornell, so I was wondering if this was from a longer movie.

@SyntheticEspionage Dude, if had glasses I would be taking them off ALL the time for dramatic effect too!

zcelente..

R.I.P.

Dude was genius

Genius

@adelfiano THAT'S why it begins with a credit: "Starring Christopher Plummer", eh? I get it now, thanks to your astute observation. If you hurry it may not be too late to see whether you can't rescind the "bad and ridicolous" (sic) Christopher Plummer's Tony Awards and numerous film critics' awards (if not for this particular performance) before it is too late. Hurry! The local bowling alley in (name of your town here) is almost sure to still be open by the time you return. Go! Quick!

can anybody (svsugvcarter preferably) upload the rest of the video....i think itz half an hour video

kuhl..but where is Vera?

Is this from Lectures on Literature? Is it verbatim or edited?

Is Naturbouy reallt, THE SINGING JOURNALIST?

Actually gets the voice right

I understand the "bad and ridiculous" comment that so many seem to have been outraged by, but I would suggest in response that you study the actual Nabokov in the (very few) KZfaq videos in which he appears, and give thought to how any actor could attempt to assume his manner and his speech without arriving at some level of ridiculousness. Nabokov himself, it seems to me, could just barely pull it off. I'm very sorry to bother you about it, as others have, so long after the comment was posted.

In all fairness Nabokov’s wacky accent is REALLY hard to nail... this video is missing Vera sitting in the classroom with a gun in her purse to threaten any kid who DARED to interrupt the Genius!

A strong opinion.

@4fitter27 I guess you think I didn't get the jokes. I got them all, I just don't find them funny. Are you like realted to Nabokov or something, or just mad at life?

I'm proud of Nabokov that he is russian =)

What good is money in the hand of a fool? He has no reason to acquire wisdom.

Sad. I like Peter Medak.

OMG////

keske turkce alt yazilarida olsaydi :(

the original german for insect was roughly 'vermin'

Came here after 20th Century Boys

@johnjosmith42 not sure what i said that qualifies me as a "slavering dolt".

His dad was killed by Sergey Taboritsky

@lzlsanatomy Me too.

Not 1915. It was written in 1912.

It's only a sodden building and with 2 megs RAM. I get 17 seconds every minute Ndime Nabuko. "This is the guy who made Lolitta" comment kills me. These guys are all over KZfaq. They are vocabularly challenged. Then you get the 'lowdown on the subject' experts. These guys know everything! Yes Rog this would be an actor. I was 'looking for kafka' --wait a minute is that a novel name or what?

i wanted to hate the great canadian ham, christopher plummer, but he acquits himself quite handily.

That's 1:10 into this clip when you can see me. Poor quality video, though.

That's Christopher Plummer. Is that what you call a ridicUlous actor?

You have the only good reason.

@prahasct apropos

1.Cubra sua boca com a mão 2. Faça um desejo 3.Feche sua mão (punho) 4.Ponha sua mão no coração durante 5 segundos 5. Envie isto para mais 3 vídeos 6. Amanhã vai ser o melhor dia da sua vida

he is ridiculously bad, if that's what you're asking

Christopher Plummer totally sucks here. And you really should say that this is Plummer and NOT Nabokov in your blurb for the video...

It's interesting, but why on earth is Nabokov played with a strong French accent??? Did the actor not realize he was Russian? I've heard recordings of his voice, his accent isn't obviously foreign.

Why would anyone try to 'tart up' a university lecture in this manner? I well know Nabokov composed many of his works on 3x5 index cards, in laser sharp graphite, standing at a lectern, wearring mismathced argile socks, his great, unbuttered Prussian dome a sort of floodlight, a moored spaceship waiting to take up, to his difficult heaven, the asembled 'vulgarians'

The ah-cent is atrocious. Boris Karloff meets Derrida, or the person bringing Derrida his fried egg sandwich. Also, the camera work is shoddy and some of the students costumes absurd....But, then, so fucking what; the words, the presentation, is a howling delight and might begin to stir up, in the minds of sleeping student passengers, a new way of experiencing the novel and the world.

Ridiculously bad. Mimicking his manirisms without getting any of his content.

What's up with this generic European accent? British, French and German simultaneously lol

this is ludicrous. the ah-cent is atrrrocious and seems to vacillate between french, british, and zemblan. nabokov's lectures were prepared down to the last word, and you can see in his tv appearances that he relies of notecards even when he is supposedly speaking extemporaneously. why would anyone try to tart up a university lecture in this manner? one is better off reading the lectures or watching footage of the man himself. ugh.