When the clerk of Tsar Paul I makes a silly mistake on his military roster, he hesitates to correct it, quietly convincing himself that the consequences cannot possibly be severe. The slip of the pen has merely created a fictitious soldier named “Kije,” whom the clerk hopes will remain unnoticed. Unbeknownst to the clerk, the Tsar has just been angrily woken from bed by a loud shriek. The next day, he demands to know the culprit. When his eyes are drawn to the strange-sounding name on the military roster, the court officials conveniently blame the imaginary “Kije.”
Thus, the events of the film “Lieutenant Kije” are set into motion.
