Dec 19, 2018 for an overview of innovation in 3d cinema in russia and the soviet union, particularly at its peak at the time of eisensteins essay, but only in experimental use during the period covered here, see nikolai mayorov, a first in cinema stereoscopic films in russia and the soviet union, studies in russian and soviet cinema, vol. Suggestions for corrections and additions are welcome. Only a basically sound society could have achieved such a feat, a feat which required national cooperation, initiative, and morale. The soviet union is often presented as a largely isolated and idiosyncratic state. The political economy of stalinism in the light of the archival. This article focuses the technical issues involved in soviet cinema and makes the argument that a lack of equipment and technical advancement hindered the soviet film industry. The decade of the 1920s in russian film is considered a golden age. Russia and soviet union glasnost and the postsovietsituation. Power and authority in the soviet union, 19301953 ronald grigor suny excerpted from ronald grigor suny, stalin and his stalinism.
His show trials, his executions, and his gulags did not indicate a strong concern for human life, and it is difficult to conceive of a counterbalancing worry for the natural world. Prepare to read build background knowledge remind students that lenin founded the soviet state, and after he died in 1924, stalin took power. Countless other scholars have written about, discussed, and examined soviet film, many of which have been referenced in the following study or included in the bibliography. A narrative in documents annals of communism series mr. Historical journal of film, radio and television 11. Vast strength of su the first mighty stimulus to the soviet peoples courageous fighting is the public ownership of all the vast resources of 1 6 of the world. The collection provides comprehensive coverage of the antecedents, role and consequences of stalinism and soviet cinema, how stalinism emerged, what the relationship was between the political leadership, the cinema. Most were documentaries on such subjects as combatting headlice, basic hygiene, the need. It is contended that, while cinema was affected for the same reasons as society as a whole, by the late 1930s cinema was under particular suspicion due to its foreign connections. Evgeny dobrenko, a leading scholar of soviet cultural history, asserts that both lenin and stalin valued cinema as the most effective form. The reorganization of soviet studios under stalins first fiveyear plan led to a system of central planning, the bureaucratization of cinema affairs, and a dramatic decline in productivity. All, though, have influenced the conclusions that i have drawn, and helped to shape the work as a whole. This was a significant factor that contributed to the bolshevik attitude to religion and the steps they took to.
May, 2009 the following bibliography on russosoviet cinema 1896 to the present makes no claims to being exhaustive. To what extent did stalin transform the society and. Sudha rajagopalan provides the first detailed social and cultural history of this phenomenon, exploring the consumption of indian popular cinema in the ussr from the mid1950s until the end of the soviet era. As well as displays, posters and exhibits, many contained wagons fitted out to show movies. Yet, during the first two decades after stalins death, soviet filmmakers produced innovative works that revived the avantgarde spirit of the 1920s and revolutionized the visual and narrative aspects of film art. This source collects a number of useful sources together and delivers them in a well structured, easy to read package. The economy moved from the marketbased nep to a system of central planning. Dobrenko looks at stalinist historical films and the novel. Drawing on oral history and archival research in russia, rajagopalan analyzes the.
War the soviet people waged against the german fascist invaders are collected in the book on the great patriotic war of the soviet union, which has gone through five editions. In the first book to examine the cultural products and production methods of the stalin cult, jan plamper reconstructs a hidden history linking artists, party patrons, state functionaries. Nov 04, 2011 buy stalinism and soviet cinema 1 by spring, derek, taylor, richard isbn. The cinema of the soviet thaw is an exciting contribution to the study of soviet film, moving the field beyond institutional and historical questions. Soviet internationalism after stalin challenges this view by telling the story of soviet and latin american intellectuals, students, political figures and artists, and their encounters with the other from the 1950s through the 1980s. After the death of stalin, soviet filmmakers were given a freer hand to film what they believed audiences wanted to see in their films. Jeff brooks, the johns hopkins universitythis book explores how soviet film. Until recently, soviet cinema of the sixties received relatively little at. Power and authority in the soviet union, 193053, in ian kershaw and moshe lewin, eds. Industry artists and administrators were especially targeted for supporting the idea of a soviet hollywood. By the 1930s socialist realism was decreed to be the official art of the soviet union.
The late twenties and early thirties were perhaps the most transformative period in soviet history. When the soviet union was established by the bolsheviks in 1922, it was the constitutional organization which took over from the russian empire. The lavish praise heaped on him at the time of his fiftieth birthday in december 1929 was followed by stalins automatic identification with the successes of soviet economic and social policy, and by the growing ritualisation of greetings, pledges and tributes to the leader. The collection provides comprehensive coverage of the antecedents, role and consequences of stalinism and soviet cinema, how stalinism emerged, what the relationship was between the political leadership, the. Finally, if soviet society had been so shaken by the trials and purges and so corrupted as khrushchev, conquest, and medvedev imply, the ussr could not have won the war.
The story of soviet film over the period covered by peter kenez is central to the history of world cinema. What reforms did stalin attempt to improve the soviet. In 192728, the sum total of soviet production of capital goods amounted to 6 billion rubles, but by 1932, annual production increased to 23. The story of soviet film in the period covered by peter kenez is central to the history of world cinema. This is a major study of the place of soviet film within the soviet cultural system. He has been quoted as saying that, while lenin undertook the political revolution in russia, it was left to him to proceed with the. October 26 1879 august 21, 1940, born lev davidovich bronstein, was a jewish bolshevik revolutionary and marxist theorist. Chironomia, the art of manual rhetoric, in chirologia. Religion in the soviet union wikimili, the best wikipedia. Stalins works, written before and after the october revolution, were not reprinted and, hitherto, not collected after their pub. Ask them to recall what else they already know about stalin. Based on extensive archival research, this welcome book examines the interaction between politics and the soviet cinema industry during the period between stalins rise to power and the beginning of the great patriotic war.
Stalinist cinema and the production of history edinburgh. This book explores how soviet film worked with time, the past, and memory. The western world in the soviet cinema during the cold war. The russian term perestroika reorganization entered popular parlance in the 1980s from gorbachevs effort to reorganize soviet industry around principles of. In this revised, updated paperback edition of his classic text, peter kenez explores the roots of soviet cinema in the film heritage of prerevolutionary russia, tracing the changes in content, style, technical means and production capacities generated by the revolution of 1917. The author explores the roots of soviet cinema in the film heritage of prerevolutionary russia. A read is counted each time someone views a publication summary such as the title, abstract, and list of authors, clicks on a figure, or views or downloads the fulltext. It was during this period stalin consolidated his grip on power and was allowed to rule with impunity, instituting his revolution from above on the soviet people. For an overview of innovation in 3d cinema in russia and the soviet union, particularly at its peak at the time of eisensteins essay, but only in experimental use during the period covered here, see nikolai mayorov, a first in cinema stereoscopic films in russia and the soviet union, studies in russian and soviet cinema, vol. Soviet reality in films such as tractor drivers2 1992.
Lewis siegelbaum, andrei sokolov, thomas hoisington, steven shabad a discussion of the responses of those who experienced firsthand the events of the middlestalinist period. In two recent russian and central asian films moskva and maimyl both 2001 contemporary quotations from stalinist musicals contrapose the idealism, optimism and semiotic wholeness of the stalinist era to the demoralized, corrupt and fragmented post soviet present. Evgeny dobrenko, a leading scholar of soviet cultural history, asserts that both lenin and stalin valued cinema as the most effective form of propaganda and organization of the masses. Art before stalin art before stalin art during the 1920s was revolutionary in a number of ways deliberately experimental and different from traditional art forms celebrated modern industrial technology conclusion soviet cinema the theremin the black square dziga vertovin charge. A new generation of communists will share her view. One of the first crucial events of the year 1968 would have passed unnoticed by most people. Throughout all of these permutations, soviet sf cinema grappled with the.
To what extent did stalin transform the society and economy of the soviet union. The importance of stalin on august 20, 1991, yanayevs ridiculous coup detat was the last step in eliminating the remaining vestiges of communism in the soviet union. The collection provides comprehensive coverage of the antecedents, role and consequences of stalinism and soviet cinema, how stalinism emerged, what the relationship was between the political leadership, the cinema administrators, the filmmakers and their films and audiences, and how soviet cinema is coming to terms with the disintegration of. Jeff brooks, the johns hopkins universitythis book explores how soviet film worked with time, the past, and memory. Stalinism and soviet cinema 1st edition derek spring. The collection provides comprehensive coverage of the antecedents, role and consequences of stalinism and soviet cinema, how. Stalinism and nazism compared by michael geyer isbn. It was originally compiled to assist nonrussian speaking undergraduate students enrolled in two university of pittsburgh courses that fulfill the universitys writing requirement. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. However, the soviet law and administrative practice through most of the 1920s extended some tolerance to religion and forbade the arbitrary closing or destruction of some functioning churches, 25 and each successive soviet constitution granted freedom.
A torrent of portraits, posters, statues, films, plays, songs, and poems galvanized the soviet population and inspired leftist activists around the world. Get an answer for assess the impact of stalins social and cultural policies of the ussr up to 1941. Indian films and film stars were immensely popular with soviet audiences in the poststalinist period. The creation of a cult of stalin was one of the most conspicuous features of soviet politics in the 1930s. This essay seeks a revised understanding of the film medium in the formal stylistics of soviet cinema in the stalinist 1930s, which, in their direct confrontation of the spectator and their simultaneous striving for immersive illusionism, share a common impulse both with both 3d blockbuster moviemaking of today, as well as with the immersive desires of virtual reality. The years after stalins death came to be known as the thaw. Stalins influence on the development of soviet cinema was decisive in m any. Stalinism and soviet cinema marks the first attempt to confront systematically the role and influence of stalin and stalinism in the history and development of soviet cinema. During the period of stalinism, the soviet union attempted to achieve economic growth through increased industrial production. Pages in category films about joseph stalin the following 12 pages are in this category, out of 12 total. The cinema of the soviet union includes films produced by the constituent republics of the. The prague spring beginning of the end for stalinism. And for this reason, she had another view of stalin.
The cinema of the soviet thaw indiana university press. Russian and soviet cinema in the age of revolution, 1917 1932. He actively transformed the culture of the time, giving birth to a new russian nationalism, rejecting the earlier bolshevik. In 1925 all film organizations merged to form sovkino. Stalin, after lenins untimely death and his own gradual rise to power, was faced with a herculean task. Mar 07, 1992 the story of soviet film in the period covered by peter kenez is central to the history of world cinema. Full text of stalinism new directions internet archive. Uneasy political foundations meant that cinema became a key part of the strategy to protect the existence of the ussr.
Edited by alexander prokhorov russian film symposium. Under joseph stalin, the soviet union grew into a totalitarian state a totalitarian state controls all aspects of life, including agriculture, culture, art, and religion the state also developed a command economy, in which the government made all economic decisions for the entire country in contrast to a market economy that is controlled. This engrossing book explores the important role played by stalinist cinema in legitimizing stalinism and producing a new soviet identity. It looks at stalinist cinema and its role in the production of history.
At the time of the 1917 revolution, the russian orthodox church was deeply integrated into the autocratic state enjoying official status. The personality cult of stalin in soviet posters, 19291953. Politics and persuasion under stalin by jamie miller i. Politics and persuasion under stalin is the first fulllength study of the soviet film industry during the 1930s.
Stalin and the drive to industrialize the soviet union. Soviet policy toward religion was based on the ideology of marxismleninism, which made atheism the official doctrine of the communist party. Likewise, those concerned with the aesthetic, ideological, and other facets of postwar cinemas, should greet it enthusiastically. The republics of the union of soviet socialist republics or union republics russian. The result of this strange amalgam was to create a critical situation of the widest confusion. For most of its history, the ussr was a highly centralized state. Pdf stalin, soviet agriculture and collectivization. Soviet cinema politics and persuasion under stalin. It may be hard to imagine the longtime leader of the former soviet union as anything but a ruthless dictator. Some of the articles arent particularly relevant while others are extremely useful to my topic. Mr jones 2019 film the north star 1943 film one day in the life of ivan denisovich film. The political leadership complained constantly that soviet cinema was not fulfilling its potential. After the 1917 revolution, throughout the civil war that followed and for most of the 1920s, soviet authorities used agittrains to spread communistgovernement propaganda throughout what became the ussr. Other artists tended to regard the young art of cinema as.
1195 1173 51 509 22 765 545 919 712 827 1093 1107 1005 1086 1223 999 870 1348 1211 804 101 694 674 912 43 333 1036 1300 675 711 1489 485