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Introduction
While Russia was involved in filmmaking as early as most of the other nations in the West, it only came into prominence during the 1920s when it explored editing as the primary mode of cinematic expression. Because of the depletion of resources due to World War I, Russian film schools would take copies of D. W. Griffith's Intolerance and re-cut it as an exercise in creating meaning. Sometimes referred to as the Roaring Twenties or the Jazz Age. ...
Ypres, 1917, in the vicinity of the Battle of Passchendaele. ...
David Lewelyn Wark Griffith (January 22, 1875 – July 23, 1948) was an American film director (commonly known as D. W. Griffith) probably best known for his film The Birth of a Nation. ...
Intolerance is a silent film directed by D.W. Griffith in 1916. ...
"Soviet Cinema" should not be used as a synonym for "Russian Cinema". Although Russian language films predominated, several republics developed lively and unique cinemas, while others did not. Most notable for their republican cinema were Georgia, Lithuania, Ukraine, and, to a lesser degree, Belarus and Moldova.
Historical outline Initially, it was believed that film would be the ideal artform for communist Russia because of its populist potential and facility in propaganda; Lenin, in fact, declared it the most important medium. Dziga Vertov's newsreel series Kino-Pravda lasted from 1922 to 1925 and had a propagandistic bent; Vertov used the series to promote "Socialist realism" but also to experiment with cinema. Eisenstein's Battleship Potemkin was released to wide acclaim in 1925; the film was heavily fictionalized and also propagandistic, preaching the party line about the virtues of the proletariat. The party leaders soon found it difficult to control directors' expression, partly because definitive understanding of a film's meaning was elusive. Consequently, film in Russia waned in the 1930s. Dziga Vertov (January 2, 1896–February 12, 1954) was a Russian documentary film and newsreel director. ...
1922 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ...
1925 was a common year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ...
Sergei Mikhailovich Eisenstein (Russian: Сергей Михайлович Эйзенштейн, Latvian: Sergejs Eizenšteins) (January 23, 1898–February 11, 1948) was a Soviet director noted for his films Battleship Potemkin and Oktober, both based loosely on a true story and presented in a realistic fashion, causing an immeasurable influence on early documentary directors owing...
The Battleship Potemkin (Russian: Броненосец Потемкин, bronenosets potyomkin), sometimes The Battleship Potyomkin, is a 1925 silent film directed by Sergei Eisenstein. ...
1925 was a common year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ...
Events and trends Technology Jet engine invented First atom was split with a particle accelerator Golden Age of radio begins in U.S. Disney adopts a three-color Technicolor process for cartoons First Kit Kat in UK The photocopier is invented by Carlson Air mail service across the Atlantic Science...
Notable films from Stalin era include Aleksandr Nevsky and Ivan Grozny. These films were made during the Patriotic war when censorship was slightly loosened. Alexander Nevsky is a film directed by Sergei Eisenstein and released in 1938, under the Stalinist regime. ...
In the late 1950s and early 1960s Soviet Cinema again flowered, beginning with films such as Ballada o Soldate Ballad of a Soldier that won the 1961 BAFTA Award for Best Picture and Letyat Juravli (The Cranes Fly). After the end of Khrushchev Thaw, and a new encroachment on free expression, Soviet cinema began to rely heavily on use of subtle hints and themes to say with images what could not be said with words, to circumvent the government censorship. Ballad of a Soldier, (Баллада о солдате, Ballada o soldate) is a 1959 Soviet Union award-winning motion picture drama directed by Grigori Chukhrai that is set in World War II. Storyline Spoiler warning: Ballad of a Soldier is not primarily a war story but recounts, within the context of...
British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) award for Best Picture winners: Categories: Movie awards | BAFTA Awards ...
In Soviet history, Kruschevs Thaw or Khrushchev Thaw refers to the period between the end of 1950s and the beginning of 1960s, when repressions and censorship reached a low point. ...
Vysota (Height) is considered to be defining film of the Thaw era (it also became the foundation of the Bard movement). The term bard came to use in the Soviet Union in the early 1960s (and continues to be used in Russia today) for popular poets and singers who wrote songs outside the Soviet establishment. ...
The 1980s saw a diversification of subject matter. Touchy issues could now be discused openly. The results were films like Pokayanie (Repentance), which dealt with Stalinist repressions in Georgia, and the allegorical science fiction movie Kin-Dza-Dza, which satirized the Soviet life in general. Science fiction is a form of speculative fiction principally dealing with the impact of imagined science and technology, or both, upon society and persons as individuals. ...
Kin-Dza-Dza (Кин-Дза-Дза in russian) was a 1986 Russian science fiction film. ...
Censorship After Stalin, Soviet directors got a free hand to do what they wanted (meaning they were not told what movies to make and about what), however their completed films had to pass the inspection of government censors. If any material was found offensive or undesirable, it was either removed, edited or if the director refused to do this, it was shelved. In rare cases the director managed to convince the government of his innoccence and the film was released.
Oddities created by censorship include:
- The first chapter of the epic film Osvoboshdenie (Liberation) was filmed 20 years after the subsequent three parts. The director had refused to minimize the errors of the Soviet High Command during the first year of the war, and instead waited for a time when he could film this portion accurately.
1950s The Burning Miles (Огненные вёрсты, Ognennye Versty, 1957), is an early Red Western. ...
1957 was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ...
1960s-70s The 1960s and 1970s saw the creation of many excellent films, many of which moulded Soviet and post-Soviet culture. They include: - The Colour of Pomegranates, an Armenian art film, considered a masterpiece by Fellini, Jean-Luc Godard and Antonioni
- Semnadtsat mgnoveniy vesny (Seventeen Moments of Spring), which created the immortal character of Standartenführer Stirlitz, and whose compelling and unbiased look at the life of a spy in wartorn Germany made the film popular in both the Germanies as well.
- White Sun of the Desert (Beloe Solntze Pustyni) (1970), a classic 'Eastern', although with dubious stereotyping of central Asians. It was ritually watched by cosmonauts before launches, and has contributed many quotes to the Russian language such as 'The East is a delicate matter'. Its theme tune became a huge hit.
- Moskva Slezam ne Verit (Moscow Does Not believe Tears)
- A Ya Idu Shagayu po Moskve (But I walk, striding Through Moscow)
- Irony of Fate (Original title: Ирония судьбы, или С лёгким паром!)
- Pokrovskiye Vorota (Protection Gates)
- Gentelmeny Udachi (Gentlemen of Fortune)
- Operatzyya "Y" i drugie istorii (Opertion "Y" and other stories)
Soviet directors were more concerned with art than with success (They were paid by the academy, and so money was not a critical issue). This contributed to the creation of a large number of more philosophical films. In keeping with Russian character, tragi-comedies were very popular. Soviet films tend to be rather culture-specific and are difficult for many foreigners to understand without having been exposed to the culture first. The Colour of Pomegranates (Sayat Nova) is a 1970 art film by the Armenian director Sergei Parajanov, considered a masterpiece by Fellini, Jean_Luc Godard and Antonioni. ...
Federico Fellini (January 20, 1920 – October 31, 1993) was a famous Italian film-maker and director. ...
Jean-Luc Godard Jean-Luc Godard (born December 3, 1930) was one of the most influential members of the nouvelle vague. ...
Michelangelo Antonioni (born September 29, 1912 in Ferrara, Italy) is an Italian film director, writer and painter. ...
Russian jokes or anekdoty (Russian: анекдо́ты), the most popular form of Russian humour, are short fictional stories or dialogues with a punch line. ...
White Sun of the Desert (Beloe Solntse Pustyni/Белое солнце пустыни) ( 1969), a classic Eastern or Ostern film of the Soviet Union. ...
The Ostern (Eastern) or Red Western was the Soviet Union and Iron Curtain countries take on the Western movie. ...
U.S. Space Shuttle astronaut Bruce McCandless II using a manned maneuvering unit. ...
Irony of Fate (original title: Ирония судьбы, или С лёгким паром!, in transcription: Ironiya Sudby ili s Lekhkim Parom ) is a Soviet comedy-drama directed by Eldar Ryazanov based on the script by Emil Braginsky and Ryazanov filmed in 1975. ...
Animation was a respected genre, with many directors experimenting with technique.
These decades were prominent in the production of the Ostern or Red Western. The Ostern (Eastern) or Red Western was the Soviet Union and Iron Curtain countries take on the Western movie. ...
Prominent studios included:
- Lenfilm
- Mosfilm
- Gorky Cinema Studio (Kinostudiya imeni Gorkogo)
- Odessa Cinema Studio (Odesskaya kinostudiya)
- Belarusfilm
- Minsk Cinema Studio (Minskaya kinostudiys)
and in the late 1980s: Lenfilm (Ленфи́льм) is a Russian movie studio, based in Saint Petersburg (former Leningrad). ...
Mosfilm (in Russian, Мосфи́льм) is a Russian movie studio founded in November of 1923 by the Soviet State Committee for Cinematography. ...
Recent history The collapse of the Soviet Union brought a virtual end to quality cinema (as well as literature) in Russia and the other republics.
Very few films of note were created for over a decade. These included Obloko Raj (Paradise Cloud) and Opalennye Solntsem (Burnt by the Sun).
Sibirskiy tsiryulnik (Сибирский цирюльник, English title: The Barber of Siberia; 1998) by Nikita Mikhalkov became very famous. 1998 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ...
Nikita Sergeyevich Mikhalkov (Никита Сeргеевич Михалков in Russian) (born in 1945, Moscow), Russian filmmaker and actor. ...
The new Russia's cinema is more profit-oriented, with artistic needs taking a backseat to more immediate desires. Much low-quality action, comedy and pornography has been filmed.
In 2002, Aleksandr Sokurov filmed Russian Ark, the world's first unedited feature film: recorded in uncompressed high definition, shot in a single take and featuring the world's longest Steadicam shot. The film is 90 minutes long. 2002 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
Russian Ark is a 2002 movie by Russian director Aleksandr Sokurov in which an unnamed and unseen (by the audience) narrator, voiced by the director, wanders through the Winter Palace (now the Russian State Hermitage Museum) in St. ...
To film this recreated Victorian London steet scene, the cameraman next to the lamp post is using a steadicam and wearing the harness required to support it. ...
The thematically similar films, The Return and The Road to Koktebel have also received critical acclaim in recent years. Movie poster for Vozvrashcheniye Vozvrashcheniye (Возвращение), also known as The Return, is a 2003 Russian film. ...
Notable filmmakers Early personalities in the development of the Russian cinema: Later personalities: Sergei Mikhailovich Eisenstein (Russian: Сергей Михайлович Эйзенштейн, Latvian: Sergejs Eizenšteins) (January 23, 1898–February 11, 1948) was a Soviet director noted for his films Battleship Potemkin and Oktober, both based loosely on a true story and presented in a realistic fashion, causing an immeasurable influence on early documentary directors owing...
Vsevolod Pudovkin Vsevolod Illarionovich Pudovkin (Russian Всеволод Илларионович Пудовкин) (February 16, 1893 - June 20, 1953) was a Russian film director who developed influential theories of montage. ...
Alexander Dovzhenko was a Soviet filmmaker. ...
Dziga Vertov (January 2, 1896–February 12, 1954) was a Russian documentary film and newsreel director. ...
Lev Vladimirovich Kuleshov (1899 - 1970) was a Russian filmmaker known for his work on film editing and the impact it has on the viewers. ...
Andrei Sergeyevich Mikhalkov-Konchalovsky (born August 20, 1937 in Moscow) is a film writer and director, most famous for his American films such as Runaway Train and Tango & Cash. ...
Nikita Sergeyevich Mikhalkov (Никита Сeргеевич Михалков in Russian) (born in 1945, Moscow), Russian filmmaker and actor. ...
Andrei Tarkovsky Andrei Arsenyevich Tarkovsky (Андре́й Арсе́ньевич Тарко́вский) (April 4, 1932 - December 28, 1986) was a Russian movie director, writer, and actor. ...
See also - History of Russian animation
- History of cinema
- Category:Russian films
- Category:Soviet films
- Category:Russian language films
The history of Russian animation is a very rich, but so far nearly unexplored field for Western film theory and history. ...
Origins of motion picture arts and sciences Any overview of the history of cinema would be remiss to fail to at least mention a long history of literature, storytelling, narrative drama, art, mythology, puppetry, shadow play, cave paintings and perhaps even dreams. ...
External links - Early Russian Cinema (http://www.idc.nl/referer.php?id=460)
- Best Russian Movies (Alekhine net) (http://www.alekhine.net/english/movies/)
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