scholarly journals “Moscow text” in Russian cinema in the 1920s-1940s

2014 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-32
Author(s):  
Nina Alexandrovna Boyarshinova
Keyword(s):  
Free Space ◽  
Film Studies ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Warm Hospitality ◽  
Female Protagonist ◽  
City Culture ◽  
Russian Film ◽  
Russian Cinema ◽  
New Babylon

In the article the Russian films of the period 1920-1940 are considered, the image of Moscow is analyzed in the context of the concept of city text. The concept city text sprang into being as a certain sample of the supra text concept, a complex set of semantically bound texts. This issue is underexplored in the Russian film studies. The urgency of the investigation is stipulated by the fact, that under cultural dissimilation reflection of the separate text integrity, the capitals cityscape expressed in cinema terms in particular, will contribute to the perception of ways of urbanization on socio-cultural level as well as peculiarities of city culture shaping Three concepts of Moscow are specified: Moscow as a Third Rome, with prevaing symbols of power, Moscow as a new Kitezh with bi-worldness images, and Moscow as a new Babylon paralleling the Russian capital with the Bible city. Also such concepts as Moscow as a female protagonist and festive Moscow, rendering the mood of warm hospitality, friendship and cordiality are considered. Different manifestations of all three concepts are displayed in the 1920-s cinema: novelized images of Moscow as a reborn symbol of power, as a two-layered city and as a new Babylon. In the 1930-s the capital in the cinema is represented by comedies, showing Moscow as a dream-city, where all wishes come true, as a conflict-free space with the female protagonist delivering the key semantics of festive Moscow. In the 1940-s the continuation of the previous years tendency is traced - the war themes dont emerge, but the idea of dream city is still popular, elaborated by the ideas of power and domination, materialized in the images of the parades. Next decades the idea of the Moscow as a dream city will be changed, but the power of its influence will reveal itself, whereas the idea of bi-worldness starts to develop in completely different facets.

Methodological aspects of studying the history of Soviet cinema in the 1930s

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 17-28
Author(s):  
Sultan I. Usuvaliev
Keyword(s):  
Film Studies ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Film History ◽  
Soviet History ◽  
Soviet Film ◽  
Soviet Cinema ◽  
History Of ◽  
Russian Film ◽  
Russian Cinema ◽  
Methodological Aspects

The article is devoted to the history of the Russian film studies and methodology of film history as science using the example of the Introduction of History of the Soviet Film Art by Nikolai Iezuitov (18991941), one of the founders of the national film studies. Since the manuscript of History of the Soviet Film Art the first history of the Soviet cinema has not yet been published and introduced into scholarly use, the author pays special attention to archival sources. Despite a number of essays and discussions about film history and its methodology, a fundamental scholarly work on the historiography of the history of Soviet and Russian cinema has not yet been written. The relevance and novelty of the article is that it is based on the study of archival manuscripts of Nikolai Iezuitov. The exploration of early approaches to the study of the history of the Soviet cinema is important both historically and pedagogically. One of the most important sources of the concept of film history at an early stage of the national film studies is Iezuitov's Introduction to History of the Soviet Film Art. The Introduction is valuable because: 1) it is a rare evidence of reflection on the foundations of film history as scholarship and its methodology; 2) it is given by the author of the first history of the Soviet cinema; 3) it is represented by the author not as a separate abstract essay but as a part of the history itself. The Introduction defines the scholarly tasks and content of film history; overviews foreign books on the history of cinema; emphasizes specific periods of Soviet film history; and indicates the principles of work with relevant sources. Iezuitovs main principles in relation to film history are established in connection, firstly, with Soviet history scholarship; and secondly, with the vision of film history as the history of film art. Thus, film history, according to Iezuitov, is the unity of Marxist understanding of history and art-historical (stylistic) analysis of films and the main film movements in Soviet cinema.

Introduction

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vlad Strukov
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Changes ◽  
Film Studios ◽  
Way Of Thinking ◽  
Russian Film ◽  
Russian Cinema ◽  
Film Market ◽  
New Generation ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Mode A

I start by providing an overview of the major social, political and cultural changes that have occurred in Russia since Putin’s coming to power in 2000 and the Bolotnaya 2011 protests. I discuss Russian film market and industry, focussing on the emergence of new practices and a new generation of filmmakers. I zoom into particular film studios that have been responsible for the production of the most successful films and provide an overview of existing research on the Russian cinema of the period. I outline the methodological parameters and objectives of my research. I introduce the concept of the symbolic mode and explore the relationship between the symbolic mode and the ‘native’ traditions of representation. I consider the symbolic mode a critique of film semiology, polemicizing with mimetic theories and re-visiting poststructuralist thought concerning semiotics / signification. I argue the symbolic mode suggests a move away from the concerns of identity representations towards the problem of subjectivity construction. I introduce Badiou’s concept of film as a way of thinking and I identify how the film chapters develop the argument, pointing out that relevant concepts will be introduced in the film chapters.

scholarly journals Synthesis of National and Transnational in A. Konchalovsky's American Movies

2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 52-60
Author(s):  
Grigoriy Igorevich Kurdiaev
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Film Industry ◽  
The United States ◽  
International Strategy ◽  
Film Festivals ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
San Sebastian ◽  
Russian Film ◽  
Russian Cinema ◽  
First Time

In September 2014 Andrey Konchalovskiy's White Nights of Postman Alexey Tryapitsyn won Silver Lion for the Best Director at the Venice Film Festival. European critics and advanced public have regularly marked endowments of the Soviet and Russian film director. Throughout his career he has received numerous awards at prestigious European film festivals. There are Crystal Globe in Karlovy Vary for the Romance for Lovers (1974), Grand Prix at Cannes for Sibiriada (1979), the main prizes of San Sebastian for Uncle Vanya (1971) and Homer and Eddie (1989). Meanwhile, Konchalovsky's success among American mass audience and critics has been much more modest, though Andrey Konchalovsky was the first in the early 1980s, since the time of the first wave of Russian 1910-20's emigration, who attempted to connect deeply national, Russian spirit with Hollywood production technology-oriented international strategy in his works. Being established in the Soviet Union as an esteemed author, Konchalovskiy decided to change the film industry to start over his career. Nowadays, in the context of the festival success in the European and Soviet/Russian cinema circles and the lack of attention in the United States, a question arises, if one can consider this attempt as successful one. In this article the author tries identify Russian national motives, which the filmmaker has introduced into Hollywood culture through his creative method, and those originally Hollywood themes and topics that have appeared for the first time in the works of the recognized Soviet director. Basing on Konchalovskys American works the author tries to elicit creative value in their national and transnational synthesis and expose the extent of their productivity and sensemaking.

scholarly journals Artistic Merit as a Russian Film Competitiveness Factor

2010 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 90-112
Author(s):  
Olga Petrovna Ziborova
Keyword(s):  
Data Base ◽  
Home Market ◽  
Sociological Analysis ◽  
Medium Term ◽  
Research Project ◽  
Private Companies ◽  
Russian Film ◽  
Russian Cinema ◽  
Governmental Institutions ◽  
Practical Recommendations

The present investigation was held within the framework of the research project "Russian Film Competitiveness" commissioned by the RF Ministry of Culture (supervised by M.I. Zhabsky, Ph. D in Sociology). The project's aim was to make a complex (economic, artistic and sociological) analysis of Russian cinema competitiveness factors in the home market, to work out practical recommendations to governmental institutions and private companies for raising the competitive capacity of Russian films, to create the methods of the audience's demand monitoring and form a data base for medium-term forecasting

Genesis 1-11 in the Qatsi Film Trilogy

2020 ◽  
pp. 291-308
Author(s):  
Gregory Allen Robbins
Keyword(s):  
Film Studies ◽  
Audience Reception ◽  
Third Wave ◽  
Cultural Interpretation ◽  
Tower Of Babel ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Biblical Narratives ◽  
Genesis 1 ◽  
History Of ◽  
Original Story

This chapter explores the ways cinema appropriates biblical motifs and transforms them, and how those motifs might be received and experienced by viewers. Insofar as it engages more fully film criticism and theory and inquires about audience reception, it reflects the so-called third wave of religion and film studies. While films have taken their inspiration from biblical narratives and characters since the medium’s invention, this contribution, following Adele Reinhartz’s lead, directs our attention to films whose biblical elements may be apparent only to those familiar with the Bible and its cultural interpretation. It focuses on Godfrey Reggio’s critically acclaimed Qatsi trilogy (Koyaanisqatsi, Powaqqatsi, and Naqoyqatsi), which represent cinematic transformations of the primeval history of Genesis 1–11. The ordering of the Cosmos, God’s declaration of its goodness, the command to the first humans to conquer and hold sway over it, human disobedience, the devolution of the created order into increasing violence, and the transgression of boundaries, including the building of the tower of Babel, are all echoed in these films. The films are transformations in the sense that they do not merely allude to the Genesis story or touch upon it in passing; they stay with the passages to which they allude, drawing out the implications of the text, wrestling with interpretive possibilities, offering visual metamorphoses that tantalize the modern imagination. While the character of the original story remains recognizably familiar, the cinematic vesture provides for dazzling transfigurations.

scholarly journals Riding the Rails to (Un)Freedom: Colson Whitehead’s The Underground Railroad

2019 ◽  
pp. 255-270
Author(s):  
Constante González Groba
Keyword(s):  
Black People ◽  
Adolescent Female ◽  
Underground Railroad ◽  
The Novel ◽  
American Democracy ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Bible ◽  
American Capitalism ◽  
Female Protagonist ◽  
Historical Periods

This novel about US black slavery departs from realism, moving around in time and space as a means of dealing with different racial terrors in different historical periods. One of the author’s intentions is to make us think about slavery not just in the past but with reverberations for the present. Published in 2016, the novel resonates with a contemporary America characterized by acrimonious racial division. After escaping from a Georgia plantation through a literalized Underground Railroad, the adolescent female protagonist soon learns that freedom remains elusive in states further north, even those where slavery has been abolished. The novel fuses the odyssey of Cora with the history and mythology of America, and asserts the inseparability of slavery from American capitalism and the building of empire. Cora explores both the Declaration of Independence and the Bible, two foundational texts of the nation, in a novel that addresses some of the foundational sins of America. Hers is the all-American story of escape to freedom, but her journey takes her through ever darker varieties of depredation and oppression. She becomes an American dreamer in the sense that she never accepts her place in a system that she persists in defying, and through this process becomes a fictional representation of black people who, with their relentless pursuit of freedom, contributed so greatly to the building of American democracy.

The Russian Woolf

2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 546-567
Author(s):  
Ira Nadel
Keyword(s):  
Virginia Woolf ◽  
Sergei Eisenstein ◽  
Ballets Russes ◽  
Russian Film ◽  
Russian Cinema

Virginia Woolf and Russia has been examined but not fully studied. Entirely overlooked has been her response to Russian cinema and dance, particularly the Ballets Russes. This paper addresses that gap through an account of Woolf's response to, and interest in, both Russian film and dance, while also accounting for how she incorporates her admiration of Dostoevsky, Turgenev and other Russian writers into her work. Her study and translations with the Russian Jewish émigré Samuel Koteliansky, a formative influence on her continuing absorption with matters Russian, is also analyzed, as well as the importance of Russian cinematic techniques, notably sound, drawn in part from such Russian directors as V. I. Pudovkin, as well as montage, originating with Lev Kuleshov and Sergei Eisenstein.

ANALYSIS OF THE CURRENT STATE OF THE DOMESTIC FILM INDUSTRY

Servis plus ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 42-52
Author(s):  
Карина Спивакова ◽  
Karina Spivakova ◽  
Артур Аракелян ◽  
Artur Arakelyan
Keyword(s):  
Risk Management ◽  
Management System ◽  
Film Industry ◽  
Contemporary State ◽  
Film Distribution ◽  
Risk Management System ◽  
The Status ◽  
Russian Film ◽  
Russian Cinema ◽  
Effective Development

The formation of scientifically grounded approaches to improve the management of the film industry needs to analyze the contemporary state of film industry in order to identify its most important problems and untapped opportunities for further dynamic and effective development. The analysis of the status and trends of Russian cinema-business development, the peculiarities of its historical development and study of logic interdependent processes are relevant prerequisites for solving the problem of forming of risk management system of project im- plementation; because in many cases these risks are caused by the specificity of Russian cinema and features of its functioning. The article is devoted to the analysis of the contemporary state of the domestic film industry based on which it is possible to make the conclusion about the need to improve management. The author analyzes the main economic indicators of the industry and describes the main development trends and their positive and negative features. The author studies thoroughly such indicators as dynamics of film distribution in the Russian film market, divided into the percentage of domestic and foreign films, attendance of cinemas in Russia, the number of cinemas and particular cinema hall in the country, takings of the Russian and foreign film projects, the production facilities of film studios, etc. A detailed analysis of the statistical data for the last 10 years allows the author to make the main conclusion about the origin of real prerequisites for the formation and development of scientifically based management systems in general and risk management system in particular in the production of Russian film projects.

scholarly journals METAMORPHOSES OF THE CINEMA CLUB MOVEMENT

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 241-271
Author(s):  
KIRILL E. RAZLOGOV ◽  
◽  
EVGENIA V. PARKHOMENKO ◽  
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Mass Movement ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Special Role ◽  
The People ◽  
Film Education ◽  
History Of ◽  
Russian Film ◽  
Russian Cinema

The article is based on the studies by the Department for the Development and Approbation of Film Education Methods (VGIK) in the field of amateur film associations and cinema clubs. The authors profile the history of the Russian film club movement and analyze the significance of such associations for cultural enlightenment and comprehensive education of a personality. Such a survey is included in the international process of the formation of a cinephile community, who in the USSR were called nothing short of “kinomany” (movie addicts). A hundred years of experience of Russian film education, in the forms of both spontaneous amateur one and complex state one, is considered as a source of methods and best practices to be implemented in modern media education. The article also explains the influence of film clubs and their repertoire on the distribution and popularization of cinema works, especially on the so-called festival and “shelved” films, limited in release then and now becoming a battleground between commercial and artistic priorities of the filming process. The text contains stories and descriptions of participants in the film club movement: the founders of associations, curators and critics. Their interviews make it possible to imagine a three-dimensional picture of the life of cinema lovers’ communities. The main milestones in the history of the film club movement in the USSR and in the world are traced: the formation in the 1910s–1920s, the decline in the 1930s–1940s, the revival of the international festival movement abroad after World War II, and in Russia—during the perestroika, the crisis of the 1980s–1990s, the creation of the Cinema Club Federation, attempts to revive the Friends of Soviet Cinema Society, and modern trends related to the film club work in the context of international cooperation, which was initiated by the VI World Festival of Youth and Students. The Soviet experience is studied in correlation not only with the strengthening in Western Europe of such phenomena as film clubs and film lovers’ associations, but also with the formation of specialized art cinemas and the experiment of the cinema club network, which is predicted to play a special role in the post-pandemic era. Among other things, the authors’ attention is focused on the delicate balance, that accompanied the entire history of the film club movement: the balance between initiative of the people, a spontaneous mass movement, and state efforts to organize and structure this process, between the desire for creative freedom and strict censorship of the elite. The authors consider the domestic and foreign cinema club experience as an opportunity to distribute works of the Russian cinema art among the most interested audience and to establish a system of limited cinema club distribution, which would bring originators and the public closer together.

The Risk of Retelling: Gomer-bat-Diblaim, Biblical Retrieval, and the Male Gaze in The Prophet’s Wife

2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 436-461
Author(s):  
Emily O. Gravett
Keyword(s):  
Film Studies ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Male Gaze ◽  
Biblical Text ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Female Figures

AbstractMilton Steinberg’s posthumously published novel The Prophet’s Wife retells the story of the prophet Hosea and his “wife of whoredom,” Gomer. To analyze the novel’s interpretation of the biblical text, the article first reviews the book of Hosea and outlines the concept of “retrieval” in biblical retellings (that is, the restoration of characters overlooked in the Bible). Because Steinberg retrieves Gomer by drawing upon language of sight, body, and beauty, the article turns to the concept of the “male gaze” from film studies. Using this concept, the article examines several key moments of retrieval from the novel, in which Gomer is framed as a beautiful object for male eyes to appraise. What becomes clear is that Gomer’s retrieval in The Prophet’s Wife paradoxically results in her increased exposure to the male gaze. The article culminates in an exploration of this risk, possibly inherent in biblical retellings that retrieve female figures.

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