Soviet cinema had up until the late 1920’s a heterogeneous film industry only to experience a ‘change in paradigm’ in 1930 towards a new form of art, thus being socialist realism. In this essay an analysis will be made on the extent that reality exists in socialist realism cinema of Stalin’s era and the degree of fantasy that socialist realism cinema depicts. Furthermore, an analysis will be made into two films, Alenxandre Nevsky and Chapayev, which were produced on the realm of socialist realism to depict socialist ideology to the Soviet masses. These depictions in were created through the formation of feature films of historical spectacles (such as Ensenstine’s Nevsky), revolutionary stories (Chapayev) and contemporary drams (musical comedies such as Volga Volga). Stalin understood that cinema is an important tool to increase state propaganda, hence used it to its maximum potential in creating a world with a promising future and communism as the only way of life. This was done by monopolising the whole film production industry as in order for Socialist Realism to be effective monopolisation is was vital in achieving its goals.
The cinema world of Stalin’s Soviet Union changed direction in the early 1930’s in its artistic approach to cinematography. Under the order from Stalin him-self, the cinema industry needed to undertake transformations towards Stalin’s ‘Cultural Revolution’, which was to be the foundation of the new cinematography towards forming the socialist ideology. It was in 1934 at the first all-union congress of soviet writers that socialist realism was officially formulated to become the dominant socialist realism ascetics up until Stalin’s death in 1953. Stalin ensured that in order to ensure that all films w...
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...t realism films Eisenstein’s Nevsky includes three stock figures the leader (Nevsky), the simple person (the two brave friends) who also happened the be the brave and heroic who fight with brevity and patriotism alongside its leader for the common good of the state, and the enemy.
Chapayev
Chapayev the 1934 historical film based on the revolution of 1919 between the white and the Bolsheviks was of the best socialist realism films ever produced as the propaganda that was used outweighed the reality of the Soviet community at the time. Chapayev the hero in this film is depicted as fighting on two front, one against the enemy (capitalists) taking over and the other the fight for the rights equality of the peasants. This depicts that to the audience the propaganda that all should follow this path for the bettering of communism by following this communist spirt.
Throughout the existence of the Communist regime in Russia that reigned from 1918 to 1989, many cinematic productions were made to highlight certain key areas of not only the Russian Revolution, such as Sergei Eisentien's "October", but also to identify many key characteristics of the individual that is placed amidst such a transition. Aleksandr Askoldov's 1967 production of "The Commissar" is arguably the most famous film portraying the various circumstances and conditions of individuals amidst the revolution. He focuses on a female commissar named Vavilova who, along with her Red army military unit, believe firmly in the communist revolution and are engaged in a civil war with tsar loyalists and various western troops known as the White army. Whilst Vavilova represents a strong, dominant and brutish depiction of women that is made clearly apparent very early on in the film, Askoldov also presents another portrayal of women through the character of Mariya, a traditional Jewish wife and mother of six. Askoldov enhances the depiction of women through the character of Vavilova herself who, as the film progresses, seems to transform from her hard exterior shown in the beginning of the film, into a more traditional woman such as Mariya. However, whilst it is conceivable to believe that Vavilova has transformed herself due to becoming a mother and living with a simple but loving family and away from the harshness and brutality of war, Yefim, Mariya's husband, suggests that Vavilova's feminine qualities have always existed, but have always been deeply buried, "#Does putting on breeches make you a man?." This suggests that Vavilova was forced to place a hard exterior around her in order to survive s...
The film “Battleship Potemkin” was filmed in 1925 and was based on a fictional story about a mutiny aboard a naval ship during 1905 and it results. It is an amazing film if one thinks about and considers the time and atmosphere it was filmed in. It is definitely a film with a political message and agenda. It show how ordinary soldiers in the Soviet Union rose up to over throw the Czars Navy when they were being forced to exist in unlivable surroundings and deplorable conditions. It also shows how the people rose and took up the cause after the soldier is killed. As the movie continued we see how ordinary citizens were massacred by the Czars army. The scene on the stair were the little boy is trampled and then he had his mother are shot is very profound. There is no doubt that he filmmaker wants you to feel the horror of the situation. This film served the state by showing how the people chose the communist life. It showed how the rose up against the rule of the Czar and fought for the...
In describing the setting, the general locale is the prison in the coldest part of Russia- Siberia, geographically but socially depicting the social circumstances in the prison, but draws analogies to the general social, political and economic circumstances of Russia during the Stalinist era (form 1917 revolution up to 1955). The symbolic significance of the novel and the film (genres) reflects experiences, values and attitudes of the Russian society. The genres reflect the origins of the Russian social disorders and massive counts of political misgivings which watered down real communism in Russia. We are constantly reminded of the social and cultural heritage and originality of Russian ethnic groups through those different levels of meanings
Orr, John, and Elżbieta Ostrowska. The Cinema of Roman Polanski: Dark Spaces of the World. London: Wallflower, 2006. Print.
During Russia’s transition to communism in the early 20th century, conflict and unease permeated every part of life. Nothing was stable and very little of what the Bolsheviks had fought for had come to fruition by the time the USSR disbanded in 1991. The “classless society”, which was to work together for the prosperity of everyone, never became a reality. In the end, the majority of Russia’s 20th century was an utter failure on a grand scale. However, there were many amazing products of the system do to the great importance of education in Russian culture. Priceless novels were written, timeless movies were made, and great scientific endeavors were realized despite the rigid control placed upon Russian persons by the government. In fact, some of the most memorable written works of the time were written protests to the creativity-stifling situation many writers found themselves in. Because of the danger to their lives should the wrong people be upset by their writings, Yevgeny Zamyatin and Mikhail Bulgakov wrote their most popular, Soviet-life condemning novels under the guise of satire. Even though they’re satirizing the same subject, in both We and The Master and Margarita respectively, they take very different paths to do so.
The Bolshevik Revolution was a defining turning point in Russian history. This overall revolution consisted of two individual revolutions in 1917 which resulted in the overthrow of the Tsarist government and the formation of a socialist society led by Vladimir Lenin’s radical Bolsheviks. For a moment with such enormous weight like the Bolshevik Revolution, there will be various interpretations on the true results of that moment and the meaning and value of these results. The film Man with a Movie Camera deals with the results of the Bolshevik Revolution and the early Soviet Society it birthed as it utilizes footage of one day in this early Soviet Union, thus making it worthy of examination. In the film Man With a Movie Camera, Vertov impressively
Boris Pasternak creates a tone for a life turned upside down and filled with instability in Doctor Zhivago analogous to the tone felt by Russian people during the revolution. Yuri, a main char...
Classic film noir originated after World War II. This is the time where post World War II pessimism, anxiety, and suspicion was taking the world by storm. Many films that were released in the U.S. Between 1939s and 1940s were considered propaganda films that were designed for entertainment during the Depression and World War II. During the 1930s many German and Europeans immigrated to the U.S. and helped the American film industry with powerf...
Auteurism is a term first coined by Francois Truffaut to describe the mark of a film director on his films. A director can be considered an auteur if about five of his film depict a certain style that is definitely his own. In other words, much like one can look at a painting and tell if it is a Monet, a Renoir, or a Degas, if a film director is an auteur, one can look at his film and tell by style and recurring themes that it was made by a certain director. In auteur films, the director is many times what brings an audience to the theater, instead of the actors or storyline. I am going to take a look at three of the most noted auteurs: Frederico Fellini, Satyajit Ray, and Alfred Hitchcock.
...e American Dream. Larry Ceplair and Englund stated in the book The Inquistion in Hollywood, “The destruction of the motion picture Left not only transformed the political atmosphere in Hollywood, but also adversely affected the kind of product which the studios turned out. “ In the early 20th century Hollywood reframed from producing politically controversial films in fear of becoming a target of McCarthy or the HUAC. Anti-communism influences the films produced, films portrayed communism as evil and immoral. The films during the cold war certainly portrayed the political storm between the progressive left and the conservative right. Films such as Ninotchka in 1939, showed anti-communism, guilty of Treason 1949, showed an attack against communism, exploiting the evils of communism was shown in Docudrama. The Red Menace in 1949 showed the immense threat f communism.
The two sources Industry, State, and Society in Stalin’s Russia, 1926-1934 by David Shearer and Life and Bitter Waters: Life and Work in Stalin's Russia: A Memoir by Gennady Andreev-Khomiakov and Ann Erickson Healy will be evaluated according to their value, purpose, origin, and limitations.
During the course of this essay it is my intention to discuss the differences between Classical Hollywood and post-Classical Hollywood. Although these terms refer to theoretical movements of which they are not definitive it is my goal to show that they are applicable in a broad way to a cinema tradition that dominated Hollywood production between 1916 and 1960 and which also pervaded Western Mainstream Cinema (Classical Hollywood or Classic Narrative Cinema) and to the movement and changes that came about following this time period (Post-Classical or New Hollywood). I intend to do this by first analysing and defining aspects of Classical Hollywood and having done that, examining post classical at which time the relationship between them will become evident. It is my intention to reference films from both movements and also published texts relative to the subject matter. In order to illustrate the structures involved I will be writing about the subjects of genre and genre transformation, the representation of gender, postmodernism and the relationship between style, form and content.
The 18th century has marked the commencement of the innovation of cinematography. The invention of cinema owes its existence to a few investors and scientists who are broadly known for laying down its foundation. Among those pioneers are the Lumiere brothers who were some of the earliest contributors to cinema, inventing the first real film camera called the "cinematographe", which effectively functioned as a camera, projector and printer all in one (Barnauw, 1993:6). Thus giving rise to the art of film making. Initially, in the early years of cinema since there was no developed structure [or language] to tell cinematic stories, the early Lumiere brother?s films such as Workers leaving the Lumiere factory (1895) and The Arrival of a Train at the Station (1895), were composed of a single shot, no camera movement and only one continuous action from beginning to end (Obalil, 2007).
Art has been always seen as a form to express self emotions and ideas; an artist creates an idea and shapes it by culturally known objects and forms to send encrypted message. Through the times both, ideas and materials used, separates art in to different periods and movements. In late 40’s and late 50’s two art and culture movements emerged, one from another. The first one, Lettrism, was under the aspiration to rewrite all human knowledge. From it another movement, Situationism, appeared. It was an anti-art movement which sought for Cultural Revolution. Both of these movements belong to wide and difficulty defined movement of experiment, a movement whose field is endless. Many different people create experimental films because of the variety of reasons. Some wishes to express their viewpoints which are unconventional. But most of them have an enthusiasm for medium itself. They yearn to explore what prospects the medium has and wishes to open new opportunities to create and to explore, as well as to educate. Experimental filmmaker, differently from mainstream filmmakers, wishes to step out from the orthodox notions. The overall appreciation is not the aim that the experimental filmmakers would seek for. Experimenters usually work on the film alone or with a small group, without the big budget. They intend to challenge the traditional ideas. And with intention to do so Lettrism tries to narrow the distance between the poetry and people’s lives, while Situationism tries to transform world into one that would exist in constant state of newness. Both of these avant-garde movements root from similar sources and have similar foundations. Nonetheless, they have different intentions for the art and culture world and these movements...
Offering the unique ability to visually and audibly convey a story, films remain a cornerstone in modern society. Combined with a viewer’s desire to escape the everyday parameters of life, and the excitement of enthralling themselves deep into another world, many people enjoy what films stand to offer. With the rising popularity of films across the world, the amount of film makers increases every day. Many technological innovations mark the advancement of film making, but the essential process remains the same. Pre-production accounts for everything taken place before any shooting occurs, followed by the actual production of the film, post-production will then consist of piecing the film together, and finally the film must reach an audience. Each step of this process contributes to the final product, and does so in a unique right. The process of film making will now start chronologically, stemming from the idea of the story, producing that story into a film, editing that footage together, and finally delivering that story to its viewers.