Cinema is both a document of a society’s historical change as well as a portrayal of the economic and cultural changes presented through its master narrative. In post-soviet cinema, movies are both a product of capitalism as well as reflecting on its ideas while demonstrating Russian’s attitudes toward westernization. In Imaging Russia Anna Lawton writes, “The collapse of the Soviet Union had the effect of making Russia even more of a riddle to the foreign observer than it had ever been,” (2). The films Sideburns, Drum Roll, and Brother explore the dynamic situation that occurred in Russia in the post-soviet era with the introduction of capitalism.
The collapse of the Soviet Union presented a special environment in which independent movies
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With the loss of its centralized structure, the film industry produced filmmakers with radical new ideas. The unique nature of these films was a product of the loss of unified identity.
Sideburns could not have been produced without the introduction of capitalism. The centralized film committee present in the Soviet Union would not have allowed the vulgarity, nudity, and controversial topics present throughout the film. In addition to being a product of the new system in place, the film comments on elements of the Russian people. The director of Sideburns uses satire in order to ridicule cultural norms peppered throughout Russian society at the time. For example, the rise to power of the Pushkin club sheds light on Russia’s habit of breeding tyrannical leaders in the midst of social instability. Thomas E. Billings explains in a critique of the film, “The growth of the
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For example, there is a shot of the drummer marching through a series of kiosks which were the harbingers of the free market. There is also a scene where there is an “encounter of shantytown dwellers with a foreign delegation of land developers. The drummer meets a French business-man during a Russian-style party,” (Anna Lawton, 287). This scene would only be possible with the newly instituted free market in Russia. In regards to commentary on Westernization, Drum Roll shows the drummer going to Paris and returning with an array of Western items such as gaudy designer clothes and electronic equipment. When he leaves his things in a taxi, he is promptly robbed and returns to his normal state. The director includes this event in order to show how elements of the Western world would not survive on native Russian
Beginning the mid 1920s, Hollywood’s ostensibly all-powerful film studios controlled the American film industry, creating a period of film history now recognized as “Classical Hollywood”. Distinguished by a practical, workmanlike, “invisible” method of filmmaking- whose purpose was to demand as little attention to the camera as possible, Classical Hollywood cinema supported undeviating storylines (with the occasional flashback being an exception), an observance of a the three act structure, frontality, and visibly identified goals for the “hero” to work toward and well-defined conflict/story resolution, most commonly illustrated with the employment of the “happy ending”. Studios understood precisely what an audience desired, and accommodated their wants and needs, resulting in films that were generally all the same, starring similar (sometimes the same) actors, crafted in a similar manner. It became the principal style throughout the western world against which all other styles were judged. While there have been some deviations and experiments with the format in the past 50 plus ye...
Stanley, Robert H. The Movie Idiom: Film as a Popular Art Form. Illinois: Waveland Press, Inc. 2011. 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.
In Hollywood today, most films can be categorized according to the genre system. There are action films, horror flicks, Westerns, comedies and the likes. On a broader scope, films are often separated into two categories: Hollywood films, and independent or foreign ‘art house’ films. Yet, this outlook, albeit superficial, was how many viewed films. Celebrity-packed blockbusters filled with action and drama, with the use of seamless top-of-the-line digital editing and special effects were considered ‘Hollywood films’. Films where unconventional themes like existentialism or paranoia, often with excessive violence or sex or a combination of both, with obvious attempts to displace its audiences from the film were often attributed with the generic label of ‘foreign’ or ‘art house’ cinema.
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
This story may seem solely comedic, but within it is a darker tale of a Russia where, in the current times and those prior to it, social rank and position were key. ...
The development of narrative in film is a major turning point in cinema, as filmmakers and actors now had to focus on conveying a transformation the audience could not only relate to but a new, innovative idea that left the audience wanting to rewatch the film despite knowing the ending. This addition of narrative added a new layer and appeal to filmmaking, as now instead of the sole focus being shots and editing, of using the equiptment to it’s full potential, now there were lead actors that had to take the audience through a comprehensible journey. These films also had a new structure to follow, starting with exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and the resolution or reconciliation. These films felt so much more human than some previous favorites as now the characters have their own backstories that
While the United States and the rest of the world focused on commercially pushing out films for profit, Russia used film to create an art form. Russian filmmakers took risks and created camera effects that had never been seen before. The Soviet Union influenced many films coming out of Russia during the 20’s. For example Dziga Vertov produced Man With A Movie Camera (1929). This film was wildly adventurous; Vertov made no effort to hide the fact that it was a film. He used editing techniques and music to create the scene, there was no plot to the film or characters. The film showed a day in the life of a Russian citizen, Vertov filmed Man With A Movie Camera over a span of four years. In the film the audience is introduced to “The man with
Star Wars (1977) is one of the world’s most successful films of all time. It has made a terrific impact on popular culture since its release. Furthermore, Star Wars changed the narrative and aesthetic style of future Hollywood films. Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, illustrates how cinema has evolved since Fred Ott’s Sneeze (1894). Ultimately, this essay will explain the set up of Star Wars and how it connects to cinema history, in the point of views of the: narrative and cinematic style, genre, auteur theory and the global film industry.
Thompson, K 2003, ‘The struggle for the expanding american film industry’, in Film history : an introduction, 2nd ed, McGraw-Hill, Boston, pp. 37-54
Bordwell and Thompson 2002. Film History an Introduction. 2nd ed. Wisconsin: McGraw-Hill Higher Education. 393
By 1935, the idea of movies had steered Hollywood not just in the direction of well-wrought screenplays adapted by camera-savvy actors but also toward a panoply of technical innovations that involved lighting, camera housing, microphones and the complete separation from a film’s image track of three different sound tracks each independently controllable in terms of both placement and volume levels. Not just in Hollywood but also in certain European centers of film production, during the second half of the 30’s mechanical innovation and aesthetic development existed in a symbiotic relationship. However things might have transpired day-to-day at individual studios, by the end of the decade the global audience for movies was being exposed on a regular basis to something that in general was vastly different from what it had experienced when the fully evolved sound film finally made its debut.
The ‘New Hollywood Cinema’ era came about from around the 1960’s when cinema and film making began to change. Big film studios were going out of their comfort zone to produce different, creative and artistic movies. At the time, it was all the public wanted to see. People were astonished at the way these films were put together, the narration, the editing, the shots, and everything in between. No more were the films in similar arrangement and structure. The ‘New Hollywood era’ took the classic Hollywood period and turned it around so that rules were broken and people left stunned.
David Bordwell. The Idea of Montage in Soviet Art and Film. – Cinema Journal, Vol. 1, No. 2, 1972, 9-17.
In pre-revolutionary Russia 90 per cent of the nation’s films were imported from elsewhere around the world. With the exception of a minor number, the vast majority of films created in Russia during this time were considered mediocre. Between the years 1914 to 1916 the figure for imported films dropped to 20 per cent. An explosion of creative and artistic talent seemed to burst out of Russia from then until the 1930’s and the reign of Stalin.