The cinema of the Soviet Union includes films produced by the constituent
republics of the Soviet Union
The Republics of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics or the Union Republics ( rus, Сою́зные Респу́блики, r=Soyúznye Respúbliki) were National delimitation in the Soviet Union, national-based administrative units of ...
reflecting elements of their pre-Soviet culture, language and history, albeit they were all regulated by the central government in Moscow. Most prolific in their republican films, after the
Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic
The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...
, were
Armenia
Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...
,
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...
,
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
,
Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
, and, to a lesser degree,
Lithuania
Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...
,
Belarus
Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...
and
Moldavia
Moldavia ( ro, Moldova, or , literally "The Country of Moldavia"; in Romanian Cyrillic: or ; chu, Землѧ Молдавскаѧ; el, Ἡγεμονία τῆς Μολδαβίας) is a historical region and former principality in Centr ...
. At the same time, the nation's film industry, which was fully nationalized throughout most of the country's history, was guided by philosophies and laws propounded by the monopoly
Soviet Communist Party
"Hymn of the Bolshevik Party"
, headquarters = 4 Staraya Square, Moscow
, general_secretary = Vladimir Lenin (first)Mikhail Gorbachev (last)
, founded =
, banned =
, founder = Vladimir Lenin
, newspaper ...
which introduced a new view on the cinema,
socialist realism
Socialist realism is a style of idealized realistic art that was developed in the Soviet Union and was the official style in that country between 1932 and 1988, as well as in other socialist countries after World War II. Socialist realism is ch ...
, which was different from the one before or after the existence of the Soviet Union.
Historical outline
Upon the establishment of the
Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic
The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...
(RSFSR) on November 7, 1917 (although the
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
did not officially come into existence until December 30, 1922), what had formerly been the
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...
began quickly to come under the domination of a Soviet reorganization of all its institutions. From the outset, the leaders of this new state held that film would be the most ideal
propaganda tool for the Soviet Union because of its widespread popularity among the established citizenry of the new land.
Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 19 ...
viewed film as the most important medium for educating the masses in the ways, means and successes of
communism
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
.
As a consequence Lenin issued the "Directives on the Film Business" on January 17, 1922, which instructed the
People's Commissariat for Education The People's Commissariat for Education (or Narkompros; russian: Народный комиссариат просвещения, Наркомпрос, directly translated as the "People's Commissariat for Enlightenment") was the Soviet agency charge ...
to systemise the film business, registering and numbering all films shown in the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, extracting rent from all privately owned cinemas and subject them to censorship.
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secreta ...
later also regarded cinema as of the prime importance.
However, between
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
and the
Russian Revolution
The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and ad ...
, the Russian film industry and the infrastructure needed to support it (e.g., electrical power) had deteriorated to the point of unworkability. The majority of cinemas had been in the corridor between Moscow and
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
, and most were out of commission. Additionally, many of the performers, producers, directors and other artists of pre-Soviet Russia had fled the country or were moving ahead of
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...
forces as they pushed further and further south into what remained of the Russian Empire. Furthermore, the new government did not have the funds to spare for an extensive reworking of the system of filmmaking. Thus, they initially opted for project approval and censorship guidelines while leaving what remained of the industry in private hands. As this amounted mostly to cinema houses, the first Soviet films consisted of recycled films of the Russian Empire and its imports, to the extent that these were not determined to be offensive to the new
Soviet ideology
The ideology of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) was Bolshevist Marxism–Leninism, an ideology of a centralised command economy with a vanguardist one-party state to realise the dictatorship of the proletariat. The Soviet Union' ...
. Ironically, the first new film released in Soviet Russia did not exactly fit this mold: this was ''
Father Sergius
"Father Sergius" (russian: Отец Сергий, Otets Sergiy) is a short story written by Leo Tolstoy between 1890 and 1898 and first published (posthumously) in 1911.Julian Connolly in Charles A. Moser (ed.), ''The Cambridge History of Russian ...
'', a religious film completed during the last weeks of the Russian Empire but not yet exhibited. It appeared on Soviet screens in 1918.
Beyond this, the government was principally able to fund only short, educational films, the most famous of which were the
agitki – educational films intended to agitate, or energize and enthuse, the masses to participate fully in approved Soviet activities, and deal effectively with those who remained in opposition to the new order. These short (often one small reel) films were often simple visual aids and accompaniments to live lectures and speeches, and were carried from city to city, town to town, village to village (along with the lecturers) to educate the entire countryside, even reaching areas where film had not been previously seen.
Newsreels, as documentaries, were the other major form of earliest Soviet cinema.
Dziga Vertov
Dziga Vertov (russian: Дзига Вертов, born David Abelevich Kaufman, russian: Дави́д А́белевич Ка́уфман, and also known as Denis Kaufman; – 12 February 1954) was a Soviet Union, Soviet pioneer documentary f ...
's newsreel series ''
Kino-Pravda
''Kino-Pravda'' (russian: Кино-Правда, translation=Film Truth) was a series of 23 newsreels by Dziga Vertov, Elizaveta Svilova, and Mikhail Kaufman launched in June 1922. Vertov referred to the twenty-three issues of ''Kino-Pravda'' as ...
'', the best known of these, lasted from 1922 to 1925 and had a propagandistic bent; Vertov used the series to promote
socialist realism
Socialist realism is a style of idealized realistic art that was developed in the Soviet Union and was the official style in that country between 1932 and 1988, as well as in other socialist countries after World War II. Socialist realism is ch ...
but also to experiment with cinema.
Still, in 1921, there was not one functioning cinema in Moscow until late in the year. Its rapid success, using old Russian and imported feature films, jumpstarted the industry significantly, especially insofar as the government did not heavily or directly regulate what was shown, and by 1923 an additional 89 cinemas had opened. Despite extremely high taxation of ticket sales and film rentals, there was an incentive for individuals to begin making feature film product again – there were places to show the films – albeit they now had to conform their subject matter to a Soviet world view. In this context, the directors and writers who were in support of the objectives of communism assumed quick dominance in the industry, as they were the ones who could most reliably and convincingly turn out films that would satisfy government censors.
New talent joined the experienced remainder, and an artistic community assembled with the goal of defining "Soviet film" as something distinct and better from the output of "decadent
capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for Profit (economics), profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, pric ...
". The leaders of this community viewed it essential to this goal to be free to experiment with the entire nature of film, a position which would result in several well-known creative efforts but would also result in an unforeseen counter-reaction by the increasingly solidifying administrators of the government-controlled society.
In 1924 wrote a book on the history of film he says is "the first Soviet attempt at systematization of the meager available sources
n cinemafor the general reader". Along with other articles written by Lebedev and published by ''
Pravda
''Pravda'' ( rus, Правда, p=ˈpravdə, a=Ru-правда.ogg, "Truth") is a Russian broadsheet newspaper, and was the official newspaper of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, when it was one of the most influential papers in the co ...
'', ''
Izvestia
''Izvestia'' ( rus, Известия, p=ɪzˈvʲesʲtʲɪjə, "The News") is a daily broadsheet newspaper in Russia. Founded in 1917, it was a newspaper of record in the Soviet Union until the Soviet Union's dissolution in 1991, and describes ...
'' and ''Kino''. In the book he draws attention to the funding challenges that follow nationalization of Soviet cinema. In 1925 all film organizations merged to form ''
Sovkino
Goskino USSR (russian: link=Yes, Госкино СССР) is the abbreviated name for the USSR State Committee for Cinematography (Государственный комитет по кинематографии СССР) in the Soviet Union. It w ...
''. Under ''Sovkino'' the film industry was given a tax-free benefit and held a monopoly on all film-related exports and imports.
Sergei Eisenstein
Sergei Mikhailovich Eisenstein (russian: Сергей Михайлович Эйзенштейн, p=sʲɪrˈɡʲej mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪtɕ ɪjzʲɪnˈʂtʲejn, 2=Sergey Mikhaylovich Eyzenshteyn; 11 February 1948) was a Soviet film director, screenw ...
's ''
Battleship Potemkin
'' Battleship Potemkin'' (russian: Бронено́сец «Потёмкин», ''Bronenosets Potyomkin''), sometimes rendered as ''Battleship Potyomkin'', is a 1925 Soviet silent
drama film produced by Mosfilm. Directed and co-written by S ...
'' was released to wide acclaim in 1925; the film was heavily fictionalized and also propagandistic, giving the party line about the virtues of the
proletariat
The proletariat (; ) is the social class of wage-earners, those members of a society whose only possession of significant economic value is their labour power (their capacity to work). A member of such a class is a proletarian. Marxist philo ...
. The ''kinokomitet'' or "Film Committee" established that same year published translations of important books about
film theory
Film theory is a set of scholarly approaches within the academic discipline of film or cinema studies that began in the 1920s by questioning the formal essential attributes of motion pictures; and that now provides conceptual frameworks for und ...
by
Béla Balázs
Béla Balázs (; 4 August 1884 in Szeged – 17 May 1949 in Budapest), born Herbert Béla Bauer, was a Hungarian film criticism, film critic, aesthetics, aesthetician, writer and poet of History of the Jews in Hungary, Jewish heritage. He was a ...
, Rudolf Harms and
Léon Moussinac
Léon Pierre Guillaume Moussinac (19 January 1890 – 10 March 1964) was a French writer, film and art critic, film historian and film theorist.
Life and career
Moussinac was born in the family of a railroad station master. He studied law and ha ...
.
One of the most popular films released in the 1930s was ''
Circus
A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicyclist ...
''. Immediately after the end of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
,
color movies such as ''
The Stone Flower
"The Stone Flower" ( rus, Каменный цветок, Kamennyj tsvetok, p=ˈkamʲɪnːɨj tsvʲɪˈtok), also known as "The Flower of Stone", is a folk tale (also known as ''skaz'') of the Ural region of Russia collected and reworked by Pave ...
'' (1946), ''
Ballad of Siberia
''The Ballad of Siberia'' (in ), also known as ''Symphony of Life'', produced by Mosfilm and released in 1948, was the Soviet Union's second color film (after ''The Stone Flower''). It was directed by Ivan Pyryev and starred Vladimir Druzhnikov an ...
'' (1947), and ''
Cossacks of the Kuban
''Cossacks of the Kuban'' () from Mosfilm is a color film, glorifying the life of the farmers in the kolkhoz of the Soviet Union's Kuban region, directed by Ivan Pyryev and starring Marina Ladynina, his wife at that time.Alexander Nevsky
Alexander Yaroslavich Nevsky (russian: Александр Ярославич Невский; ; 13 May 1221 – 14 November 1263) served as Prince of Novgorod (1236–40, 1241–56 and 1258–1259), Grand Prince of Kiev (1236–52) and Grand P ...
'' and ''
Ivan the Terrible
Ivan IV Vasilyevich (russian: Ива́н Васи́льевич; 25 August 1530 – ), commonly known in English as Ivan the Terrible, was the grand prince of Moscow from 1533 to 1547 and the first Tsar of all Russia from 1547 to 1584.
Ivan ...
''.
In the late 1950s and early 1960s Soviet cinema produced ''
Ballad of a Soldier
''Ballad of a Soldier'' (russian: Баллада о солдате, ''Ballada o soldate''), is a 1959 Soviet film directed by Grigory Chukhray and starring Vladimir Ivashov and Zhanna Prokhorenko. While set during World War II, ''Ballad of a So ...
'', which won the 1961
BAFTA Award for Best Film
The BAFTA Award for Best Film is given annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts and presented at the British Academy Film Awards. It has been given since the 1st BAFTA Awards, representing the best films of 1947, but until ...
, and ''
The Cranes Are Flying
''The Cranes Are Flying'' (russian: Летят журавли, translit. ''Letyat zhuravli'') is a 1957 Soviet film about the Second World War. It depicts the cruelty of war and the damage done to the Soviet psyche as a result of war, which ...
''.
''
The Height
''The Height'' (Russian: Высота, Translit.: Vysota) is a 1957 Soviet drama film produced at Mosfilm and directed by Aleksander Zarkhi after the novel of the same name written by Evgeny Vorobyov.
It stars Nikolai Rybnikov and Inna Makarov ...
'' is considered to be one of the best films of the 1950s (it also became the foundation of the
bard movement).
In the 1980s there was a diversification of subject matter. Touchy issues could now be discussed openly. The results were films like ''
Repentance
Repentance is reviewing one's actions and feeling contrition or regret for past wrongs, which is accompanied by commitment to and actual actions that show and prove a change for the better.
In modern times, it is generally seen as involving a co ...
'', which dealt with repression in
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
, and the allegorical science fiction movie ''
Kin-dza-dza!
''Kin-dza-dza!'' (russian: link=no, italics=yes, Кин-дза-дза!) is a 1986 Soviet film released by the Mosfilm studio and directed by Georgiy Daneliya, with a story by Georgiy Daneliya and Revaz Gabriadze.
Plot
The story begins in 1980s M ...
''.
Censorship
After the
death of Stalin, Soviet filmmakers were given a freer hand to film what they believed audiences wanted to see in their film's characters and stories. The industry remained a part of the government and any material that was found politically offensive or undesirable, was either removed, edited, reshot, or shelved. The definition of "socialist realism" was liberalized to allow development of more human characters, but communism still had to remain uncriticized in its fundamentals. Additionally, the degree of relative artistic liberality was changed from administration to administration.
Examples created by censorship include:
*Sergei Eisenstein's ''Ivan the Terrible'' Part II was completed in 1945 but was not released until 1958; 5 years after Stalin's death.
*Eisenstein's ''Alexander Nevsky'' was censored before the
German invasion of the Soviet Union
Operation Barbarossa (german: link=no, Unternehmen Barbarossa; ) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during the Second World War. The operation, code-named after ...
due to its depiction of a strong Russian leader defying an invading army of German
Teutonic Knights
The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, commonly known as the Teutonic Order, is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was formed to aid Christians on ...
. After the invasion, the film was released for propaganda purposes to considerable critical acclaim.
Revolution and Civil War
![USSR 1950 1410 1480 0](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f7/USSR_1950_1410_1480_0.jpg)
On August 27, 1919, Vladimir Lenin nationalized the film industry and created post imperial soviet film "when all control over film production and exhibition was ceded to the People’s Commissariat of Education." The work of the nationalized motion-picture studios was administered by the All-Russian Photography and Motion Picture Department, which was recognized in 1923 into
Goskino
Goskino USSR (russian: link=Yes, Госкино СССР) is the abbreviated name for the USSR State Committee for Cinematography (Государственный комитет по кинематографии СССР) in the Soviet Union. It w ...
, which in 1926 became Sovkino. The world's first state-filmmaking school, the
First State School of Cinematography, was established in Moscow in 1919.
During the
Russian Civil War
, date = October Revolution, 7 November 1917 – Yakut revolt, 16 June 1923{{Efn, The main phase ended on 25 October 1922. Revolt against the Bolsheviks continued Basmachi movement, in Central Asia and Tungus Republic, the Far East th ...
,
agitation trains and ships visited soldiers, workers, and peasants. Lectures, reports, and political meetings were accompanied by newsreels about events at the various fronts.
1920s
In the 1920s, the documentary film group headed by
Dziga Vertov
Dziga Vertov (russian: Дзига Вертов, born David Abelevich Kaufman, russian: Дави́д А́белевич Ка́уфман, and also known as Denis Kaufman; – 12 February 1954) was a Soviet Union, Soviet pioneer documentary f ...
blazed the trail from the conventional newsreel to the "image centered publicistic film", which became the basis of the Soviet film documentary. Typical of the 1920s were the topical news serial ''
Kino-Pravda
''Kino-Pravda'' (russian: Кино-Правда, translation=Film Truth) was a series of 23 newsreels by Dziga Vertov, Elizaveta Svilova, and Mikhail Kaufman launched in June 1922. Vertov referred to the twenty-three issues of ''Kino-Pravda'' as ...
'' and the film ''Forward, Soviet!'' by Vertov, whose experiments and achievements in documentary films influenced the development of Russian and world cinematography. Other important films of the 1920s were
Esfir Shub
Esfir Ilyinichna Shub (Russian: Эсфи́рь Ильи́нична Шуб; 16 March 1894, Surazh, Russian Empire – 21 September 1959, Moscow, Soviet Union), also referred to as Esther Il'inichna Shub, was a pioneering Soviet filmmaker and edit ...
's historical-revolutionary films such as ''The Fall of the Romanov Dynasty'' which used montage editing techniques to repurpose old Imperial documentaries into a revolutionary theme. In 1924, filmmakers Sergei Eisenstein and Lev Kuleshov created the first association of Soviet filmmakers, the Association of Revolutionary Cinematography (ARK), to "meet the ideological and artistic needs of the proletariat". Although state controlled, "the organization was characterized by a pluralism of political and artistic views until the late 1920s". One of the most iconic developments in film during this period that is still used in films today was editing and montage to create meaning. This style of film making came to be known as the Kuleshov effect and was employed to conserve film stock due to shortages during that period. The film ''Hydropeat'' by
Yuri Zhelyabuzhsky
Yuri Andreyevich Zhelyabuzhsky ( rus, Юрий Андреевич Желябужский; – 24 October 1955) was a Russian and Soviet cinematographer, film director, screenwriter and animator, film theorist and professor at VGIK.Cinema: Encycl ...
marked the beginning of popular science films. Feature-length agitation films in 1918–21 were important in the development of the film industry. Innovation in Russian filmmaking was expressed particularly in the work of Eisenstein. ''Battleship Potemkin'' was noteworthy for its innovative montage and metaphorical quality of its film language. It won world acclaim. Eisenstein developed concepts of the revolutionary epic in the film ''
October
October is the tenth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars and the sixth of seven months to have a length of 31 days. The eighth month in the old calendar of Romulus , October retained its name (from Latin and Greek ''ôct ...
''. Also noteworthy was
Vsevolod Pudovkin
Vsevolod Illarionovich Pudovkin ( rus, Всеволод Илларионович Пудовкин, p=ˈfsʲevələt ɪlərʲɪˈonəvʲɪtɕ pʊˈdofkʲɪn; 16 February 1893 – 30 June 1953) was a Russian and Soviet film director, screenwriter ...
's
adaptation
In biology, adaptation has three related meanings. Firstly, it is the dynamic evolutionary process of natural selection that fits organisms to their environment, enhancing their evolutionary fitness. Secondly, it is a state reached by the po ...
of
Maxim Gorky
Alexei Maximovich Peshkov (russian: link=no, Алексе́й Макси́мович Пешко́в; – 18 June 1936), popularly known as Maxim Gorky (russian: Макси́м Го́рький, link=no), was a Russian writer and social ...
's ''
Mother
]
A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given childbirth, birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the cas ...
'' to the screen in 1926. Pudovkin developed themes of revolutionary history in the film ''
The End of St. Petersburg'' (1927). Other noteworthy silent films were films dealing with contemporary life such as
Boris Barnet
Boris Vasilyevich Barnet (russian: Бори́с Васи́льевич Ба́рнет; 18 June 1902 – 8 January 1965) was a Soviet film director, actor and screenwriter of British heritage. He directed 27 films between 1927 and 1963. Barne ...
's ''
The House on Trubnaya
''The House on Trubnaya'' (russian: Дом на Трубной, Dom na Trubnoy) is a 1928 comedy film directed by Boris Barnet and starring Vera Maretskaya.
Plot
The film is set in Moscow at the height of the New Economic Policy, NEP. The petty ...
''. The films of
Yakov Protazanov
Yakov Alexandrovich Protazanov (russian: Яков Александрович Протазанов; 4 February ( O.S. 23 January ) 1881 – 8 August 1945) was a Russian and Soviet film director and screenwriter, and one of the founding fathers of ...
were devoted to the revolutionary struggle and the shaping of a new way of life, such as ''
Don Diego and Pelagia
''Don Diego and Pelagia'' (russian: Дон Диего и Пелагея, Don Diego i Pelageya) is a 1928 Soviet silent comedy drama directed by Yakov Protazanov.Christie & Taylor p.428
The film's art direction was by Sergei Kozlovsky.
Plot
The ...
'' (1928). Ukrainian director
Alexander Dovzhenko
Oleksandr Petrovych Dovzhenko or Alexander Petrovich Dovzhenko ( uk, Олександр Петрович Довженко, ''Oleksandr Petrovych Dovzhenko''; russian: Алекса́ндр Петро́вич Довже́нко, ''Aleksandr Petro ...
was noteworthy for the historical-revolutionary epic ''
Zvenigora
''Zvenigora'' (russian: Звeнигopа) is a 1928 Soviet silent film by Ukrainian director Alexander Dovzhenko, first shown on 13 April 1928. This was the fourth film by Dovzhenko, but the first one which was widely reviewed and discussed i ...
'', ''
Arsenal
An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...
'' and the poetic film ''
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...
''.
1930s
In the early 1930s, Russian filmmakers applied
socialist realism
Socialist realism is a style of idealized realistic art that was developed in the Soviet Union and was the official style in that country between 1932 and 1988, as well as in other socialist countries after World War II. Socialist realism is ch ...
to their work. Among the most outstanding films was ''
Chapaev
Vasily Ivanovich Chapayev or Chapaev (russian: link=no, Василий Иванович Чапаев; 5 September 1919) was a Russian soldier and Red Army commander during the Russian Civil War.
Biography
Chapayev was born into a poor peasan ...
'', a film about Russian revolutionaries and society during the Revolution and Civil War. Revolutionary history was developed in films such as ''
Golden Mountains'' by
Sergei Yutkevich
Sergei Iosifovich Yutkevich (russian: Серге́й Ио́сифович Ютке́вич, 28 December 1904 – 23 April 1985) was a Soviet and Russian film director and screenwriter. He was a People's Artist of the USSR (1962) and a Hero of ...
, ''
Outskirts'' by
Boris Barnet
Boris Vasilyevich Barnet (russian: Бори́с Васи́льевич Ба́рнет; 18 June 1902 – 8 January 1965) was a Soviet film director, actor and screenwriter of British heritage. He directed 27 films between 1927 and 1963. Barne ...
, and the Maxim trilogy by
Grigori Kozintsev
Grigori Mikhailovich Kozintsev (russian: link=no, Григорий Михайлович Козинцев; 11 May 1973) was a Soviet theatre and film director, screenwriter and pedagogue. He was named People's Artist of the USSR in 1964. In 1965 ...
and
Leonid Trauberg
Leonid Zakharovich Trauberg (russian: Леонид Захарович Трауберг, 17 January 1902 – 14 November 1990) was a Ukrainian Soviet film director and screenwriter. He directed 17 films between 1924 and 1961 and was awarded the S ...
: ''
The Youth of Maxim
''The Youth of Maxim'' (russian: Юность Максима) is a 1935 Soviet historical drama film directed by Grigori Kozintsev and Leonid Trauberg, the first part of trilogy about the life of a young factory worker named Maxim.
Plot
In 1910, ...
'', ''
The Return of Maxim'', and ''
The Vyborg Side
''The Vyborg Side'' (russian: Выборгская сторона, Vyborgskaya storona) is a 1939 Soviet drama film directed by Grigori Kozintsev and Leonid Trauberg, the final part of trilogy about the life of a young factory worker, Maxim. The ...
''. Also notable were biographical films about Vladimir Lenin such as
Mikhail Romm's ''
Lenin in October
''Lenin in October'' (russian: Ленин в Октябре, Lenin v oktyabre) is a 1937 Soviet biographical drama film directed by Mikhail Romm and Dmitri Vasilyev and starring Boris Shchukin, Nikolay Okhlopkov and Vasili Vanin.Rollberg p.49 ...
'' and ''
Lenin in 1918
''Lenin in 1918'' (russian: Ленин в 1918 году, ''Lenin v 1918 godu'') is a Soviet biographical drama film released in 1939. It gives the background of the Russian Civil War after the October Revolution.
The film was directed by Mikhai ...
''. The life of Russian society and everyday people were depicted in films such as ''
Seven Brave Men'' and ''
Komsomolsk'' by
Sergei Gerasimov. The comedies of
Grigori Aleksandrov
Grigori Vasilyevich Aleksandrov or Alexandrov (russian: Григо́рий Васи́льевич Алекса́ндров; original family name was Мормоненко or Mormonenko; 23 January 1903 – 16 December 1983) was a prominent Soviet ...
such as ''
Circus
A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicyclist ...
'', ''
Volga-Volga
''Volga-Volga'' (russian: Волга-Волга) is a Soviet musical comedy directed by Grigori Aleksandrov, released on April 24, 1938. It centres on a group of amateur performers on their way to Moscow to perform in a talent contest called th ...
'', and ''
Tanya
Tanya may refer to:
* Tanya (Judaism),an early work of Hasidic philosophy by Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi.
* Tanya (name), a given name and list of people with the name
* Tanya or Lara Saint Paul (born 1946)
* List of Mortal Kombat characters#Tany ...
'' as well as ''
The Rich Bride
The Rich Bride (russian: Богатая невеста), also translated as ''The Country Bride'', is a 1937 Soviet adventure film directed by Ivan Pyryev.
Plot
In love with each other, the tractor driver Pavlo and the collective farmer Marina ...
'' by
Ivan Pyryev
Ivan Aleksandrovich Pyryev (russian: Ива́н Алекса́ндрович Пы́рьев; – 7 February 1968) was a Soviet-Russian film director and screenwriter remembered as the high priest of Stalinist cinema. He was awarded six Stali ...
and ''
By the Bluest of Seas
''By the Bluest of Seas'' (russian: У самого синего моря, U samogo sinego morya) is a 1936 Soviet romantic comedy film by Russian director Boris Barnet. It is his second Sound film, sound feature. Starring Yelena Alexandrovna Ku ...
'' by Boris Barnet focus on the psychology of the common person, enthusiasm for work and intolerance for remnants of the past. Many films focused on national heroes, including ''
Alexander Nevsky
Alexander Yaroslavich Nevsky (russian: Александр Ярославич Невский; ; 13 May 1221 – 14 November 1263) served as Prince of Novgorod (1236–40, 1241–56 and 1258–1259), Grand Prince of Kiev (1236–52) and Grand P ...
'' by
Sergei Eisenstein
Sergei Mikhailovich Eisenstein (russian: Сергей Михайлович Эйзенштейн, p=sʲɪrˈɡʲej mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪtɕ ɪjzʲɪnˈʂtʲejn, 2=Sergey Mikhaylovich Eyzenshteyn; 11 February 1948) was a Soviet film director, screenw ...
, ''
Minin and Pozharsky'' by
Vsevolod Pudovkin
Vsevolod Illarionovich Pudovkin ( rus, Всеволод Илларионович Пудовкин, p=ˈfsʲevələt ɪlərʲɪˈonəvʲɪtɕ pʊˈdofkʲɪn; 16 February 1893 – 30 June 1953) was a Russian and Soviet film director, screenwriter ...
, and ''
Bogdan Khmelnitsky
Bohdan Zynovii Mykhailovych Khmelnytskyi ( Ruthenian: Ѕѣнові Богданъ Хмелнiцкiи; modern ua, Богдан Зиновій Михайлович Хмельницький; 6 August 1657) was a Ukrainian military commander and ...
'' by
Igor Savchenko
Igor Andreyevich Savchenko (russian: Игорь Андреевич Са́вченко) or Ihor Andriyovych Savchenko ( uk, І́гор Андрі́йович Са́вченко; 11 October 1906 – 14 December 1950) was a screenwriter and film di ...
. There were adaptations of literary classics, particularly
Mark Donskoy
Mark Semyonovich Donskoy (russian: Марк Семёнович Донско́й; – 21 March 1981) was a Soviet film director, screenwriter, and studio administrative head.
Biography
Mark Donskoy was born in Odessa in a Jewish family. Durin ...
's trilogy of films about
Maxim Gorky
Alexei Maximovich Peshkov (russian: link=no, Алексе́й Макси́мович Пешко́в; – 18 June 1936), popularly known as Maxim Gorky (russian: Макси́м Го́рький, link=no), was a Russian writer and social ...
: ''
The Childhood of Maxim Gorky
''The Childhood of Maxim Gorky'' (russian: Детство Горького, Detstvo Gorkogo, "Gorky's childhood") is a 1938 biopic based on the first part of Russian and Soviet writer Maxim Gorky's three-part autobiography, '' My Childhood'' (publi ...
'', ''
My Apprenticeship'', and ''
My Universities''.
During the late 1920s and early 1930s the Stalin wing of the Communist Party consolidated its authority and set about transforming the Soviet Union on both the economic and cultural fronts. The economy moved from the market-based
New Economic Policy
The New Economic Policy (NEP) () was an economic policy of the Soviet Union proposed by Vladimir Lenin in 1921 as a temporary expedient. Lenin characterized the NEP in 1922 as an economic system that would include "a free market and capitalism, ...
(NEP) to a system of central planning. The new leadership declared a "cultural revolution" in which the party would exercise control over cultural affairs, including artistic expression. Cinema existed at the intersection of art and economics; so it was destined to be thoroughly reorganized in this episode of economic and cultural transformation.
To implement central planning in cinema, the new entity
Soyuzkino was created in 1930. All the hitherto autonomous studios and distribution networks that had grown up under NEP's market would now be coordinated in their activities by this planning agency. Soyuzkino's authority also extended to the studios of the national republics such as
VUFKU, which had enjoyed more independence during the 1920s. Soyuzkino consisted of an extended bureaucracy of economic planners and policy specialists who were charged to formulate annual production plans for the studios and then to monitor the distribution and exhibition of finished films.
With central planning came more centralized authority over creative decision making. Script development became a long, torturous process under this bureaucratic system, with various committees reviewing drafts and calling for cuts or revisions. In the 1930s censorship became more exacting with each passing year. Feature film projects would drag out for months or years and might be terminated at any point.
Alexander Dovzhenko
Oleksandr Petrovych Dovzhenko or Alexander Petrovich Dovzhenko ( uk, Олександр Петрович Довженко, ''Oleksandr Petrovych Dovzhenko''; russian: Алекса́ндр Петро́вич Довже́нко, ''Aleksandr Petro ...
drew from Ukrainian folk culture in such films as ''
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...
'' (1930)
along the way because of the capricious decision of one or another censoring committee.
This redundant oversight slowed down production and inhibited creativity. Although central planning was supposed to increase the film industry's productivity, production levels declined steadily through the 1930s. The industry was releasing over one-hundred features annually at the end of the NEP period, but that figure fell to seventy by 1932 and to forty-five by 1934. It never again reached triple digits during the remainder of the Stalin era. Veteran directors experienced precipitous career declines under this system of control; whereas Eisenstein was able to make four features between 1924 and 1929, he completed only one film, ''Alexander Nevsky'' (1938) during the entire decade of the 1930s. His planned adaptation of the
Ivan Turgenev
Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev (; rus, links=no, Ива́н Серге́евич Турге́невIn Turgenev's day, his name was written ., p=ɪˈvan sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ tʊrˈɡʲenʲɪf; 9 November 1818 – 3 September 1883 (Old Style dat ...
story ''
Bezhin Meadow
''Bezhin Meadow'' (, ) is a 1937 Soviet propaganda film, famous for having been suppressed and believed destroyed before its completion. Directed by Sergei Eisenstein, it tells the story of a young farm boy whose father attempts to betray the gove ...
'' (1935–37) was halted during production in 1937 and officially banned, one of many promising film projects that fell victim to an exacting censorship system.
Meanwhile, the USSR cut off its film contacts with the West. It stopped importing films after 1931 out of concern that foreign films exposed audiences to capitalist ideology. The industry also freed itself from dependency on foreign technologies. During its industrialization effort of the early 1930s, the USSR finally built an array of factories to supply the film industry with the nation's own technical resources.
To secure independence from the West, industry leaders mandated that the USSR develop its own sound technologies, rather than taking licenses on Western sound systems. Two Soviet scientists,
Alexander Shorin in Leningrad (present-day St. Petersburg) and
Pavel Tager in Moscow, conducted research through the late 1920s on complementary sound systems, which were ready for use by 1930. The implementation process, including the cost of refitting movie theaters, proved daunting, and the USSR did not complete the transition to sound until 1935. Nevertheless, several directors made innovative use of sound once the technology became available. In ''
Enthusiasm: The Symphony of Donbass'' (1930), his documentary on coal mining and heavy industry,
Dziga Vertov
Dziga Vertov (russian: Дзига Вертов, born David Abelevich Kaufman, russian: Дави́д А́белевич Ка́уфман, and also known as Denis Kaufman; – 12 February 1954) was a Soviet Union, Soviet pioneer documentary f ...
based his soundtrack on an elegantly orchestrated array of industrial noises. In ''
The Deserter
The Deserter or Deserter (s) may refer to:
Film and television
* ''The Deserter'' (1912 film), a silent film by Thomas H. Ince
* ''The Deserter'' (1933 film), a film by Vsevolod Pudovkin
* ''The Deserter'' (1971 film), a film by Burt Kennedy
...
'' (1933) Pudovkin experimented with a form of "sound counterpoint" by exploiting tensions and ironic dissonances between sound elements and the image track. And in ''Alexander Nevsky'', Eisenstein collaborated with the composer
Sergei Prokofiev
Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''., group=n (27 April .S. 15 April1891 – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, p ...
on an "operatic" film style that elegantly coordinated the musical score and the image track.
As Soviet cinema made the transition to sound and central planning in the early 1930s, it was also put under a mandate to adopt a uniform film style, commonly identified as "socialist realism". In 1932 the party leadership ordered the literary community to abandon the avant-garde practices of the 1920s and to embrace socialist realism, a literary style that, in practice, was actually close to 19th-century realism. The other arts, including cinema, were subsequently instructed to develop the aesthetic equivalent. For cinema, this meant adopting a film style that would be legible to a broad audience, thus avoiding a possible split between the avant-garde and mainstream cinema that was evident in the late 1920s. The director of Soyuzkino and, later,
GUKF,
Boris Shumyatsky
Boris Zakharovich Shumyatsky (russian: Бори́с Заха́рович Шумя́цкий; November 16, 1886 – July 29, 1938) was a Soviet politician, diplomat and the ''de facto'' executive producer for the Soviet film monopolies Soyuzkino ...
(1886–1938), served as chief executive of the Soviet film industry from 1931 to 1938, and was a harsh critic of the montage aesthetic. He championed a "cinema for the millions", which would use clear, linear narration. Although American movies were no longer being imported in the 1930s, the Hollywood model of
continuity editing
Continuity editing is the process, in film and video creation, of combining more-or-less related shots, or different components cut from a single shot, into a sequence to direct the viewer's attention to a pre-existing consistency of story across b ...
was readily available, and it had a successful track record with Soviet movie audiences. Soviet socialist realism was built on this style, which assured tidy storytelling. Various other strictures were then added to the doctrine: positive heroes to act as role models for viewers; lessons in good citizenship for spectators to embrace; and support for reigning policy decisions of the Communist Party.
Such aesthetic policies, enforced by the rigorous censorship apparatus of the USSR, resulted in a number of formulaic films. Apparently, they did succeed in sustaining a true "cinema of the masses". The 1930s witnessed some stellar examples of popular cinema. The single most successful film of the decade, in terms of both official praise and genuine affection from the mass audience, was ''
Chapaev
Vasily Ivanovich Chapayev or Chapaev (russian: link=no, Василий Иванович Чапаев; 5 September 1919) was a Russian soldier and Red Army commander during the Russian Civil War.
Biography
Chapayev was born into a poor peasan ...
'' (1934), directed by the
Vasilyev brothers Georgi Vasilyev (russian: Георгий Николаевич Васильев, 1899 – 1946) and Sergei Vasilyev (russian: Серге́й Дмитриевич Васильев, 1900 – 1959), usually credited as Vasilyev brothers (russian ...
. Based on the life of a martyred Red Army commander, the film was touted as a model of socialist realism, in that
Chapayev
Vasily Ivanovich Chapayev or Chapaev (russian: link=no, Василий Иванович Чапаев; 5 September 1919) was a Russian soldier and Red Army commander during the Russian Civil War.
Biography
Chapayev was born into a poor peasan ...
and his followers battled heroically for the revolutionary cause. The film also humanized the title character, giving him personal foibles, an ironic sense of humour, and a rough peasant charm. These qualities endeared him to the viewing public: spectators reported seeing the film multiple times during its first run in 1934, and ''Chapaev'' was periodically re-released for subsequent generations of audiences.
A genre that emerged in the 1930s to consistent popular acclaim was the musical comedy, and a master of that form was
Grigori Aleksandrov
Grigori Vasilyevich Aleksandrov or Alexandrov (russian: Григо́рий Васи́льевич Алекса́ндров; original family name was Мормоненко or Mormonenko; 23 January 1903 – 16 December 1983) was a prominent Soviet ...
(1903–1984). He effected a creative partnership with his wife, the brilliant comic actress and chanteuse
Lyubov Orlova
Lyubov Petrovna Orlova (russian: link=no, Любовь Петровна Орлова ; – 26 January 1975) was a Soviet and Russian actress, singer, dancer and People's Artist of the USSR (1950).
Life and career
She was born to a family o ...
(1902–1975), in a series of crowd-pleasing musicals. Their pastoral comedy ''
Volga-Volga
''Volga-Volga'' (russian: Волга-Волга) is a Soviet musical comedy directed by Grigori Aleksandrov, released on April 24, 1938. It centres on a group of amateur performers on their way to Moscow to perform in a talent contest called th ...
'' (1938) was surpassed only by ''Chapaev'' in terms of box-office success. The fantasy element of their films, with lively musical numbers reviving the montage aesthetic, sometimes stretched the boundaries of socialist realism, but the genre could also allude to contemporary affairs. In Aleksandrov's 1940 musical ''
Tanya
Tanya may refer to:
* Tanya (Judaism),an early work of Hasidic philosophy by Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi.
* Tanya (name), a given name and list of people with the name
* Tanya or Lara Saint Paul (born 1946)
* List of Mortal Kombat characters#Tany ...
'', Orlova plays a humble servant girl who rises through the ranks of the Soviet industrial leadership after developing clever labour-saving work methods. Audiences could enjoy the film's comic turn on the ''
Cinderella
"Cinderella",; french: link=no, Cendrillon; german: link=no, Aschenputtel) or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a folk tale with thousands of variants throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsi ...
'' story while also learning about the value of efficiency in the workplace.
1940s
Immediately after the end of the Second World War,
color movies such as ''
The Stone Flower
"The Stone Flower" ( rus, Каменный цветок, Kamennyj tsvetok, p=ˈkamʲɪnːɨj tsvʲɪˈtok), also known as "The Flower of Stone", is a folk tale (also known as ''skaz'') of the Ural region of Russia collected and reworked by Pave ...
'' (1946), ''
Ballad of Siberia
''The Ballad of Siberia'' (in ), also known as ''Symphony of Life'', produced by Mosfilm and released in 1948, was the Soviet Union's second color film (after ''The Stone Flower''). It was directed by Ivan Pyryev and starred Vladimir Druzhnikov an ...
'' (1947), and ''
Cossacks of the Kuban
''Cossacks of the Kuban'' () from Mosfilm is a color film, glorifying the life of the farmers in the kolkhoz of the Soviet Union's Kuban region, directed by Ivan Pyryev and starring Marina Ladynina, his wife at that time.Alexander Nevsky
Alexander Yaroslavich Nevsky (russian: Александр Ярославич Невский; ; 13 May 1221 – 14 November 1263) served as Prince of Novgorod (1236–40, 1241–56 and 1258–1259), Grand Prince of Kiev (1236–52) and Grand P ...
'', ''
Ivan the Terrible
Ivan IV Vasilyevich (russian: Ива́н Васи́льевич; 25 August 1530 – ), commonly known in English as Ivan the Terrible, was the grand prince of Moscow from 1533 to 1547 and the first Tsar of all Russia from 1547 to 1584.
Ivan ...
'' and ''
Encounter at the Elbe
''Encounter at the Elbe'' (in ) is a Soviet war film released in 1949 from Mosfilm, describing the conflict, spying, and collaboration between the Soviet Army advancing from the east and the U.S. Army advancing from the west. The two allied force ...
''.
The Soviet film industry suffered during the period after World War II. On top of dealing with the severe physical and monetary losses of the war, Stalin's regime tightened social control and censorship to manage the effects recent exposure to the West had on the people. The postwar period was marked by an end of almost all autonomy in the Soviet Union. The ''Catalogue of Soviet Films'' recorded remarkably low numbers of films being produced from 1945 to 1953, with as few as nine films produced in 1951 and a maximum of twenty-three produced in 1952. These numbers do not, however, include many of the works which are not generally considered to be "film" in an elitist sense, such as filmed versions of theatrical works and operas, feature-length event documentaries and travelogues, short films for children, and
experimental stereoscopic films. But compared to the four hundred to five hundred films produced every year by Hollywood, the Soviet film industry was practically dead.
Even as the economy of the Soviet Union strengthened, film production continued to decrease. A resolution passed by the
Council of Ministers
A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or natio ...
in 1948 further crippled the film industry. The resolution criticized the work of the industry, saying that an emphasis placed on quantity over quality had ideologically weakened the films. Instead, the council insisted that every film produced must be a masterpiece for promoting communist ideas and the Soviet system. Often, Stalin had the ultimate decision on whether a newly produced film was appropriate for public viewing. In private screenings after meetings of the
Politburo
A politburo () or political bureau is the executive committee for communist parties. It is present in most former and existing communist states.
Names
The term "politburo" in English comes from the Russian ''Politbyuro'' (), itself a contraction ...
, the Minister of the Film Industry
Ivan Bolshakov
Ivan Grigoryevich Bolshakov (; October 10, 1902 – March 19, 1980) was a Soviet statesman, organizer of film production, Chairman of the Committee for Cinematography Under the Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union, Minister of Cinemat ...
privately screened films for Stalin and top members of Soviet government. The strict limitations on content and complex, centralized process for approval drove many screenwriters away, and studios had much difficulty producing any of the quality films mandated by the 1948 resolution.
Trophy films
Movie theaters in the postwar period faced the problem of satisfying the growing appetites of Soviet audiences for films while dealing with the shortage of newly produced works from studios. In response, cinemas played the same films for months at a time, many of them the works of the late 1930s. Anything new drew millions of people to the box office, and many theaters screened foreign films to attract larger audiences. Most of these foreign films were "trophy films", two thousand films brought into the country by the
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...
after
the occupation
''The Occupation'' is a single-player adventure video game developed by White Paper Games and released on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Microsoft Windows on 5 March 2019. The game takes place in a single government building, in real-time over fou ...
of Germany and Eastern Europe in World War II. In the top secret minutes for the
CPSU Committee Meeting on August 31, 1948, the committee permitted the Minister of the Film Industry to release fifty of these films in the Soviet Union. Of these fifty, Bolshakov was only allowed to release twenty-four for screening to the general public, mainly films made in Germany, Austria, Italy, and France. The other twenty-six films, consisting almost entirely of American films, were only allowed to be shown in private screenings. The minutes also include a separate list of permitted German musical films, which were mainly German and Italian film adaptations of famous operas. Most of the trophy films were released in 1948–49, but somewhat strangely, compiled lists of the released films include ones not previously mentioned in the official minutes of the Central Committee.
The public release of these trophy films seems contradictory in the context of the 1940s Soviet Union. The Soviet government allowed the exhibition of foreign films which contained far more subversive ideas than any a Soviet director would have ever attempted putting in a film at a time when Soviet artists found themselves unemployed because of censorship laws. Historians hypothesize many possible reasons why the Soviet government showed such seemingly inexplicable leniency toward the foreign films. The government may have granted cinemas the right to show the films so they could stay in business after the domestic film industry had declined. A second hypothesis speculates that the government saw the films as an easy source of money to help rebuild the nation after the war. The minutes of the CPSU Central Committee meeting seem to support the latter idea with instructions that the films are to bring in a net income of at least 750 million
roubles
The ruble (American English) or rouble (Commonwealth English) (; rus, рубль, p=rublʲ) is the currency unit of Belarus and Russia. Historically, it was the currency of the Russian Empire and of the Soviet Union.
, currencies named ''rub ...
to the State coffers over the course of a year from public and private screenings, and 250 million roubles of this were supposed to come from rentals to the trade union camera network.
In addition to releasing the films, the committee also charged Bolshakov and the Agitation and Propaganda Department of the CPSU Central Committee "with making the necessary editorial corrections to the films and with providing an introductory text and carefully edited subtitles for each film." In general, the captured
Nazi films were considered apolitical enough to be shown to the general populace. Still the Propaganda and Agitation Section of the Central Committee ran into trouble with the censoring of two films slated for release. The censors found it impossible to remove the "
Zionist
Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after ''Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Je ...
" ideas from
''Jud Suss'', an anti-Semitic, Nazi propaganda film. The censors also had trouble with a film adaptation of
''Of Mice and Men'' because of the representation of the poor as a detriment to society.
There is very little direct evidence of how Soviet audiences received the trophy films. Soviet magazines or newspapers never reviewed the films, there were no audience surveys, and no records exist of how many people viewed the films. To judge the reception and popularity of these foreign films, historians have mainly relied on anecdotal evidence. The German musical comedy ''
The Woman of My Dreams'' received mixed reviews according to this evidence. ''
Kultura i zhizn'' published a supposed survey compiled of readers' letters to the editor in March 1947 which criticize the film for being idealess, low brow, and even harmful.
Bulat Okudzhava
Bulat Shalvovich Okudzhava (russian: link=no, Булат Шалвович Окуджава; ka, ბულატ ოკუჯავა; hy, Բուլատ Օկուջավա; May 9, 1924 – June 12, 1997) was a Soviet and Russian poet, writer, musici ...
wrote a contradicting viewpoint in ' in 1986, saying that everyone in the city of
Tbilisi
Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the Capital city, capital and the List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia (country), Georgia, lying on the ...
was crazy about the film. According to him, everywhere he went people were talking about the film and whistling the songs. Of the two accounts, film historians generally consider Okudzhava's more reliable than the one presented by ''Kultura i zhizn''. Films such as ''
His Butler's Sister
''His Butler's Sister'' is a 1943 American romantic comedy film directed by Frank Borzage and starring Deanna Durbin. The supporting cast includes Franchot Tone, Pat O'Brien, Akim Tamiroff, Evelyn Ankers and Hans Conried. The film was nominate ...
'', ''
The Thief of Bagdad'', ''
Waterloo Bridge
Waterloo Bridge () is a road and foot traffic bridge crossing the River Thames in London, between Blackfriars Bridge and Hungerford Bridge and Golden Jubilee Bridges. Its name commemorates the victory of the British, Dutch and Prussians at the ...
'' and ''
Sun Valley Serenade
''Sun Valley Serenade'' is a 1941 musical film directed by H. Bruce Humberstone and starring Sonja Henie, John Payne, Glenn Miller, Milton Berle, and Lynn Bari. It features the Glenn Miller Orchestra as well as dancing by the Nicholas Brothers. ...
'', although not technically trophies as they had been purchased legally during the wartime alliance with America, were highly popular with Soviet audiences. In ''
Vechernyaya Moskva
''Vechernyaya Moskva'' (russian: Вечерняя Москва, literally ''Evening Moscow'') is a Russian local newspaper published in Moscow since 6 December 1923 daily (except Saturday and Sunday). It was founded as an organ of the Mossovet, la ...
'' (October 4, 1946), M. Chistiakov reprimanded theaters and the Soviet film industry for the fact that over a six-month timespan, sixty of the films shown had been tasteless Western films rather than Soviet ones. Even in criticism of the films and the crusading efforts of the
anti-cosmopolitan campaign
The anti-cosmopolitan campaign (russian: Борьба с космополитизмом, ) was a thinly disguised antisemitic campaign in the Soviet Union which began in late 1948. Jews were characterized as rootless cosmopolitans and were target ...
against the trophy films, it is clear to see they had quite an impact on Soviet society.
1950s
With the start of the
Cold War
The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
, writers, still considered the primary
auteurs
An auteur (; , 'author') is an artist with a distinctive approach, usually a film director whose filmmaking control is so unbounded but personal that the director is likened to the "author" of the film, which thus manifests the director's unique ...
, were all the more reluctant to take up script writing, and the early 1950s saw only a handful of feature films completed during any year. The death of Stalin was a relief to some people, and all the more so was the official trashing of his public image as a benign and competent leader by
Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and chairman of the country's Council of Ministers from 1958 to 1964. During his rule, Khrushchev s ...
two years later. This latter event gave filmmakers the margin of comfort they needed to move away from the narrow stories of socialist realism, expand its boundaries, and begin work on a wider range of entertaining and artistic Soviet films.
Notable films include:
*''
The Cranes Are Flying
''The Cranes Are Flying'' (russian: Летят журавли, translit. ''Letyat zhuravli'') is a 1957 Soviet film about the Second World War. It depicts the cruelty of war and the damage done to the Soviet psyche as a result of war, which ...
'', directed at Mosfilm by the Georgian-born director
Mikhail Kalatozov
Mikhail Konstantinovich Kalatozov ( ka, მიხეილ კალატოზიშვილი, russian: Михаил Константинович Калатозов; 28 December 1903 – 26 March 1973), born Mikheil Kalatozishvili, was a So ...
in 1957. It won the
Palme d'Or
The Palme d'Or (; en, Golden Palm) is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festival's highest prize was the Grand Prix du Fe ...
at the
1958 Cannes Film Festival
The 11th Cannes Film Festival was held from 2 to 18 May 1958. The Palme d'Or went to the '' Letyat zhuravli'' by Mikhail Kalatozov.
Jury
The following people were appointed as the Jury of the 1958 competition:
Feature films
*Marcel Achard (Fran ...
.
*''
Ballad of a Soldier
''Ballad of a Soldier'' (russian: Баллада о солдате, ''Ballada o soldate''), is a 1959 Soviet film directed by Grigory Chukhray and starring Vladimir Ivashov and Zhanna Prokhorenko. While set during World War II, ''Ballad of a So ...
'', directed at Mosfilm by
Grigory Chukhray
Grigory Naumovich Chukhray (russian: Григо́рий Нау́мович Чухра́й; uk, Григорiй Наумович Чухрай; 23 May 1921 – 28 October 2001) was a Ukrainian Soviet and Russian film director and screenwriter. ...
in 1959. It won
1960 Cannes Film Festival
The 13th Cannes Film Festival was held from 4 to 20 May 1960. The Palme d'Or went to the ''La Dolce Vita'' by Federico Fellini. The festival opened with '' Ben-Hur'', directed by William Wyler.
Jury
The following people were appointed as the Ju ...
Special Jury Prize as well as
1961 BAFTA Award for Best Film from any Source along with many other awards. It was nominated for an
Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay
The Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay is the Academy Awards, Academy Award for the best screenplay not based upon previously published material. It was created in 1940 as a separate writing award from the Academy Award for Best Story. Be ...
(
1961
Events January
* January 3
** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba ( Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015).
** Aero Flight 311 ...
).
1960s–70s
The 1960s and 1970s saw the creation of many films, many of which molded Soviet and post-Soviet culture. They include:
* ''
Five Days, Five Nights'' (1960), the first of the joint Soviet-German films
*''
Walking the Streets of Moscow
''Walking the Streets of Moscow'' (''I walk across Moscow'', russian: link=no, italics=yes, Я шагаю по Москве) is a 1964 Soviet film directed by Georgiy Daneliya and produced by Mosfilm studios. It stars Nikita Mihalkov, Aleksei Lokt ...
'' (1963)
*''
Operation Y and Shurik's Other Adventures
''Operation Y and Shurik's Other Adventures'' (russian: Операция „Ы“ и другие приключения Шурика, Operatsiya „Yery“ i drugie priklyucheniya Shurika) is a 1965 Soviet slapstick film, slapstick comedy film di ...
'' (1965) and its sequel, ''
Kidnapping, Caucasian Style
''Kidnapping, Caucasian Style'' (russian: link=no, Кавказская пленница, или Новые приключения Шурика) is a 1967 Soviet comedy film dealing with a humorous plot revolving around bride kidnapping, an old t ...
'' (1966)
*''
War and Peace
''War and Peace'' (russian: Война и мир, translit=Voyna i mir; pre-reform Russian: ; ) is a literary work by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy that mixes fictional narrative with chapters on history and philosophy. It was first published ...
'' (1966–67)
Sergei Bondarchuk
Sergei Fyodorovich Bondarchuk (russian: Сергей Фёдорович Бондарчук, ; uk, Сергі́й Федорович Бондарчук, Serhíj Fédorovych Bondarchúk; 25 September 192020 October 1994) was a Soviet and Russian ...
's adaption of
Tolstoy
Count Lev Nikolayevich TolstoyTolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; russian: link=no, Лев Николаевич Толстой,In Tolstoy's day, his name was written as in pre-refor ...
's
novel
A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...
, with a budget of 8.5 million roubles, a running time of seven hours, and using thousands of extras. It was the first Russian film to receive an
Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
The Academy Award for Best International Feature Film (known as Best Foreign Language Film prior to 2020) is one of the Academy Awards handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to a ...
.
*''
Andrei Rublev
Andrei Rublev ( rus, Андре́й Рублёв, p=ɐnˈdrʲej rʊˈblʲɵf , also transliterated as ''Andrey Rublyov'') was a Muscovite icon painter born in the 1360s who died between 1427 and 1430 in Moscow. He is considered to be one of the ...
'' (1966) won various international awards, such as
FIPRESCI
The International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI, short for Fédération Internationale de la PRESse CInématographique) is an association of national organizations of professional film critics and film journalists from around the world fo ...
.
*''
The Diamond Arm
''The Diamond Arm'' (russian: Бриллиантовая рука ''Brilliantovaya ruka'') is a Soviet crime comedy film made by Mosfilm and first released in 1969. The film was directed by director Leonid Gaidai and starred several famous Soviet ...
'' (1968) has contributed a lot of humorous quotes.
*''
The Color of Pomegranates
''The Color of Pomegranates'' is a 1969 Soviet Armenian art film written and directed by Sergei Parajanov. The film is a poetic treatment of the life of 18th-century Armenian poet and troubadour Sayat-Nova. It has appeared in many polls as one of ...
'' (1969) had a limited release inside the Soviet Union and wasn't seen abroad until years later, but has received critical acclaim since.
*''
White Sun of the Desert
''White Sun of the Desert'' (russian: Белое солнце пустыни, Beloye solntse pustyni) is a 1970 Soviet Ostern film.
Its blend of action, comedy, music and drama, as well as memorable quotes, made it highly successful at the Russi ...
'' (1970), a classic "
Eastern
Eastern may refer to:
Transportation
*China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai
*Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways
*Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991
*Eastern Air Li ...
", with old-fashioned stereotyping of central Asians. It is ritually watched by
cosmonaut
An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft. Although generally r ...
s 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.
*''
Gentlemen of Fortune
''Gentlemen of Fortune'' (russian: Джентльмены удачи, Dzhentlmeny udachi) is a 1971 Soviet crime comedy film, filmed at Mosfilm and directed by Aleksandr Sery. The stars of the film include famous Soviet actors such as Yevgeny Leon ...
'' (1971) starring
Yevgeny Leonov
Yevgeny Pavlovich Leonov (russian: link=no, Евгений Павлович Леонов; 2 September 1926 – 29 January 1994) was a Soviet and Russian actor who played main parts in several of the most famous Soviet films, such as ''Gentlemen ...
*''
Solaris
Solaris may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Literature, television and film
* ''Solaris'' (novel), a 1961 science fiction novel by Stanisław Lem
** ''Solaris'' (1968 film), directed by Boris Nirenburg
** ''Solaris'' (1972 film), directed by ...
'' (1972)
*''
The Irony of Fate, or Enjoy Your Bath!'' (1975)
* ''
Office Romance
''Office Romance'' (russian: links=no, italic=yes, Служебный роман, Sluzhebny roman) is a 1977 Soviet comedy film directed by Eldar Ryazanov. The film's plot is based on the stageplay ''Co-workers'' (') written by Ryazanov and Emil B ...
'' (1977)
* ''
Stalker
Stalking is unwanted and/or repeated surveillance by an individual or group toward another person. Stalking behaviors are interrelated to harassment and intimidation and may include following the victim in person or monitoring them. The term ...
'' (1979)
Soviet films tend to be rather culture-specific and are difficult for many foreigners to understand without having been exposed to the culture first. Various Soviet directors were more concerned with artistic success than with financial 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 and poetic films. Most well-known examples of such films are those by directors
Andrei Tarkovsky
Andrei Arsenyevich Tarkovsky ( rus, Андрей Арсеньевич Тарковский, p=ɐnˈdrʲej ɐrˈsʲenʲjɪvʲɪtɕ tɐrˈkofskʲɪj; 4 April 1932 – 29 December 1986) was a Russian filmmaker. Widely considered one of the greates ...
,
Sergei Parajanov
Sergei Parajanov, ka, სერგო ფარაჯანოვი, uk, Сергій Параджанов (January 9, 1924 – July 20, 1990) was an Armenian filmmaker. Parajanov is regarded by film critics, film historians and filmmakers t ...
and
Nikita Mikhalkov
Nikita Sergeyevich Mikhalkov (russian: Никита Сергеевич Михалков; born 21 October 1945) is a Soviet and Russian filmmaker, actor, and head of the Russian Cinematographers' Union. Mikhalkov is a three-time laureate of the ...
. In keeping with Russian culture, tragi-comedies were very popular. These decades were also prominent in the production of the
Eastern
Eastern may refer to:
Transportation
*China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai
*Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways
*Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991
*Eastern Air Li ...
or Red Western.
Animation
Animation is a method by which image, still figures are manipulated to appear as Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent cel, celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited ...
was a respected genre, with many directors experimenting with animation techniques. ''
Tale of Tales'' (1979) by
Yuri Norstein
Yuri Borisovich Norstein, People's Artist of Russia, PAR (russian: link=no, Ю́рий Бори́сович Норште́йн; born 15 September 1941) is a Soviet and Russian animator best known for his animated shorts ''Hedgehog in the Fog'' an ...
was twice given the title of "Best Animated Film of All Eras and Nations" by animation professionals from around the world, in 1984 and 2002.
In the year of the 60th anniversary of the Soviet cinema (1979), on April 25, a decision of the Presidium of the
Supreme Soviet of the USSR
The Supreme Soviet of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics ( rus, Верховный Совет Союза Советских Социалистических Республик, r=Verkhovnyy Sovet Soyuza Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respubl ...
established a commemorative "". It was then celebrated in the USSR each year on August 27, the day on which
Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 19 ...
signed a decree to
nationalise
Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to pri ...
the country's cinematic and photographic industries.
1980s
The policies of
perestroika
''Perestroika'' (; russian: links=no, перестройка, p=pʲɪrʲɪˈstrojkə, a=ru-perestroika.ogg) was a political movement for reform within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) during the late 1980s widely associated wit ...
and
glasnost
''Glasnost'' (; russian: link=no, гласность, ) has several general and specific meanings – a policy of maximum openness in the activities of state institutions and freedom of information, the inadmissibility of hushing up problems, ...
saw a loosening of the censorship of earlier eras. A genre known as ' (from the Russian word for "noir"), including films such as ''
Little Vera
''Little Vera'' (russian: links=no, italics=yes, Маленькая Вера, Malenkaya Vera), produced by Gorky Film Studio and released in 1988, is a film by Russian film director Vasili Pichul. The title in Russian is ambiguous and can also mea ...
'', portrayed the harsher side of Soviet life. Notable films of this period include:
*''
Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears
''Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears'' (russian: Москва слезам не верит, Moskva slezam ne verit) is a 1980 Soviet romantic drama film made by Mosfilm. It was written by Valentin Chernykh and directed by Vladimir Menshov. The leadi ...
'' (1980) won an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1981.
*''
The Pokrovsky Gate
''The Pokrovsky Gate'' (russian: Покровские ворота, Pokrovskiye Vorota) is a 1982 Soviet comedy film produced for television by Mosfilm. It was directed by Mikhail Kozakov and stars Oleg Menshikov, Leonid Bronevoy, and Inna Ulyanov ...
'' (1982), a made-for-television comedy starring Oleg Menshikov
*''
Repentance
Repentance is reviewing one's actions and feeling contrition or regret for past wrongs, which is accompanied by commitment to and actual actions that show and prove a change for the better.
In modern times, it is generally seen as involving a co ...
'' (1984), a Georgian film about a fictional dictator which was banned until 1987
*''
Come and See
''Come and See'' (russian: Иди и смотри, ''Idi i smotri''; be, Ідзі і глядзі, ''Idzi i hliadzi'') is a 1985 Soviet anti-war film directed by Elem Klimov and starring Aleksei Kravchenko and Olga Mironova. Its screenplay, wr ...
'' (1985), a widely acclaimed World War II drama
*''
Kin-dza-dza!
''Kin-dza-dza!'' (russian: link=no, italics=yes, Кин-дза-дза!) is a 1986 Soviet film released by the Mosfilm studio and directed by Georgiy Daneliya, with a story by Georgiy Daneliya and Revaz Gabriadze.
Plot
The story begins in 1980s M ...
'' (1986), allegorical science fiction
*''
The Cold Summer of 1953
''The Cold Summer of 1953'' (russian: Холодное лето пятьдесят третьего…, Kholodnoe leto pyatdesyat tretego) is a 1988 Soviet crime film directed by Aleksandr Proshkin. It was the last film of the Soviet actor Anatoly ...
'' (1987), about criminals being released from the
gulag
The Gulag, an acronym for , , "chief administration of the camps". The original name given to the system of camps controlled by the GPU was the Main Administration of Corrective Labor Camps (, )., name=, group= was the government agency in ...
s after Stalin's death
*''
Little Vera
''Little Vera'' (russian: links=no, italics=yes, Маленькая Вера, Malenkaya Vera), produced by Gorky Film Studio and released in 1988, is a film by Russian film director Vasili Pichul. The title in Russian is ambiguous and can also mea ...
'' (1988), notable as one of the first Soviet films with sexually explicit scenes
Genres
Drama
*''
Battleship Potemkin
'' Battleship Potemkin'' (russian: Бронено́сец «Потёмкин», ''Bronenosets Potyomkin''), sometimes rendered as ''Battleship Potyomkin'', is a 1925 Soviet silent
drama film produced by Mosfilm. Directed and co-written by S ...
'', a 1925 silent drama film directed by
Sergei Eisenstein
Sergei Mikhailovich Eisenstein (russian: Сергей Михайлович Эйзенштейн, p=sʲɪrˈɡʲej mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪtɕ ɪjzʲɪnˈʂtʲejn, 2=Sergey Mikhaylovich Eyzenshteyn; 11 February 1948) was a Soviet film director, screenw ...
, and named the greatest film of all time at the
Brussels World's Fair
Expo 58, also known as the 1958 Brussels World's Fair (french: Exposition Universelle et Internationale de Bruxelles de 1958, nl, Brusselse Wereldtentoonstelling van 1958), was a world's fair held on the Heysel/Heizel Plateau in Brussels, Bel ...
.
*''
Mother
]
A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given childbirth, birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the cas ...
'', a 1926 drama film directed by
Vsevolod Pudovkin
Vsevolod Illarionovich Pudovkin ( rus, Всеволод Илларионович Пудовкин, p=ˈfsʲevələt ɪlərʲɪˈonəvʲɪtɕ pʊˈdofkʲɪn; 16 February 1893 – 30 June 1953) was a Russian and Soviet film director, screenwriter ...
, and based on the 1906 novel ''
Mother
]
A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given childbirth, birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the cas ...
'' by
Maxim Gorky
Alexei Maximovich Peshkov (russian: link=no, Алексе́й Макси́мович Пешко́в; – 18 June 1936), popularly known as Maxim Gorky (russian: Макси́м Го́рький, link=no), was a Russian writer and social ...
.
*''
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...
'', a 1930 silent film by
Alexander Dovzhenko
Oleksandr Petrovych Dovzhenko or Alexander Petrovich Dovzhenko ( uk, Олександр Петрович Довженко, ''Oleksandr Petrovych Dovzhenko''; russian: Алекса́ндр Петро́вич Довже́нко, ''Aleksandr Petro ...
.
*''
Nine Days in One Year
''Nine Days in One Year'' (russian: Девять дней одного года) is a 1962 Soviet black-and-white drama film directed by Mikhail Romm about nuclear particle physics, physicists and their relationships. The film is based on true eve ...
'', a 1962 film by
Mikhail Romm about nuclear particle physics, Soviet physicists and their relationship.
*''
The First Teacher
''The First Teacher'' (russian: Первый учитель, Pervyy uchitel) is a 1965 drama film directed by Andrei Konchalovsky. It is his first full-length work, based on the book by Chinghiz Aitmatov.
Synopsis
The action takes place in the ...
'', a 1966 drama film directed by
Andrei Konchalovsky
Andrei Sergeyevich Mikhalkov-Konchalovsky (russian: link=no, Андрей Сергеевич Михалков-Кончаловский; born 20 August 1937) is a Russian filmmaker. He has worked in Soviet, Hollywood, and contemporary Russian ...
set in the
Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic
The Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic (Kirghiz SSR; ky, Кыргыз Советтик Социалисттик Республикасы, Kyrgyz Sovettik Sotsialisttik Respublikasy, ky, Кыргыз ССР, Kyrgyz SSR, russian: Киргизск ...
.
*''
The Story of Asya Klyachina
''The Story of Asya Klyachina'' (russian: История Аси Клячиной, которая любила, да не вышла замуж, ''Istoriya Asi Klyachinoy, kotoraya lyubila, da ne vyshla zamuzh'', also known as ''Asya's Happiness'' ...
'', a 1966 drama film directed by Andrei Konchalovsky set in a
kolkhoz
A kolkhoz ( rus, колхо́з, a=ru-kolkhoz.ogg, p=kɐlˈxos) was a form of collective farm in the Soviet Union. Kolkhozes existed along with state farms or sovkhoz., a contraction of советское хозяйство, soviet ownership or ...
.
*''
Anna Karenina
''Anna Karenina'' ( rus, «Анна Каренина», p=ˈanːə kɐˈrʲenʲɪnə) is a novel by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy, first published in book form in 1878. Widely considered to be one of the greatest works of literature ever writte ...
'', a 1967 drama film directed by
Aleksandr Zarkhi
Aleksandr Grigoryevich Zarkhi (russian: Александр Григорьевич Зархи; 18 February 1908 – 27 January 1997) was a Soviet and Russian film director and screenwriter. People's Artist of the USSR (1969). Hero of Socialist ...
, based on the
novel of the same name by
Leo Tolstoy
Count Lev Nikolayevich TolstoyTolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; russian: link=no, Лев Николаевич Толстой,In Tolstoy's day, his name was written as in pre-refor ...
.
*''
Uncle Vanya
''Uncle Vanya'' ( rus, Дя́дя Ва́ня, r=Dyádya Ványa, p=ˈdʲædʲə ˈvanʲə) is a play by the Russian playwright Anton Chekhov. It was first published in 1898, and was first produced in 1899 by the Moscow Art Theatre under the direct ...
'', a 1970 film adaptation of
Anton Chekhov
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; 29 January 1860 Old Style date 17 January. – 15 July 1904 Old Style date 2 July.) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer who is considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career ...
's
play of the same title by Andrei Konchalovsky.
*''
Lăutarii
''Lăutarii'' (russian: Лаутары) is a 1972 Soviet romantic drama film directed by Emil Loteanu. The movie was a success, particularly in Italy. The film received the Special Jury Award at the San Sebastián International Film Festival
...
'', a 1972 romantic drama set in mid-nineteenth century
Bessarabia
Bessarabia (; Gagauz: ''Besarabiya''; Romanian: ''Basarabia''; Ukrainian: ''Бессара́бія'') is a historical region in Eastern Europe, bounded by the Dniester river on the east and the Prut river on the west. About two thirds of Be ...
by
Emil Loteanu
Emil Vladimirovich Loteanu (6 November 1936 – 18 April 2003) was a Romanian-Soviet film director born in what is now Moldova. He moved to Moscow in his early life. His best known films are ''Lăutarii'', ''Gypsies Are Found Near Heaven'', '' A H ...
.
*''
A Lover's Romance
''A Lover's Romance'' or ''Romance for Lovers'' (russian: Романс о влюблённых, Romans o vlyublyonnykh) is a 1974 Soviet musical romantic drama directed by Andrei Konchalovsky.
Plot
Sergei and Tanya are in love with each other. Ser ...
'', a 1974 musical drama directed by Andrei Konchalovsky.
*''
Gypsies Are Found Near Heaven
''Gypsies Are Found Near Heaven'' (russian: Табор уходит в небо, Tabor ukhodit v nebo, lit. "The Gypsy camp goes to heaven"; also known as ''Queen of the Gypsies'') is a 1975 Soviet Union, Soviet Romantic film, romantic Drama film, ...
'', a 1975 romantic drama directed by Emil Loteanu and loosely based on the stories of Maxim Gorky.
*''
A Slave of Love
''A Slave of Love'' (russian: Раба любви, Raba lyubvi) is a 1976 Soviet romantic comedy-drama film directed by Nikita Mikhalkov and written by Friedrich Gorenstein and Andrey Konchalovskiy. It stars Elena Solovey, Rodion Nakhapetov and A ...
'', a 1976 romantic comedy-drama directed by
Nikita Mikhalkov
Nikita Sergeyevich Mikhalkov (russian: Никита Сергеевич Михалков; born 21 October 1945) is a Soviet and Russian filmmaker, actor, and head of the Russian Cinematographers' Union. Mikhalkov is a three-time laureate of the ...
loosely inspired by the life of
Vera Kholodnaya
Vera Vasilyevna Kholodnaya ( Levchenko; russian: link=no, Вера Васильевна Холодная; uk, link=no, Віра Василівна Холодна; 5 August 1893 – 16 February 1919) was an actress of Russian Empire cinema. She w ...
.
*''
An Unfinished Piece for Mechanical Piano
''An Unfinished Piece for Mechanical Piano'' (russian: Неоконченная пьеса для механического пианино, Neokonchennaya pyesa dlya mekhanicheskogo pianino) is a 1977 Soviet drama film directed by Nikita Mikhalkov ...
'', a 1977 adaptation of Anton Chekhov's play ''
Platonov'' by Nikita Mikhalkov.
*''
A Hunting Accident
''A Hunting Accident'' (russian: Мой ласковый и нежный зверь, Moy laskovyy i nezhnyy zver, My Affectionate and Tender Beast) is a 1978 Soviet romantic drama directed by Emil Loteanu. It was entered into the 1978 Cannes Film ...
'', a 1978 romantic drama directed by Emil Loteanu based on Anton Chekhov's ''
The Shooting Party
''The Shooting Party'' is a 1984 British drama film directed by Alan Bridges and based on the book of the same name by Isabel Colegate. The film is set in 1913, less than a year before the beginning of the First World War, and shows the soon-t ...
''.
*''
Anna Pavlova
Anna Pavlovna Pavlova ( , rus, Анна Павловна Павлова ), born Anna Matveyevna Pavlova ( rus, Анна Матвеевна Павлова; – 23 January 1931), was a Russian prima ballerina of the late 19th and the early 20th ...
'', a 1983 biographical drama by Emil Loteanu based on the life of the
titular ballet dancer.
*''
A Cruel Romance
''A Cruel Romance'' (russian: Жестокий романс) is a 1984 Russian romantic drama directed by Eldar Ryazanov. It is based on Alexander Ostrovsky's classic play '' Without a Dowry'' (1878)., which had earlier been adapted into a film in ...
'', a 1984 adaptation of
Alexander Ostrovsky
Alexander Nikolayevich Ostrovsky (russian: Алекса́ндр Никола́евич Остро́вский; ) was a Russian playwright, generally considered the greatest representative of the Russian realistic period. The author of 47 origina ...
's play ''
Without a Dowry
''Without a Dowry'' (russian: Бесприданница) is a play by Alexander Ostrovsky that premiered on 1878 in literature, 1878 at the Maly Theatre (Moscow), Maly Theater and first published in the January 1879 issue of ''Otechestvennye Zapi ...
'' by
Eldar Ryazanov
Eldar Aleksandrovich Ryazanov (russian: Эльдар Александрович Рязанов; 18 November 1927 – 30 November 2015) was a Soviet and Russian film director, screenwriter, poet, actor and pedagogue whose popular comedies, satiriz ...
.
Historical epic
*''
Alexander Nevsky
Alexander Yaroslavich Nevsky (russian: Александр Ярославич Невский; ; 13 May 1221 – 14 November 1263) served as Prince of Novgorod (1236–40, 1241–56 and 1258–1259), Grand Prince of Kiev (1236–52) and Grand P ...
'', a 1938 historical drama film directed by Sergei Eisenstein.
*''
Ivan the Terrible
Ivan IV Vasilyevich (russian: Ива́н Васи́льевич; 25 August 1530 – ), commonly known in English as Ivan the Terrible, was the grand prince of Moscow from 1533 to 1547 and the first Tsar of all Russia from 1547 to 1584.
Ivan ...
'', another historical drama film (in two parts) directed by Sergei Eisenstein in 1944.
*''
And Quiet Flows the Don
''And Quiet Flows the Don'' (''Quiet Flows the Don'' or ''The Silent Don'', russian: Тихий Дон, literally ''The Quiet Don'') is a novel in four volumes by Russian writer Mikhail Sholokhov. The first three volumes were written from 192 ...
'' (1957–58) by
Sergei Gerasimov, an adaptation of the Nobel Prize winning novel ''
And Quiet Flows the Don
''And Quiet Flows the Don'' (''Quiet Flows the Don'' or ''The Silent Don'', russian: Тихий Дон, literally ''The Quiet Don'') is a novel in four volumes by Russian writer Mikhail Sholokhov. The first three volumes were written from 192 ...
'' by
Mikhail Sholokhov
Mikhail Aleksandrovich Sholokhov ( rus, Михаил Александрович Шолохов, p=ˈʂoləxəf; – 21 February 1984) was a Russian novelist and winner of the 1965 Nobel Prize in Literature. He is known for writing about life ...
.
*''
Andrei Rublev
Andrei Rublev ( rus, Андре́й Рублёв, p=ɐnˈdrʲej rʊˈblʲɵf , also transliterated as ''Andrey Rublyov'') was a Muscovite icon painter born in the 1360s who died between 1427 and 1430 in Moscow. He is considered to be one of the ...
'', an epic historical drama made in 1966, loosely based on the life of the 15th-century
Russian icon
The use and making of icons entered Ancient Rus' following its conversion to Orthodox Christianity in AD 988. As a general rule, these icons strictly followed models and formulas hallowed by Byzantine art, led from the capital in Constantinople. A ...
painter
Andrei Rublev
Andrei Rublev ( rus, Андре́й Рублёв, p=ɐnˈdrʲej rʊˈblʲɵf , also transliterated as ''Andrey Rublyov'') was a Muscovite icon painter born in the 1360s who died between 1427 and 1430 in Moscow. He is considered to be one of the ...
.
*''
War and Peace
''War and Peace'' (russian: Война и мир, translit=Voyna i mir; pre-reform Russian: ; ) is a literary work by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy that mixes fictional narrative with chapters on history and philosophy. It was first published ...
'', a cinematic rendition of
Tolstoy
Count Lev Nikolayevich TolstoyTolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; russian: link=no, Лев Николаевич Толстой,In Tolstoy's day, his name was written as in pre-refor ...
's
novel
A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...
made in 1966.
*''
Agony
Agony may refer to:
Concepts
*Pain, anguish, or struggle, especially precededing death
*Suffering of intense degree, relating to physical or mental suffering
*Passion (Christianity), also called the Agony of Christ
*Agony in the Garden, Christ' ...
'', a 1973 historical drama film about
Grigori Rasputin
Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin (; rus, links=no, Григорий Ефимович Распутин ; – ) was a Russian mystic and self-proclaimed holy man who befriended the family of Nicholas II, the last Emperor of Russia, thus g ...
directed by
Elem Klimov
Elem Germanovich Klimov (russian: link=no, Элем Германович Климов; 9 July 1933 – 26 October 2003) was a Soviet and Russian filmmaker. He studied at the Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography, and was married to film dire ...
.
*''
Siberiade
''Siberiade'' (russian: Сибириада, translit. ''Sibiriada'') is a 1979 Soviet historical drama film directed by Andrei Konchalovsky and produced by Mosfilm. The four-part epic spans much of the 20th century.
Themes
The film combin ...
'',
Andrei Konchalovsky
Andrei Sergeyevich Mikhalkov-Konchalovsky (russian: link=no, Андрей Сергеевич Михалков-Кончаловский; born 20 August 1937) is a Russian filmmaker. He has worked in Soviet, Hollywood, and contemporary Russian ...
's 1979 epic drama film in four parts, featuring
Eduard Artemyev
Eduard Nikolayevich Artemyev ( rus, Эдуа́рд Никола́евич Арте́мьев, p=ɨdʊˈart ɐrˈtʲemʲjɪf; born 30 November 1937) is a Soviet and Russian composer of electronic music and film scores. Outside of Russia, he is ...
's famous soundtrack.
Comedy
*''
Walking the Streets of Moscow
''Walking the Streets of Moscow'' (''I walk across Moscow'', russian: link=no, italics=yes, Я шагаю по Москве) is a 1964 Soviet film directed by Georgiy Daneliya and produced by Mosfilm studios. It stars Nikita Mihalkov, Aleksei Lokt ...
'', a 1964 comedy film by
Georgiy Daneliya
Georgiy Nikolayevich Daneliya ( ka, გიორგი ნიკოლოზის ძე დანელია; russian: Георгий Николаевич Данелия; 25 August 1930 – 4 April 2019), also known as Giya Daneliya ( ka, გ ...
, starring 18-year-old
Nikita Mikhalkov
Nikita Sergeyevich Mikhalkov (russian: Никита Сергеевич Михалков; born 21 October 1945) is a Soviet and Russian filmmaker, actor, and head of the Russian Cinematographers' Union. Mikhalkov is a three-time laureate of the ...
.
*''
Beware of the Car
''Beware of the Car'' (russian: Береги́сь автомоби́ля, translit. ''Beregis Avtomobilya'', English titles ''Uncommon Thief'', or ''Watch out for the Automobile'') is a 1966 Soviet crime comedy drama film directed by Eldar R ...
'', a 1966 crime comedy-drama film directed by
Eldar Ryazanov
Eldar Aleksandrovich Ryazanov (russian: Эльдар Александрович Рязанов; 18 November 1927 – 30 November 2015) was a Soviet and Russian film director, screenwriter, poet, actor and pedagogue whose popular comedies, satiriz ...
.
*''
Kidnapping, Caucasian Style
''Kidnapping, Caucasian Style'' (russian: link=no, Кавказская пленница, или Новые приключения Шурика) is a 1967 Soviet comedy film dealing with a humorous plot revolving around bride kidnapping, an old t ...
'', a 1967 comedy by
Leonid Gaidai
Leonid Iovich Gaidai (russian: Леонид Иович Гайдай; 30 January 1923 – 19 November 1993) was a Soviet and Russian comedy film director, screenwriter and actor who enjoyed immense popularity and broad public recognition in the fo ...
. A lot of
ethnic humor
An ethnic joke is a remark aiming at humor relating to an ethnic, racial or cultural group, often referring to an ethnic stereotype of the group in question for its punchline.
Perceptions of ethnic jokes are ambivalent. Christie Davies gives ex ...
, as Shurik gets involved unwittingly in kidnapping. It's also a satire of corrupt local officials.
*''
The Diamond Arm
''The Diamond Arm'' (russian: Бриллиантовая рука ''Brilliantovaya ruka'') is a Soviet crime comedy film made by Mosfilm and first released in 1969. The film was directed by director Leonid Gaidai and starred several famous Soviet ...
'', a 1969 comedy directed by Leonid Gaidai and starring
Yuri Nikulin
Yuri Vladimirovich Nikulin (russian: Юрий Владимирович Никулин; 18 December 1921 – 21 August 1997) was a Soviet and Russian actor and clown who starred in many popular films. He is best known for his roles in Leonid ...
,
Anatoli Papanov
Anatoli Dmitrievich Papanov (russian: Анатолий Дмитриевич Папанов, links=https://ru.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Папанов,_Анатолий_Дмитриевич, translit=Anatoliy Dmitriyevich Papanov, label=; 31 October 1 ...
, and
Andrei Mironov. Inept smugglers try to recover diamonds which ended up with the wrong man.
*''
Gentlemen of Fortune
''Gentlemen of Fortune'' (russian: Джентльмены удачи, Dzhentlmeny udachi) is a 1971 Soviet crime comedy film, filmed at Mosfilm and directed by Aleksandr Sery. The stars of the film include famous Soviet actors such as Yevgeny Leon ...
'', a 1971 kindergarten principal played by
Yevgeny Leonov
Yevgeny Pavlovich Leonov (russian: link=no, Евгений Павлович Леонов; 2 September 1926 – 29 January 1994) was a Soviet and Russian actor who played main parts in several of the most famous Soviet films, such as ''Gentlemen ...
pretends to be a criminal boss called the Professor (who looks exactly like him) to gain information about a stolen artifact from the Professor's two lackeys.
*''
The Twelve Chairs
''The Twelve Chairs'' ( rus, Двенадцать стульев, Dvenadtsat stulyev) is a classic satirical novel by the Odesan Soviet authors Ilf and Petrov, published in 1928. Its plot follows characters attempting to obtain jewelry hidden ...
'', a 1971 film by Leonid Gaidai based on the famous
novel of the same name by
Ilf and Petrov
Ilya Ilf (Ilya Arnoldovich Feinsilberg or russian: Илья Арнольдович Файнзильберг, 1897–1937) and Yevgeny Petrov (Yevgeniy Petrovich Katayev or russian: Евгений Петрович Катаев, 1902–1942 ...
.
*''
Ivan Vasilievich: Back to the Future'', a 1973 comedy by Leonid Gaidai. A scientist's time travel machine ends up teleporting his tenement administrator into 16th century Russia and bringing
Ivan the Terrible
Ivan IV Vasilyevich (russian: Ива́н Васи́льевич; 25 August 1530 – ), commonly known in English as Ivan the Terrible, was the grand prince of Moscow from 1533 to 1547 and the first Tsar of all Russia from 1547 to 1584.
Ivan ...
into the present. The two are identical in appearance and chaos promptly ensues.
*''
The Twelve Chairs
''The Twelve Chairs'' ( rus, Двенадцать стульев, Dvenadtsat stulyev) is a classic satirical novel by the Odesan Soviet authors Ilf and Petrov, published in 1928. Its plot follows characters attempting to obtain jewelry hidden ...
'', a 1976 musical adaptation of the eponymous Ilf and Petrov novel by
Mark Zakharov
Mark Anatolyevich Zakharov (russian: Марк Анатольевич Захаров; 13 October 1933 – 28 September 2019) was a Soviet and Russian stage and film director, screenwriter and pedagogue best known for his fantasy parable movies. He ...
starring
Andrei Mironov.
*''
The Irony of Fate, or Enjoy Your Bath!'', a 1976 romantic comedy by Eldar Ryazanov. The picture is so beloved in Russia that it is broadcast on television every New Year Eve, similarly to the American movie ''
It's a Wonderful Life
''It's a Wonderful Life'' is a 1946 American Christmas by medium#Films, Christmas Fantasy film, fantasy drama film produced and directed by Frank Capra, based on the short story and booklet ''The Greatest Gift'', which Philip Van Doren Stern se ...
'' being broadcast every Christmas.
*''
Office Romance
''Office Romance'' (russian: links=no, italic=yes, Служебный роман, Sluzhebny roman) is a 1977 Soviet comedy film directed by Eldar Ryazanov. The film's plot is based on the stageplay ''Co-workers'' (') written by Ryazanov and Emil B ...
'', a 1977 romantic comedy directed by Eldar Ryazanov.
* "
D'Artagnan and Three Musketeers
''D'Artagnan and Three Musketeers'' (russian: Д'Артаньян и три мушкетёра, ''D'Artanyan i tri mushketyora'') is a three-part swashbuckler Musical film, musical miniseries produced in the Soviet Union and first aired in 1978. ...
", a 1978 adventure television movie (
Swashbuckler film
Swashbuckler films are a subgenre of the action film genre, often characterised by swordfighting and adventurous heroic characters, known as swashbucklers. Real historical events often feature prominently in the plot, morality is often clear-c ...
), directed by
Georgy Yungvald-Khilkevich. This film is based on the
novel of the same name by
Alexandre Dumas, père
Alexandre Dumas (, ; ; born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie (), 24 July 1802 – 5 December 1870), also known as Alexandre Dumas père (where ''Suffix (name)#Generational titles, '' is French language, French for 'father', to distinguish him from ...
. The film stars a lot of the Soviet cinema actors and is now considered a classic.
The film was such a huge success (thanks in large part to its numerous magnificent songs) that since the 1990s it has been broadcast on TV on New Year's Eve.
[gazeta.ru]
Победа ретро и шоу: почему новогодние кинопремьеры ушли с ТВ
''gazeta.ru''. Moscow. Retrieved 2021/01/21 (January 21, 2021)
*''
The Very Same Munchhausen
''The Very Same Munchhausen'' ( rus, Тот самый Мюнхгаузен, Tot samyy Myunkhgauzen, alt. translation - ''That Very Münchhausen'') is a 1979 Soviet fantasy dramedy television film directed by Mark Zakharov, based on a script b ...
'', a 1979 fantasy comedy by Mark Zakharov based on the
Baron Munchausen
Baron Munchausen (; ) is a fictional German nobleman created by the German writer Rudolf Erich Raspe in his 1785 book '' Baron Munchausen's Narrative of his Marvellous Travels and Campaigns in Russia''. The character is loosely based on a real ...
stories.
*''
The Pokrovsky Gate
''The Pokrovsky Gate'' (russian: Покровские ворота, Pokrovskiye Vorota) is a 1982 Soviet comedy film produced for television by Mosfilm. It was directed by Mikhail Kozakov and stars Oleg Menshikov, Leonid Bronevoy, and Inna Ulyanov ...
'', a 1982 comedy directed by
Mikhail Kozakov
Mikhail Mikhailovich Kozakov (in Russian: Михаил Михайлович Козаков) (14 October 1934, Leningrad – 22 April 2011, Ramat Gan) was a Soviet, Russian and Israeli film and theatre director and actor.
Biography Early life
Mik ...
and starring
Oleg Menshikov
Oleg Evgenyevich Menshikov, PAR (russian: Оле́г Евге́ньевич Ме́ньшиков, link=no; born 8 November 1960) is a Russian actor, theatre director and occasional singer. He is the current artistic director of the Yermolova Thea ...
as a young student who comes to Moscow and finds himself involved in the misfortunes of his fellow apartment tenants.
War films
*''
The Forty-First'' (1927), directed by
Yakov Protazanov
Yakov Alexandrovich Protazanov (russian: Яков Александрович Протазанов; 4 February ( O.S. 23 January ) 1881 – 8 August 1945) was a Russian and Soviet film director and screenwriter, and one of the founding fathers of ...
*''
The Fall of Berlin'', directed by
Mikheil Chiaureli
Mikheil Chiaureli ( ka, მიხეილ ჭიაურელი, russian: Михаил Эдишерович Чиаурели, 6 February 1894 – 31 October 1974) was a Soviet Georgian actor, film director and screenwriter. He directed 25 ...
*''
The Forty-First'' (1956), directed by
Grigory Chukhray
Grigory Naumovich Chukhray (russian: Григо́рий Нау́мович Чухра́й; uk, Григорiй Наумович Чухрай; 23 May 1921 – 28 October 2001) was a Ukrainian Soviet and Russian film director and screenwriter. ...
*''
The Cranes Are Flying
''The Cranes Are Flying'' (russian: Летят журавли, translit. ''Letyat zhuravli'') is a 1957 Soviet film about the Second World War. It depicts the cruelty of war and the damage done to the Soviet psyche as a result of war, which ...
'', a World War II drama,
Palme d'Or
The Palme d'Or (; en, Golden Palm) is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festival's highest prize was the Grand Prix du Fe ...
winner
*''
Ballad of a Soldier
''Ballad of a Soldier'' (russian: Баллада о солдате, ''Ballada o soldate''), is a 1959 Soviet film directed by Grigory Chukhray and starring Vladimir Ivashov and Zhanna Prokhorenko. While set during World War II, ''Ballad of a So ...
'', Grigory Chukhray's romantic war film,
BAFTA winner
*''
Ivan's Childhood
''Ivan's Childhood'' (russian: Ива́ново де́тство, ''Ivanovo detstvo''), sometimes released as ''My Name Is Ivan'' in the US, is a 1962 Soviet war drama film directed by Andrei Tarkovsky. Co-written by Mikhail Papava, Andrei Konch ...
'', the debut film of
Andrei Tarkovsky
Andrei Arsenyevich Tarkovsky ( rus, Андрей Арсеньевич Тарковский, p=ɐnˈdrʲej ɐrˈsʲenʲjɪvʲɪtɕ tɐrˈkofskʲɪj; 4 April 1932 – 29 December 1986) was a Russian filmmaker. Widely considered one of the greates ...
. The
Golden Lion
The Golden Lion ( it, Leone d'oro) is the highest prize given to a film at the Venice Film Festival. The prize was introduced in 1949 by the organizing committee and is now regarded as one of the film industry's most prestigious and distinguishe ...
of
Venice Film Festival
The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival he ...
winner, based on the 1957 short story "Ivan" by
Vladimir Bogomolov Vladimir Bogomolov may refer to:
*Vladimir Bogomolov (writer) (1926–2003), Soviet writer
*Vladimir Bogomolov (bodyguard)
Vladimir Viktorovich Bogomolov (russian: Владимир Викторович Богомолов; c. 1945 – 2009) was a S ...
*''
Liberation
Liberation or liberate may refer to:
Film and television
* ''Liberation'' (film series), a 1970–1971 series about the Great Patriotic War
* "Liberation" (''The Flash''), a TV episode
* "Liberation" (''K-9''), an episode
Gaming
* '' Liberati ...
'' (in five films), a Soviet-Polish-East German-Italian-Yugoslav co-production directed by
Yuri Ozerov
*''
The Dawns Here Are Quiet
''The Dawns Here Are Quiet'' (russian: А зори здесь тихие, A zori zdes tikhie) is a 1972 Soviet war drama directed by Stanislav Rostotsky based on Boris Vasilyev's novel of the same name. The film deals with antiwar themes and fo ...
'', based on
Boris Vasilyev's novel of the same name
*''
Only "Old Men" Are Going into Battle
''Only "Old Men" Are Going Into Battle'' (russian: В бой идут одни «старики», V boy idut odni "stariki"; one of the meanings of the Russian idiom 'old man' is 'most experienced person') is an iconic 1973 Soviet war drama black ...
'', a war
musical film
Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, but in some cases, they serve merely as breaks ...
about Soviet World War II fighter pilots
*''
They Fought for Their Country
''They Fought for Their Country'' (russian: Они сражались за Родину, Oni srazhalis' za Rodinu) is a 1975 Soviet war film in two parts based on the eponymous novel written by Mikhail Sholokhov and directed by Sergei Bondarchuk ...
'', an epic war drama by
Sergei Bondarchuk
Sergei Fyodorovich Bondarchuk (russian: Сергей Фёдорович Бондарчук, ; uk, Сергі́й Федорович Бондарчук, Serhíj Fédorovych Bondarchúk; 25 September 192020 October 1994) was a Soviet and Russian ...
, starring
Vasily Shukshin
Vasily Makarovich Shukshin (russian: Василий Макарович Шукшин; 25 July 1929 – 2 October 1974) was a Soviet Russian writer, actor, screenwriter and film director from the Altai region who specialized in rural themes. A ...
*''
The Ascent'', a 1977 war drama by
Larisa Shepitko
Larisa Yefimovna Shepitko (, uk, Лариса Юхимівна Шепітько, translit=Larysa Yukhymivna Shepitko; 6 January 1938 – 2 July 1979) was a Soviet film director, screenwriter and actress. She is considered one of the best fema ...
, starring
Boris Plotnikov
Boris Grigoryevich Plotnikov (russian: Борис Григорьевич Плотников; 2 April 1949 – 2 December 2020)
*''
Battle of Moscow
The Battle of Moscow was a military campaign that consisted of two periods of strategically significant fighting on a sector of the Eastern Front (World War II), Eastern Front during World War II. It took place between September 1941 and January ...
'' (in two films), a Soviet-East German-Czechoslovak-Vietnamese co-production directed by Yuri Ozerov
*''
Come and See
''Come and See'' (russian: Иди и смотри, ''Idi i smotri''; be, Ідзі і глядзі, ''Idzi i hliadzi'') is a 1985 Soviet anti-war film directed by Elem Klimov and starring Aleksei Kravchenko and Olga Mironova. Its screenplay, wr ...
'', a
war drama
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-gen ...
/
psychological thriller
Psychological thriller is a genre combining the thriller and psychological fiction genres. It is commonly used to describe literature or films that deal with psychological narratives in a thriller or thrilling setting.
In terms of context and co ...
film directed by
Elem Klimov
Elem Germanovich Klimov (russian: link=no, Элем Германович Климов; 9 July 1933 – 26 October 2003) was a Soviet and Russian filmmaker. He studied at the Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography, and was married to film dire ...
about the
Nazi German occupation of Byelorussia
*''
Stalingrad
Volgograd ( rus, Волгогра́д, a=ru-Volgograd.ogg, p=vəɫɡɐˈɡrat), geographical renaming, formerly Tsaritsyn (russian: Цари́цын, Tsarítsyn, label=none; ) (1589–1925), and Stalingrad (russian: Сталингра́д, Stal ...
'' (in two films), a Soviet-East German-Czechoslovak-American co-production directed by Yuri Ozerov
Red Westerns
*''
The Elusive Avengers
''The Elusive Avengers'' (russian: Неуловимые мстители, translit. ''Neulovimye mstiteli'') is a 1967 Soviet adventure film directed by Edmond Keosayan and made by Mosfilm. It is loosely based on the novel ''Red Devils'' b ...
'' by
Edmond Keosayan
Edmond Gareginovich Keosayan ( hy, Էդմոնդ Քյոսայան; russian: Эдмонд Гарегинович Кеосаян; 9 October 1936 – 21 April 1994) was an Armenian Soviet film director and musician.
* 1952-54 - worked in Yerevan watc ...
.
*''
The New Adventures of the Elusive Avengers
''The New Adventures of the Elusive Avengers'' (russian: Новые приключения Неуловимых, translit. ''Novye prikluchenya Neulovimykh'') is a 1968 Soviet action film, a sequel of ''The Elusive Avengers'', directed by E ...
'' by Edmond Keosayan.
*''
White Sun of the Desert
''White Sun of the Desert'' (russian: Белое солнце пустыни, Beloye solntse pustyni) is a 1970 Soviet Ostern film.
Its blend of action, comedy, music and drama, as well as memorable quotes, made it highly successful at the Russi ...
'', one of the most popular Red Westerns (see
Ostern
The Ostern (Eastern; , ''Istern''; or остерн) or Red Western was a film genre created in the Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc as a variation of the Western films that originated in the United States. The word "Ostern" is a portmanteau derived ...
).
*''
'' by Edmond Keosayan.
*''
The Headless Horseman The Headless Horseman is a fictional character that appears in many venues.
Headless Horseman may also refer to:
* Headless Horseman ("Legend of Sleepy Hollow"), a character in the 1820 short story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" by Washington Irv ...
'' by
Vladimir Vajnshtok
Vladimir Petrovich Vajnshtok (russian: Владимир Петрович Вайншток; 2 March 1908 – 18 October 1978) was a Soviet film director and, under the name Vladimir Vladimirov, screenwriter.
Selected filmography Director
* ...
.
*''
At Home Among Strangers
''Friend to Foes, Foe to Friends'' (russian: Свой среди чужих, чужой среди своих; ''Svoy sredi chuzhikh, chuzhoy sredi svoikh'') is a 1974 Soviet film starring Yuri Bogatyryov and Anatoly Solonitsyn and directed by Nik ...
'', another
Red Western
The Ostern (Eastern; , ''Istern''; or остерн) or Red Western was a film genre created in the Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc as a variation of the Western films that originated in the United States. The word "Ostern" is a portmanteau derived ...
film by
Nikita Mikhalkov
Nikita Sergeyevich Mikhalkov (russian: Никита Сергеевич Михалков; born 21 October 1945) is a Soviet and Russian filmmaker, actor, and head of the Russian Cinematographers' Union. Mikhalkov is a three-time laureate of the ...
(his debut).
*''
Armed and Dangerous'' by Vladimir Vajnshtok.
*''
A Man from the Boulevard des Capucines
''A Man from the Boulevard des Capucines'' (russian: Человек с бульвара Капуцинов, Chelovek s bulvara Kaputsinov) is a Red Western comedy film of 1987 (Mosfilm production), with nods to silent film and the transforming powe ...
'' by
Alla Surikova
Alla Ilinichna Surikova ( ru , А́лла Ильи́нична Су́рикова; born November 6, 1940, in Kyiv) is a Soviet and Russian film director, writer, and teacher.
She is a People's Artist of Russia (2000), winner of the Award of the Go ...
.
Fantasy
*''
An Ordinary Miracle'' and
its remake, a fairy-tale love story about a bear who has been transformed into a man by a wizard, and must be kissed by a princess to return to his original form.
*''
Jack Frost
Jack Frost is a personification of frost, ice, snow, sleet, winter, and freezing cold. He is a variant of Old Man Winter who is held responsible for frosty weather, nipping the fingers and toes in such weather, coloring the foliage in autumn, ...
'', Christmas tale by
Aleksandr Rou
Alexander Arturovich Rou (also, Rowe, from his Irish father's name) (russian: Александр Артурович Роу, – 28 December 1973) was a Soviet Union, Soviet film director, and People's Artist of the RSFSR (1968). He directed a ...
.
*''
Ivan Vasilievich: Back to the Future'', a comedy by Leonid Gaidai. A scientist's time travel machine ends up teleporting his tenement administrator into 16th century Russia and bringing
Ivan the Terrible
Ivan IV Vasilyevich (russian: Ива́н Васи́льевич; 25 August 1530 – ), commonly known in English as Ivan the Terrible, was the grand prince of Moscow from 1533 to 1547 and the first Tsar of all Russia from 1547 to 1584.
Ivan ...
into the present. The two are identical in appearance and chaos promptly ensues.
*''
The Very Same Munchhausen
''The Very Same Munchhausen'' ( rus, Тот самый Мюнхгаузен, Tot samyy Myunkhgauzen, alt. translation - ''That Very Münchhausen'') is a 1979 Soviet fantasy dramedy television film directed by Mark Zakharov, based on a script b ...
'', a comedy by Mark Zakharov based on the
Baron Munchausen
Baron Munchausen (; ) is a fictional German nobleman created by the German writer Rudolf Erich Raspe in his 1785 book '' Baron Munchausen's Narrative of his Marvellous Travels and Campaigns in Russia''. The character is loosely based on a real ...
stories.
Science fiction
*''
Aelita
''Aelita'' (russian: Аэли́та, ), also known as ''Aelita: Queen of Mars'', is a 1924 Soviet silent film, silent science fiction film directed by Yakov Protazanov and produced at the Gorky Film Studio, Mezhrabpom-Rus film studio. It was b ...
'', a 1924 silent film directed by
Yakov Protazanov
Yakov Alexandrovich Protazanov (russian: Яков Александрович Протазанов; 4 February ( O.S. 23 January ) 1881 – 8 August 1945) was a Russian and Soviet film director and screenwriter, and one of the founding fathers of ...
based on
Aleksey Tolstoy's
novel of the same name.
*''
Amphibian Man
''Amphibian Man'' (rus. Человек-амфибия) is a science fiction adventure novel by the Soviet Russian writer Alexander Beliaev. It was published in 1928.
Plot
Argentinean doctor Salvator, a scientist and a maverick surgeon, give ...
'', a 1962 Soviet science fiction romance film based upon the
eponymous novel by
Alexander Belyaev
Alexander Romanovich Belyaev (russian: Алекса́ндр Рома́нович Беля́ев, ; – 6 January 1942) was a Soviet Russian writer of science fiction. His works from the 1920s and 1930s made him a highly regarded figure in Russia ...
*''
Solaris
Solaris may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Literature, television and film
* ''Solaris'' (novel), a 1961 science fiction novel by Stanisław Lem
** ''Solaris'' (1968 film), directed by Boris Nirenburg
** ''Solaris'' (1972 film), directed by ...
'' and ''
Stalker
Stalking is unwanted and/or repeated surveillance by an individual or group toward another person. Stalking behaviors are interrelated to harassment and intimidation and may include following the victim in person or monitoring them. The term ...
'' by
Andrei Tarkovsky
Andrei Arsenyevich Tarkovsky ( rus, Андрей Арсеньевич Тарковский, p=ɐnˈdrʲej ɐrˈsʲenʲjɪvʲɪtɕ tɐrˈkofskʲɪj; 4 April 1932 – 29 December 1986) was a Russian filmmaker. Widely considered one of the greates ...
*''
Kin-dza-dza!
''Kin-dza-dza!'' (russian: link=no, italics=yes, Кин-дза-дза!) is a 1986 Soviet film released by the Mosfilm studio and directed by Georgiy Daneliya, with a story by Georgiy Daneliya and Revaz Gabriadze.
Plot
The story begins in 1980s M ...
'', a 1986 dystopian comedy/science fiction film by
Georgiy Daneliya
Georgiy Nikolayevich Daneliya ( ka, გიორგი ნიკოლოზის ძე დანელია; russian: Георгий Николаевич Данелия; 25 August 1930 – 4 April 2019), also known as Giya Daneliya ( ka, გ ...
Art house/experimental
*''
Man with a Movie Camera
''Man with a Movie Camera'' (russian: Человек с киноаппаратом, translit=Chelovek s kinoapparatom) is an experimental 1929 Soviet silent documentary film, directed by Dziga Vertov, filmed by his brother Mikhail Kaufman, and ...
'', an experimental 1929 silent documentary film by
Dziga Vertov
Dziga Vertov (russian: Дзига Вертов, born David Abelevich Kaufman, russian: Дави́д А́белевич Ка́уфман, and also known as Denis Kaufman; – 12 February 1954) was a Soviet Union, Soviet pioneer documentary f ...
*''
In Spring
Symphony No. 2 in A major, subtitled ''Im Frühling'' or ''In Spring'', is the second symphony by American composer John Knowles Paine.
History
The symphony was composed in 1879 and published in Boston in 1880,Kenneth C. Roberts and John C. Sch ...
'', an experimental 1929 silent documentary film by
Mikhail Kaufman
Mikhail Abelovich Kaufman (russian: Михаи́л А́белевич Ка́уфман; 1897 – March 11, 1980) was a Russian cinematographer and photographer. He was the younger brother of filmmaker Dziga Vertov (Denis Kaufman) and the older b ...
*''
I Am Cuba'', 1964 drama film directed by Mikhail Kalatozov.
*''
The Plea'', a 1967 drama film directed by
Tengiz Abuladze
Tengiz Abuladze ( ka, თენგიზ აბულაძე; 31 January 1924 – 6 March 1994) was a Georgian film director, screenwriter, theatre teacher and People's Artist of the USSR. He is regarded as one of the best Soviet directors.
...
.
*''
The Color of Pomegranates
''The Color of Pomegranates'' is a 1969 Soviet Armenian art film written and directed by Sergei Parajanov. The film is a poetic treatment of the life of 18th-century Armenian poet and troubadour Sayat-Nova. It has appeared in many polls as one of ...
'', a 1969 drama film written and directed by
Sergei Parajanov
Sergei Parajanov, ka, სერგო ფარაჯანოვი, uk, Сергій Параджанов (January 9, 1924 – July 20, 1990) was an Armenian filmmaker. Parajanov is regarded by film critics, film historians and filmmakers t ...
.
*''
Solaris
Solaris may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Literature, television and film
* ''Solaris'' (novel), a 1961 science fiction novel by Stanisław Lem
** ''Solaris'' (1968 film), directed by Boris Nirenburg
** ''Solaris'' (1972 film), directed by ...
'', a 1972 science-fiction drama by Andrei Tarkovsky
*''
Mirror
A mirror or looking glass is an object that Reflection (physics), reflects an image. Light that bounces off a mirror will show an image of whatever is in front of it, when focused through the lens of the eye or a camera. Mirrors reverse the ...
'', a 1975 drama by Andrei Tarkovsky
*''
Stalker
Stalking is unwanted and/or repeated surveillance by an individual or group toward another person. Stalking behaviors are interrelated to harassment and intimidation and may include following the victim in person or monitoring them. The term ...
'', a 1979 science-fiction drama by Andrei Tarkovsky
*''
Nostalghia
''Nostalghia'' (UK: ''Nostalgia'') is a 1983 Soviet-Italian drama film directed by Andrei Tarkovsky and starring Oleg Yankovsky, Domiziana Giordano, and Erland Josephson. Tarkovsky co-wrote the screenplay with Tonino Guerra.
The film depicts a R ...
'', a 1983 drama film by Andrei Tarkovsky
Children's films
*''
Ilya Muromets
Ilya Muromets (russian: Илья Муромец), or Ilya of Murom, sometimes Ilya Murometz, is one of the ''bogatyrs'' (epic knights) in Bylinas of Kievan Rus.
He is often featured alongside fellow bogatyrs Dobrynya Nikitich and Alyosha Pop ...
'', based on the byliny tales film by
Aleksandr Ptushko
Aleksandr Lukich Ptushko (russian: Александр Лукич Птушко, – 6 March 1973) was a Soviet animation and fantasy film director, and a People's Artist of the USSR (1969). Ptushko is frequently (and somewhat misleadingly) referred ...
.
*''
Jack Frost
Jack Frost is a personification of frost, ice, snow, sleet, winter, and freezing cold. He is a variant of Old Man Winter who is held responsible for frosty weather, nipping the fingers and toes in such weather, coloring the foliage in autumn, ...
'', Christmas tale by
Aleksandr Rou
Alexander Arturovich Rou (also, Rowe, from his Irish father's name) (russian: Александр Артурович Роу, – 28 December 1973) was a Soviet Union, Soviet film director, and People's Artist of the RSFSR (1968). He directed a ...
.
*''
Moscow-Cassiopeia
''Moscow- Cassiopeia'' (russian: Москва — Кассиопея, Moskva-Kassiopeya) is a Soviet comic science fiction film directed by Richard Viktorov based on a script by Isai Kuznetsov and Avenir Zak. Followed by ''Teens in the Universe'' ...
and
Teens in the Universe
''Teens in the Universe'' (russian: Отроки во Вселенной, Otroki vo vselennoy) is a Soviet 1974 science fiction film directed by Richard Viktorov based on a script by Isai Kuznetsov and Avenir Zak about teens in the universe. Pr ...
'', science fiction films by
Richard Viktorov
Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'strong ...
.
*''
The Adventures of Buratino'', adaptation of
The Adventures of Pinocchio
''The Adventures of Pinocchio'' ( ; it, Le avventure di Pinocchio ; commonly shortened to ''Pinocchio'') is a children's fantasy novel by Italian author Carlo Collodi. It is about the mischievous adventures of an animated marionette named Pinocc ...
, by
Leonid Nechayev
Leonid Alexeyevich Nechayev (russian: Леони́д Алексе́евич Неча́ев; 3 May 1939 – 24 January 2010) was a Russian children's film director.Елена ЮринскаяПапа Лёня: Скончался кинорежис ...
.
*''
The Mystery of the Third Planet
''The Mystery of the Third Planet'' (russian: Тайна третьей планеты, ''Tayna tretyey planety''), aka ''The Secret of the Third Planet'' is a 1981 Soviet traditionally animated feature film directed by Roman Kachanov and produc ...
'', famous animated movie based on ''
Alice: The Girl from Earth'' books by writer
Kir Bulychov
Kir Bulychev (russian: Кир Булычёв ir Bulychyov 18 October 1934 – 5 September 2003) is a pen name of Igor Vsevolodovich Mozheiko (И́горь Все́володович Може́йко), a USSR, Soviet Russian science fiction wri ...
.
*''
Mio in the Land of Faraway
''Mio in the Land of Faraway'' ( sv, Mio min Mio; russian: Мио, мой Мио, Mio, moy Mio) is a 1987 fantasy film directed by Vladimir Grammatikov and starring Christopher Lee, Christian Bale, Nicholas Pickard, Timothy Bottoms and Susanna ...
'', fantasy film directed by
Vladimir Grammatikov
Vladimir Alexandrovich Grammatikov (russian: Владимир Алeксандpoвич Грамматикoв; born 1 June 1942) is a Russian and Soviet theater and film actor, director, screenwriter and producer. Honored Artist of the Russian Fed ...
.
Documentary
*''
Heroic Deed Among the Ice
''Heroic Deed Among the Ice'' (russian: Подвиг во льдах, italic=yes) is a 1928 Soviet silent documentary film. It is also known as ''Exploit on the Ice'' and ''Ice-Breaker Krassin''. This film is the first collaboration between Geo ...
'', a 1928 silent documentary film by
Vasilyev brothers Georgi Vasilyev (russian: Георгий Николаевич Васильев, 1899 – 1946) and Sergei Vasilyev (russian: Серге́й Дмитриевич Васильев, 1900 – 1959), usually credited as Vasilyev brothers (russian ...
*''
Man with a Movie Camera
''Man with a Movie Camera'' (russian: Человек с киноаппаратом, translit=Chelovek s kinoapparatom) is an experimental 1929 Soviet silent documentary film, directed by Dziga Vertov, filmed by his brother Mikhail Kaufman, and ...
'', an experimental 1929 silent documentary film by
Dziga Vertov
Dziga Vertov (russian: Дзига Вертов, born David Abelevich Kaufman, russian: Дави́д А́белевич Ка́уфман, and also known as Denis Kaufman; – 12 February 1954) was a Soviet Union, Soviet pioneer documentary f ...
*''
In Spring
Symphony No. 2 in A major, subtitled ''Im Frühling'' or ''In Spring'', is the second symphony by American composer John Knowles Paine.
History
The symphony was composed in 1879 and published in Boston in 1880,Kenneth C. Roberts and John C. Sch ...
'', an experimental 1929 silent documentary film by
Mikhail Kaufman
Mikhail Abelovich Kaufman (russian: Михаи́л А́белевич Ка́уфман; 1897 – March 11, 1980) was a Russian cinematographer and photographer. He was the younger brother of filmmaker Dziga Vertov (Denis Kaufman) and the older b ...
*''
Anna: 6 - 18'', an experimental documentary by Nikita Mikhalkov in which he filmed his daughter Anna during the period of thirteen years.
TV
*''
Seventeen Moments of Spring
''Seventeen Moments of Spring'' (russian: Семнадцать мгновений весны, Semnadtsat' mgnoveniy vesny) is a 1973 Soviet twelve-part television series, directed by Tatyana Lioznova and based on the novel of the same title by Yu ...
'', a 1973 Soviet twelve-part television miniseries, based on the novel of the same title by
Yulian Semyonov
Yulian Semyonovich Semyonov (russian: link=no, Юлиа́н Семёнович Семёнов, ), pen-name of Yulian Semyonovich Lyandres (russian: link=no, Ля́ндрес) (October 8, 1931 – September 15, 1993), was a Soviet and Russian writ ...
.
*''
The Meeting Place Cannot Be Changed
''The Meeting Place Cannot Be Changed'' (russian: link=no, Место встречи изменить нельзя, translit. ''Mesto vstrechi izmenit nelzya'') is a 1979 Soviet five-part television miniseries directed by Stanislav Govor ...
'', a 1979 miniseries set in 1945.
Vladimir Vysotsky
Vladimir Semyonovich Vysotsky ( rus, links=no, Владимир Семёнович Высоцкий, p=vlɐˈdʲimʲɪr sʲɪˈmʲɵnəvʲɪtɕ vɨˈsotskʲɪj; 25 January 1938 – 25 July 1980), was a Soviet singer-songwriter, poet, and actor ...
plays a no-nonsense cop trying to catch the deadly Black Cat gang.
*''
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson
''The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson'' (russian: link=no, italics=yes, Приключения Шерлока Холмса и доктора Ватсона) is a series of Soviet television films portraying Arthur Conan Doyle's ficti ...
'', a series of television films directed by
Igor Maslennikov
Igor Fyodorovich Maslennikov (russian: Игорь Фёдорович Масленников; 26 October 1931 – 17 September 2022)
.
*''
Heart of a Dog
''Heart of a Dog'' (russian: links=no, italic=yes, Собачье сердце, Sobachye serdtse) is a novella by Russian author Mikhail Bulgakov. A biting satire of Bolshevism, it was written in 1925 at the height of the NEP period, when commu ...
'', a black-and-white 1988 television film based on Mikhail Bulgakov's novel ''
Heart of a Dog
''Heart of a Dog'' (russian: links=no, italic=yes, Собачье сердце, Sobachye serdtse) is a novella by Russian author Mikhail Bulgakov. A biting satire of Bolshevism, it was written in 1925 at the height of the NEP period, when commu ...
''.
Notable filmmakers
Early personalities in the development of Soviet cinema:
*
Mikheil Chiaureli
Mikheil Chiaureli ( ka, მიხეილ ჭიაურელი, russian: Михаил Эдишерович Чиаурели, 6 February 1894 – 31 October 1974) was a Soviet Georgian actor, film director and screenwriter. He directed 25 ...
*
Grigori Aleksandrov
Grigori Vasilyevich Aleksandrov or Alexandrov (russian: Григо́рий Васи́льевич Алекса́ндров; original family name was Мормоненко or Mormonenko; 23 January 1903 – 16 December 1983) was a prominent Soviet ...
*
Sergei Bondarchuk
Sergei Fyodorovich Bondarchuk (russian: Сергей Фёдорович Бондарчук, ; uk, Сергі́й Федорович Бондарчук, Serhíj Fédorovych Bondarchúk; 25 September 192020 October 1994) was a Soviet and Russian ...
*
Alexander Dovzhenko
Oleksandr Petrovych Dovzhenko or Alexander Petrovich Dovzhenko ( uk, Олександр Петрович Довженко, ''Oleksandr Petrovych Dovzhenko''; russian: Алекса́ндр Петро́вич Довже́нко, ''Aleksandr Petro ...
*
Sergei Eisenstein
Sergei Mikhailovich Eisenstein (russian: Сергей Михайлович Эйзенштейн, p=sʲɪrˈɡʲej mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪtɕ ɪjzʲɪnˈʂtʲejn, 2=Sergey Mikhaylovich Eyzenshteyn; 11 February 1948) was a Soviet film director, screenw ...
*
Grigori Kozintsev
Grigori Mikhailovich Kozintsev (russian: link=no, Григорий Михайлович Козинцев; 11 May 1973) was a Soviet theatre and film director, screenwriter and pedagogue. He was named People's Artist of the USSR in 1964. In 1965 ...
*
Lev Kuleshov
Lev Vladimirovich Kuleshov (russian: Лев Владимирович Кулешов; – 29 March 1970) was a Russian and Soviet filmmaker and film theorist, one of the founders of the world's first film school, the Moscow Film School. He ...
*
Yakov Protazanov
Yakov Alexandrovich Protazanov (russian: Яков Александрович Протазанов; 4 February ( O.S. 23 January ) 1881 – 8 August 1945) was a Russian and Soviet film director and screenwriter, and one of the founding fathers of ...
*
Vsevolod Pudovkin
Vsevolod Illarionovich Pudovkin ( rus, Всеволод Илларионович Пудовкин, p=ˈfsʲevələt ɪlərʲɪˈonəvʲɪtɕ pʊˈdofkʲɪn; 16 February 1893 – 30 June 1953) was a Russian and Soviet film director, screenwriter ...
*
Ivan Pyryev
Ivan Aleksandrovich Pyryev (russian: Ива́н Алекса́ндрович Пы́рьев; – 7 February 1968) was a Soviet-Russian film director and screenwriter remembered as the high priest of Stalinist cinema. He was awarded six Stali ...
*
Boris Shumyatsky
Boris Zakharovich Shumyatsky (russian: Бори́с Заха́рович Шумя́цкий; November 16, 1886 – July 29, 1938) was a Soviet politician, diplomat and the ''de facto'' executive producer for the Soviet film monopolies Soyuzkino ...
*
Leonid Trauberg
Leonid Zakharovich Trauberg (russian: Леонид Захарович Трауберг, 17 January 1902 – 14 November 1990) was a Ukrainian Soviet film director and screenwriter. He directed 17 films between 1924 and 1961 and was awarded the S ...
*
Aleksandr Medvedkin
Aleksandr Ivanovich Medvedkin (russian: Александр Иванович Медведкин; 24 February 1900 – 20 February 1989) was a Soviet Russian film director, best known for his 1935 film ''Happiness''. His life and art are the subject ...
*
Dziga Vertov
Dziga Vertov (russian: Дзига Вертов, born David Abelevich Kaufman, russian: Дави́д А́белевич Ка́уфман, and also known as Denis Kaufman; – 12 February 1954) was a Soviet Union, Soviet pioneer documentary f ...
Later personalities:
*
Tengiz Abuladze
Tengiz Abuladze ( ka, თენგიზ აბულაძე; 31 January 1924 – 6 March 1994) was a Georgian film director, screenwriter, theatre teacher and People's Artist of the USSR. He is regarded as one of the best Soviet directors.
...
*
Andrei Konchalovsky
Andrei Sergeyevich Mikhalkov-Konchalovsky (russian: link=no, Андрей Сергеевич Михалков-Кончаловский; born 20 August 1937) is a Russian filmmaker. He has worked in Soviet, Hollywood, and contemporary Russian ...
*
Nikita Mikhalkov
Nikita Sergeyevich Mikhalkov (russian: Никита Сергеевич Михалков; born 21 October 1945) is a Soviet and Russian filmmaker, actor, and head of the Russian Cinematographers' Union. Mikhalkov is a three-time laureate of the ...
*
Alexander Sokurov
Alexander Nikolayevich Sokurov, PAR (russian: link=no, Александр Николаевич Сокуров; born 14 June 1951) is a Russian filmmaker. His most significant works include a feature film, ''Russian Ark'' (2002), filmed in a s ...
*
Andrei Tarkovsky
Andrei Arsenyevich Tarkovsky ( rus, Андрей Арсеньевич Тарковский, p=ɐnˈdrʲej ɐrˈsʲenʲjɪvʲɪtɕ tɐrˈkofskʲɪj; 4 April 1932 – 29 December 1986) was a Russian filmmaker. Widely considered one of the greates ...
*
Aleksei German
*
Elem Klimov
Elem Germanovich Klimov (russian: link=no, Элем Германович Климов; 9 July 1933 – 26 October 2003) was a Soviet and Russian filmmaker. He studied at the Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography, and was married to film dire ...
*
Shaken Aimanov
*
Larisa Shepitko
Larisa Yefimovna Shepitko (, uk, Лариса Юхимівна Шепітько, translit=Larysa Yukhymivna Shepitko; 6 January 1938 – 2 July 1979) was a Soviet film director, screenwriter and actress. She is considered one of the best fema ...
*
Eldar Ryazanov
Eldar Aleksandrovich Ryazanov (russian: Эльдар Александрович Рязанов; 18 November 1927 – 30 November 2015) was a Soviet and Russian film director, screenwriter, poet, actor and pedagogue whose popular comedies, satiriz ...
*
Leonid Gaidai
Leonid Iovich Gaidai (russian: Леонид Иович Гайдай; 30 January 1923 – 19 November 1993) was a Soviet and Russian comedy film director, screenwriter and actor who enjoyed immense popularity and broad public recognition in the fo ...
*
Georgiy Daneliya
Georgiy Nikolayevich Daneliya ( ka, გიორგი ნიკოლოზის ძე დანელია; russian: Георгий Николаевич Данелия; 25 August 1930 – 4 April 2019), also known as Giya Daneliya ( ka, გ ...
*
Kira Muratova
, honorific_suffix = People's Artist of Ukraine
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Soroca, Kingdom of Romania(now Moldova)
, death_date =
, death_place = Odessa, Ukraine
, birth_name = Kira Gueórguievn ...
*
Sergei Parajanov
Sergei Parajanov, ka, სერგო ფარაჯანოვი, uk, Сергій Параджанов (January 9, 1924 – July 20, 1990) was an Armenian filmmaker. Parajanov is regarded by film critics, film historians and filmmakers t ...
Soviet production units
*
Armenfilm
Armenfilm (russian: Арменфильм; hy, Արմենֆիլմ), also known as Hayfilm ( hy, Հայֆիլմ), is an Armenian film studio located in Yerevan. The studio was founded on 16 April 1923 as a production unit of the Soviet State Cinem ...
*
Azerbaijanfilm
Azerbaijanfilm ( az, Azərbaycanfilm) is an Azerbaijani state film production company. It is located in the capital Baku.
History
"Azerbaijanfilm" was established in 1920 as a photo-cinema department at the Azerbaijan SSR People's Commissariat, ...
*
Belarusfilm
Belarusfilm ( be, Беларусьфільм) is the main film studio of Belarus.
History
Belarusfilm, under the name ''Belgoskino'' was founded in 1924. In 1928, the ''Soviet Belarus'' studio (''Савецкая Беларусь'') was founded ...
*
Tallinnfilm
Tallinnfilm is the oldest surviving film studio in Estonia. It was founded as Estonian Culture Film in 1931, and was nationalized in 1940 after Estonia was forced into the Soviet Union. During the first year of Soviet Occupation
During Worl ...
*
Gruziya-Film
Georgian Film Studio ( ka, ქართული ფილმი, ''kartuli pilmi''; russian: Грузия-фильм; ''Gruziya-Fil'm'') is one of world's oldest film studios that has produced 800 features, made-for-TV and short films, 600 documen ...
*
Kazakhfilm
Kazakhfilm ( kk, Қазақфильм, ''Qazaqfilm'', pronounced ; russian: Казахфильм) is a Kazakh film studio located in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
History
The film studio was founded in 1934 as the Alma-Ata newsreel studio, in 1936 the fir ...
*
Kyrgyzfilm Kyrgyzfilm (russian: Киргизфильм) is a Kyrgyz film studio in Bishkek
Bishkek ( ky, Бишкек), ), formerly Pishpek and Frunze, is the capital and largest city of Kyrgyzstan. Bishkek is also the administrative centre of the Chü ...
*
Riga Film Studio
Riga Film Studio ( lv, Rīgas kinostudija, russian: Рижская киностудия, Rizhskaya kinostudiya) is a Latvian film production company based in Riga and founded in 1940 on the basis of the earlier private film companies. In 1948, th ...
*
Lithuanian Film Studio
*
Moldova-Film
''Moldova-Film'' ( ro, Moldova-film, russian: Молдова-фильм) is a Moldovan film studio and production company founded in 1952 in the Moldavian SSR.
History
Moldova-Film was founded in 1947 in Chişinău as a branch of the Central Stu ...
*
Central Studio for Documentary Film
Russian Central Studio of Documentary Film () is a Russian film studio, founded in 1927. It was the largest Soviet newsreel and documentary cinematography studio. It is headquartered in Moscow.
History
Studio traced its history from 1927, when a ...
*
Gorky Film Studio
Gorky Film Studio (russian: Киностудия имени Горького) is a film studio in Moscow, Russian Federation. By the end of the Soviet Union, Gorky Film Studio had produced more than 1,000 films. Many film classics were filmed at ...
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Lenfilm
Lenfilm (russian: link=no, Ленфильм) is a Russian production company with its own film studio located in Saint Petersburg (the city was called Leningrad from 1924 to 1991, thus the name). It is a corporation with its stakes shared betwee ...
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Lennauchfilm
Lennauchfilm (acronym of ''Leningrad studio popular science and educational films'') is a Soviet and Russian film studio founded in Leningrad.
The current Lennauchfilm studio is one of the largest in the Russian Federation.
Lennauchfilm is a fu ...
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Mosfilm
Mosfilm (russian: Мосфильм, ''Mosfil’m'' ) is a film studio which is among the largest and oldest in the Russian Federation and in Europe. Founded in 1924 in the USSR as a production unit of that nation's film monopoly, its output incl ...
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Pilot
An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...
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South-Siberian Film Studio
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Soyuzmultfilm
Soyuzmultfilm ( rus, Союзмультфи́льм, p=səˌjʉsmʊlʲtˈfʲilʲm , ''Union Cartoon'') (also known as SMF Animation Studio in English, Formerly known as Soyuzdetmultfilm) is a Russian animation studio based in Moscow. Launched in ...
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Studio Ekran
Studio Ekran (russian: Творческое объединение «Экран», or simply, “творческое «ЭКРАН» объединение, Artistical Joint "Ekran") was a Russian (Soviet Union's until 1991) TV film studio. It was ...
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Sverdlovsk Film Studio
Sverdlovsk Film Studio (russian: Свердловская Киностудия) is a Russian film studio based in Yekaterinburg (formerly Sverdlovsk). It is a regional studio, that was established on 9 February 1943 in the midst of World War II. ...
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Dovzhenko Film Studios
The Dovzhenko Film Studios ( uk, Національна кіностудія художніх фільмів імені О. Довженка, translit. ''Natsional'na kinostudiya khudozhnikh filmiv imeni O. Dovzhenka'') is a former Soviet film ...
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Halychyna-Film Studio
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Kievnauchfilm
Kievnauchfilm (russian: Киевнаучфильм), also Kyivnaukfilm ( uk, Київнаукфільм, translit=Kyïvnaukfil′m), translated as Kyiv Science Film, was a film studio in the former Soviet Union located in Kyiv, Ukrainian SSR. Alt ...
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National Cinematheque of Ukraine
National Cinematheque of Ukraine ( ua, Національна кінематека України (НКУ)) is a Ukrainian film studio that came out of the well-known Kievnauchfilm after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
History
In the earl ...
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Odessa Film Studio
Odesa Film Studio ( uk, Одеська кіностудія художніх фільмів) is the Ukrainian, formerly Soviet film studio in Odesa, one of the first in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union. It is partially owned by a government ...
*Ukranimafilm
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Ukrtelefilm
''The Ukrainian Television Film Studio'', better known by its abbreviated name ''Ukrtelefilm'', is a Ukrainian film studio founded in 1965. In 1959, the Council of Ministers of the Ukrainian SSR allocated a 4-hectare plot of land on the banks of ...
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Yalta Film Studio
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Tadjikfilm
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Turkmenfilm
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Uzbekfilm
Uzbekfilm ( uz, Oʻzbekfilm, Ўзбекфильм; russian: Узбекфильм) is the largest and oldest film studio in Uzbekistan. It was established on July 1, 1925.
The company was initially called Sharq Yulduzi (Eastern Star). In 1936, i ...
See also
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Nika Award
The Nika Award (sometimes styled NIKA Award) is the main annual national film award in Russia, presented by the Russian Academy of Cinema Arts and Science, and seen as the national equivalent of the Oscars.
History
The award was established i ...
– the main national film award in Russia
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List of cinema of the world
This is a list of cinema of the world by continent and country.
By continent
*Cinema of Africa
*Cinema of Asia
** South Asian cinema
**Southeast Asian cinema
* Cinema of North America
* Cinema of Latin America
* Cinema of Europe
* Cinema of Ocean ...
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Cinema of Russia
The cinema of Russia began in the Russian Empire, widely developed in the Soviet Union and in the years following its dissolution, the Russian film industry would remain internationally recognized. In the 21st century, Russian cinema has become k ...
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Cinema of Ukraine
Ukrainian cinema comprises the art of film and creative movies made within the nation of Ukraine and also by Ukrainian film makers abroad.
Despite a history of important and successful productions, the industry has often been characterized b ...
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Lists of Soviet films
A list of films produced in the Soviet Union between 1917 and 1991.
1917-1929
* Soviet films: 1917–1921
* List of Soviet films of 1922
* List of Soviet films of 1923
* List of Soviet films of 1924
* List of Soviet films of 1925
* List of S ...
**
List of highest-grossing films in the Soviet Union
This is the list of highest-grossing films in the Soviet Union, in terms of List of films by box office admissions, box office admissions (ticket sales). It includes the highest-grossing films in the Soviet Union (USSR), the highest-grossing domes ...
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History of Russian animation The history of Russian animation is the visual art form produced by Russian animation makers. As most of Russia's production of animation for cinema and television were created during Soviet times, it may also be referred to some extent as the histo ...
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History of film
The history of film chronicles the development of a visual art form created using film technologies that began in the late 19th century.
The advent of film as an artistic medium is not clearly defined. However, the commercial, public scr ...
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World cinema
World cinema is a term in film theory that refers to films made outside of the American motion picture industry, particularly those in opposition to the aesthetics and values of commercial American cinema.Nagib, Lúcia. "Towards a positive de ...
Further reading
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*Schnitzer, Luda, et al., eds.''Cinema in Revolution: the heroic era of the Soviet film''; edited by Luda and Jean Schnitzer and Marcel Martin; translated and with additional material by David Robinson. London: Secker & Warburg, 1973 (translation of «Le cinéma soviétique par ceux qui l'ont fait »)
References
External links
Soviet movies onlinea
Russian Film HubRussian Newsreels and Documentary Films ArchiveRussian Film Database, University of Innsbruck, Austria(in German and Germanically-transliterated Cyrillic. Eisenstein, a German name to begin with, goes through the wringer and comes back out as "Ejzenstejn", e.g.)
Sixty seconds of Ballad of a Soldier turned into a Russian lesson.Fedorov, A. Record holders of the banned Soviet cinema (1951–1991) in the mirror of film criticism and viewers' opinions. Moscow: “Information for all”. 2021. 102 p.
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