Vsevolod Illarionovich Pudovkin ( rus, Всеволод Илларионович Пудовкин, p=ˈfsʲevələt ɪlərʲɪˈonəvʲɪtɕ pʊˈdofkʲɪn; 16 February 1893 – 30 June 1953) was a Russian and

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

film director, screenwriter and

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

who developed influential theories of

montage Montage may refer to: Arts and entertainment Filmmaking and films * Montage (filmmaking), a technique in film editing * ''Montage'' (2013 film), a South Korean film Music * Montage (music), or sound collage * ''Montage'' (Block B EP), 201 ...

. Pudovkin's masterpieces are often contrasted with those of his contemporary

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, scree ...

, but whereas Eisenstein utilized montage to glorify the power of the masses, Pudovkin preferred to concentrate on the courage and resilience of individuals. He was granted the title of People's Artist of the USSR in 1948.

Biography

Vsevolod Pudovkin was born in

Penza Penza ( rus, Пе́нза, p=ˈpʲɛnzə) is the largest city and administrative center of Penza Oblast, Russia. It is located on the Sura River, southeast of Moscow. As of the 2010 Census, Penza had a population of 517,311, making it the 38th-la ...

into a

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

family, the third of six children. His father Illarion Epifanovich Pudovkin came from peasants of the

Penza Governorate Penza Governorate (russian: Пензенская губерния) was an administrative division (a '' guberniya'') of the Russian Empire and Russian SFSR, located in the Volga Region. It existed from 1796 to 1797 and again from 1801 to 1928; it ...

, the village of Shuksha and worked in several companies as a manager and a

door-to-door Door-to-door is a canvassing technique that is generally used for sales, marketing, advertising, evangelism or campaigning, in which the person or persons walk from the door of one house to the door of another, trying to sell or advertise a pro ...

salesman. Vsevolod's mother Elizaveta Alexandrovna Pudovkina (née Shilkina) was a housewife. A student of engineering at Moscow University, Pudovkin saw active duty during

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 ...

, being captured by the Germans. During this time he studied foreign languages and did book illustrations. After the war, he abandoned his professional activity and joined the world of cinema, first as a screenwriter, actor and art director, and then as an assistant director to

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 ...

. In 1924, he married

Anna Zemtsova Anna Nikolaevna Zemtsova (Russian: ''Анна Николаевна Земцова'' (1893–1966), also known as Anna Li (''Анна Ли),'' Anna Pudovkina or Anna Zemcova, was a Soviet silent film actress and film theorist. She was married to Vse ...

. Pudovkin asserted that his wife encouraged him for pursuing a career as a filmmaker. His first notable work was a comedy short ''

Chess Fever ''Chess Fever'' (russian: Шахматная горячка, Shakhmatnaya goryachka) is a 1925 Soviet silent comedy film directed by Vsevolod Pudovkin and Nikolai Shpikovsky. ''Chess Fever'' is a comedy about the Moscow 1925 chess tournament, m ...

'' (1925) co-directed with Nikolai Shpikovsky.

José Raúl Capablanca José Raúl Capablanca y Graupera (19 November 1888 – 8 March 1942) was a Cuban chess player who was world chess champion from 1921 to 1927. A chess prodigy, he is widely renowned for his exceptional endgame skill and speed of play. Capabl ...

played a small part in it, with a number of other cameos presented. In 1926 he directed what would become one of the masterpieces of

silent movies A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, whe ...

: ''

Mother ] A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the case of ges ...

'', where he developed several montage theories that would make him famous. Both movies featured Pudovkin's wife Anna Nikolaevna Zemtsova in supporting female parts (she left cinema shortly after). His first feature was followed by '' The End of St. Petersburg'' (1927), and '' Storm Over Asia'' (also known as ''The Heir of Genghis Khan''), titles which compose a trilogy at the service of the bolshevik revolutionary policy. In 1928, with the advent of

sound film A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades passed before ...

, Pudovkin,

and

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 ...

signed the

Manifest of Sound Manifest may refer to: Computing * Manifest file, a metadata file that enumerates files in a program or package * Manifest (CLI), a metadata text file for CLI assemblies Events * Manifest (convention), a defunct anime festival in Melbourne, Aus ...

, in which the possibilities of sound are debated, and always understood as being in a state of tension and nonsynchronization with the image. This idea would be brought to bear in his next pictures: ''

A Simple Case ''A Simple Case'' (russian: Простой случай; ') is a 1932 Soviet film directed by Vsevolod Pudovkin and Mikhail Doller. Pudovkin was publicly charged with formalism for this experimental sound film and was forced to release without ...

'' (1932) and ''

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), works that do not match the quality of earlier work.The Heir to Genghis Khan (or Storm over Asia; 1928). Pudovkin was publicly charged with formalism for his experimental sound film ''A Simple Case'', which he was forced to release without its sound track. In 1935 he was awarded the

Order of Lenin The Order of Lenin (russian: Орден Ленина, Orden Lenina, ), named after the leader of the Russian October Revolution, was established by the Central Executive Committee on April 6, 1930. The order was the highest civilian decoration ...

. After an interruption caused by health concerns, Pudovkin returned to movie making, this time with a number of historical epics: ''

Victory The term victory (from Latin ''victoria'') originally applied to warfare, and denotes success achieved in personal combat, after military operations in general or, by extension, in any competition. Success in a military campaign constitutes ...

'' (1938); '' Minin and Pozharsky'' (1939) and '' Suvorov'' (1941). The last two were often praised as some of the best movies based on Russian history, along with the works of

. Pudovkin was awarded a

Stalin Prize Stalin Prize may refer to: * The State Stalin Prize in science and engineering and in arts, awarded 1941 to 1954, later known as the USSR State Prize The USSR State Prize (russian: links=no, Государственная премия СССР, ...

for both of them in 1941. During

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 opposing ...

he was evacuated to

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

where he directed several patriotic war movies. He also played a small part in the '' Ivan the Terrible'' movie (as God's fool). With the end of war he returned to Moscow and continued his work at the

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 inclu ...

studio, making biographical and war movies. In 1947 he was awarded another Stalin Prize for his work on '' Admiral Nakhimov'', and in 1950 — his second

and a third Stalin Prize for '' Zhukovsky''. His last work was ''

The Return of Vasili Bortnikov ''The Return of Vasili Bortnikov'' (russian: Возвращение Василия Бортникова, ''Vozvrashshyeniye Vasiliya Bortnikova'') is a 1953 Soviet drama film directed by Vsevolod Pudovkin based on the novel ''The Harvest'' by G ...

'' (1953). Apart from directing, screenwriting and acting, Pudovkin was also an educator and a journalist, author of several books on film theory, professor at

VGIK The Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography (russian: Всероссийский государственный институт кинематографии имени С. А. Герасимова, meaning ''All-Russian State Institute of Cinemat ...

, president of the cinema section at VOKS (since 1944) and a member of the Soviet Peace Committee. Vsevolod Pudovkin died on 30 June 1953 in

Jūrmala Jūrmala (; "seaside") is a state city in Latvia, about west of Riga. Jūrmala is a resort town stretching and sandwiched between the Gulf of Riga and the Lielupe River. It has a stretch of white-sand beach, and a population of 49,325 in 2019 ...

, Latvian SSR (near Riga) after a heart attack. He was buried at the Novodevichy Cemetery. One of the streets in Moscow is named after Pudovkin (see Pudovkin street).

Filmography

Published works

Film Technique and Film Acting
Grove Press. 1958.

References

External links

* *

Jonathan Jones on the work of Vsevolod Pudovkin, at

Guardian Unlimited TheGuardian.com, formerly known as Guardian.co.uk and ''Guardian Unlimited'', is a British news and media website owned by the Guardian Media Group. It contains nearly all of the content of the newspapers ''The Guardian'' and ''The Observer'', ...

Islands. Vsevolof Pudovkin
documentary by

Russia-K Russia-K (russian: Россия Культура, translit=Rossiya Kul'tura "Russia - Culture") is a Russian nationwide not-for-profit television channel that broadcasts shows regarding arts and culture. It belongs to the state-controlled VGTRK ...

, 2005 (in Russian)
Vsevolod Pudovkin. Imprisoned by Time
documentary by

, 2008 (in Russian)
Legends of World Cinema
documentary by

, 2014 (in Russian) {{DEFAULTSORT:Pudovkin, Vsevolod 1893 births 1953 deaths People from Penza People from Penzensky Uyezd Communist Party of the Soviet Union members Film theorists Male screenwriters Russian film directors Russian male film actors Russian male silent film actors Russian male writers 20th-century Russian screenwriters 20th-century Russian male writers Silent film directors Soviet film directors Soviet male film actors Soviet screenwriters Moscow State University alumni Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography alumni Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography faculty Russian military personnel of World War I People's Artists of the USSR Stalin Prize winners Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner