Soviet Cinematography, 1918-1991: Ideological Conflict and Social Reality

by Michael R. Greenberg (Editor), Dmitry Shlapentokh (Editor)

Overview

With a historical sweep that recent events have made definitive, the authors examine the influence of Soviet ideology on the presentation of social reality in films produced in the Soviet Union between the October Revolution and the final days of glasnost. Within the framework of an introduction that lays out the conceptual terminology used to describe that shifting ideological landscape, the authors analyze both the social groups appearing in the films and the relations of film directors and other film makers to state censorship and ideological control.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781000679205
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	12/24/2021
Series:	Communication & Social Order
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	278
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Dmitry Shlapentokh, Professor of History, Indiana University, South Bend, received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago, and his Master's degrees in History from Moscow University and Michigan State University. The author of several articles on various issues in modem Russian history, Dr. Shlapentokh is also a writer of short stories and poetry in Russian. Vladimir Shlapentokh, Professor of Sociology, Michigan State University. He is the author of numerous books, professional articles, and newspaper columns on Soviet issues.

Table of Contents

Preface
Acknowledgments
PART I
Theoretical and Historical Introduction
1. Social Reality and Ideology in Interaction
2. State, Ideology, and Film in Soviet History
PART II
Soviet Movies in the Revolutionary Period (1918-1928): Cordial Acceptance of Official Ideology
3. Soviet Movies in the Aftermath of the October Revolution: The Civil War

4. The Partial Restoration of Capitalism (1921-1929)

PART III
Movies During Stalin's Time: Total Submission to the Official Ideology

5. Stalin and Soviet Movies

6. Industrialization and Collectivization (1929-1934)
7. Time of Mass Terror (1934-1941)

8. The Great Patriotic War

9. Stalin's Postwar Years

PART IV
The Game with Official Ideology

10. Movies during the First Thaw (1954-1968): Timid Challenges to Official Ideology

11. Movies in the Period of Conservatism (1968-1985):
The Use of Diversified Official Ideology for Social Critique

PARTV
Soviet Cinematographers Reject Official Ideology:
Cinema during the Last Years of the Soviet Empire

12. The First Years of Freedom: The Beginning of the Offensive against Official Ideology

13. Movie Heroes 1986-1989
14. Total Freedom from Totalitarianism and Its Ideology

15. Russian Movies After the Fall of the Empire

References Illustrations Filmography Director List Index

Editorial Reviews

Outstanding Title!... The Shlapentokhs proceed simply. They make a statement about the Soviet Union (or even post Soviet Union), a statement of sociology, politics, religion, or psychology (like xenophobia or crime); then they support the statement (or contradict it with exceptions) by examining a handful of movies. The result, however, is far from simple; it is a superlative, rich, advanced course in the conflict between the real Soviet world and "the fictional reality created by directors attempting to obey the injunctions of the ideological apparatus"… Oddly enough, all the good books on Soviet cinema are now 20 years old; this new book concentrates on these 20 years. The best parts concern Stalin. Whenever a movie is about Stalin, directly or indirectly, positively or negatively, the book becomes vital, dramatic, unique… [I]t is the most fascinating and up to date.” —P. H. Stacy, Choice “In Soviet Cinematography, 1918-1991, Dmitry and Vladimir Shlapentokh set a specifically “sociological” agenda for themselves, to “examine the influence of official ideology, i.e., the ideology supported by the centralized state, on the presentation of social reality by Soviet cinema”… The book consists of a chronological cataloging of several hundred Soviet films.” —Denise J. Youngblood, Slavic Review “Dmitry and Vladimir Shlapentokh… trace the history of Soviet cinema by noting the effects of various state-mandated ideologies on selected films.” —Vance Kepley, Jr., The Russian Review

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