Cinema of Sincerity: Soviet Films and Culture During the Thaw

Following Stalin’s death in 1953 and Khrushchev’s acknowledgment of Stalin’s crimes in 1956, “sincerity” emerged as a cultural imperative in the Soviet Union. The cinema of this period turned inward, insisting on ordinary characters and creating a sense of spontaneity through particular staging methods and cinematic techniques, such as interior monologue and the close—up. These changes shifted the understanding of what “realism” meant and allowed Soviet cinema to reestablish with its audien...