Soviet Cinema

SOVIET CINEMA: REVOLUTIONS IN/ON FILM

From the early years of the Soviet avant-garde to the post-Stalin era of covert critique, Soviet cinema offers an intriguing perspective on life in the USSR and the art of film. We will explore the pioneering cinema of Eisenstein, Vertov, Pudovkin, and Dovzhenko; the Hollywood-modeled propaganda films and musical comedies of the 1930s; the representation of World War II; the aesthetic and moral quests of post-Stalin era filmmakers like Kalatozov, Muratova, Shepitko, and Parajanov; and comedies, socially critical films, and new cinematic directions at the end of the USSR. With Russia's ongoing war against Ukraine, we will also explore Soviet-era films by filmmakers sensitively exploring Soviet and Russian imperialism that anticipates its resurgence in the present, under Putin. 

With the hundredth anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution marked only very recently, we will approach our thinking about Soviet film by focusing on the revolution as a subject. Or, rather, revolutions—plural—in society, everyday life, gender, sexuality, and the art of cinema itself.

CMS students: If CMS 320 section is full, sign up for RUSS 223 -- it's the same course and the same group and the same professor and the same assignments -- but, for bureaucratic reasons, there are more seats in RUSS 223.

Course materials: All films are available with English subtitles. All films are available to stream online on a combination of platforms, including Youtube (free), Kanopy (free), and also through Canvas (also free). There are no textbooks that students are required to purchase. I will be posting links for each film, in Canvas.

Course syllabus: is available here Soviet Film -- Autumn 2024.pdf