Soviet Cinema of the 1920s

The Context Until 1917, emperors, known as Tsars, had long ruled Russia. However, because he had involved Russia in the unpopular First World War, the Russian people increasingly hated Tsar Nicholas II. The war was causing a lot of hardship and starvation in Russia.

February 1917 Rioting and strikes in the Russian capital led to the overthrow of the Tsarist monarchy.

February-October 1917 A provisional government, headed by Alexander Kerensky was set up. However, Kerensky’s government continued to fight in the unpopular First World War.

The October Revolution, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution was led by Vladimir Lenin and the Bolsheviks. It is the first communist revolution of the twentieth century.

Cinema is “an empty, totally useless and even harmful form of entertainment.” Nicholas II You must remember that, of all the arts, for us the cinema is the most important” - Lenin The Communists knew the power of the strong image as a propaganda tool

The revolution overthrew the provisional government, which led to the Russian Civil War from 1918–1920, followed by the creation of the Soviet Union in 1922. The Communists knew the power of the strong image as a propaganda tool

Post revolution cinema in Russia 1918 Cinema is overseen and regulated by the People’s Commissariat of Education (Narkompros) Private film companies close and actors, directors, technicians etc. flee, taking stars, experience production equipment and film stock 1918 Civil War Early 20s Soviet government entrusts Jacques Cibrario, a distributer who had worked in Russia with $1 million to purchase American equipment – he bought some worthless used material and absconded with the rest. There was therefore very little material for filmmaking at this period.

1919-1920 Nationalisation of cinema - film as propaganda Nationalisation of the film industry Most new films simple newsreels and agitki – propaganda films. Some older Russian films being shown. Agit trains toured the country – ideal for spreading bolshevik message to illiterate masses. Space cleared for a whole new generation of filmmakers. Agit-trains

In the early 1920s, Lenin decided to permit increased freedom in the arts, and the Soviet cinema opened up and began to explore new possibilities. Thereafter, through the final years of the silent era the USSR became one of the most important and influential filmmaking nations in the world.

What did this mean for the cinema industry? Anything that seemed to be bourgeois was seen as bad. This included the arts and cinema. Almost all filmmakers from pre-revolutionary times were labelled as bourgeois. The pioneers of the 1920s cinema were all new to the arts and were all in their mid-twenties The film industry was nationalised, and the films produced had to be pro-communist. The Soviet Union was a brand new entity and at first, the world’s only communist state. Public still favoured the Hollywood gloss – Pickford & Fairbanks, Chaplin, etc. Lenin’s early death and the civil war meant that the country’s future was uncertain. It was vital to demonstrate a show of strength and unity. The country was a one-party state, so opposing political views were not legal.

Formalism Not only was content to be communist but a new, soviet style art was demanded. The key filmmakers from the 1920s set out to structure films in a way that was distinct from Hollywood.

In 1924, Lenin died. After a short period of shared rule, Joseph Stalin took over the leadership of the Soviet Union, becoming a dictator. He had spies everywhere and the people had to work incredibly hard to make Russia a great country. He followed a programme of mass industrialisation. Many people died of overwork and starvation.

No more formalist experiments Boris Shumyatsky becomes head of Shoyuzkino – answered directly to Stalin. No more formalist experiments ‘Soviet Hollywood’ Soyuzkino set up in 1930 under 1st five year plan. Aim was to increase Soviet production in order to reduce popularity of imports. Docrine of socialist realism, musical comedies, tractor musicals Heroic representation of soviet life, simple to comprehend to masses. Eisenstein singled out for attack and had to admit to ‘past mistakes’. Stalin as cinema fan (particularly of imported films). Tight control of film production at every stage – bureaucracy strangled film production. Projects were expensively shelved. Some killed

Key points to remember: The Soviet Union was a brand new entity and at first, the world’s only communist state. Lenin’s early death and the civil war meant that the country’s future was uncertain. It was vital to demonstrate a show of strength and unity. The country was a one-party state, so opposing political views were not legal.

Key words and phrases in Soviet Cinema Bolsheviks – The Communists (Very good!) Bourgeois - The old middle class overthrown in the revolution (Very bad!) Proletariat – The working class, made equal comrades by the revolution (Very, very good!) Tsarist – Anyone supporting the rule of the deposed Tsar (Exceptionally bad!)

What did this mean for the cinema industry? Anything that seemed to be bourgeois was seen as bad. This included the arts and cinema. A new, soviet style art was demanded. Almost all filmmakers from pre-revolutionary times were labelled as bourgeois. The pioneers of the 1920s cinema were all new to the arts and were all in their mid-twenties The film industry was nationalised, and the films produced had to be pro-communist.

So that’s bad, isn’t it? A bunch of amateurs making propaganda films? It gets worse: in the civil war days, film stock was hard to get hold of – being manufactured overseas – leaving the filmmakers having to use relatively small strips of odd film to work with, so (in the early days) no long takes. So, it’s amateur propaganda films made on little scraps then? It sounds rubbish!

What is the old man thinking?

Necessity is the mother of invention. Lev Kuleshov was an important contributor to cinema as a filmmaker, a theorist, and as the teacher of Eisenstein and Pudovkin, two of the major filmmakers of the period. He came up with The Kuleshov Effect

The Kuleshov effect The effect of leaving out a scene’s establishing shot and leading the spectator to infer spatial or temporal continuity from the shots of separate elements Lev Kuleshov teaches Eisenstein and Pudovkin – power of montage: another experiment had him edit together different close-ups of facial features of different women to convince an audience that seemed to show just one. The filmmaker built up a space and time that did not exist.

Also… ‘Creative geography’ Multiple segments are shot at various locations and/or times and edited together to appear as a continuous place at a continuous time.

Also… Pre-conceiving the shot via tableaux. Thus performance is deliberately constrained and expressiveness comes from the editing.

Kuleshov’s own films were still influenced by Hollywood