Cinema of Russia
The cinema of Russia refers to the film industry in Russia, engaged in production of motion pictures in Russian language.
It began in the Russian Empire, widely developed in the Soviet Union and in the years following its dissolution. The Russian film industry would remain internationally recognized. In the 21st century, Russian cinema has become known internationally with films such as Hardcore Henry, Leviathan, Night Watch and Brother. The Moscow International Film Festival began in Moscow in 1935. The Nika Award is the main annual national film award in Russia.
Cinema of the Russian Empire
The first films seen in the Russian Empire were brought in by the Lumière brothers, who exhibited films in Moscow and St. Petersburg in May 1896. That same month, Lumière cameraman Camille Cerf made the first film in Russia, recording the coronation of Nicholas II at the Kremlin.Aleksandr Drankov produced the first Russian narrative film Stenka Razin, based on events told in a folk song and directed by Vladimir Romashkov. Among the notable Russian filmmakers of the era were Aleksandr Khanzhonkov and Ivan Mozzhukhin, who made Defence of Sevastopol in 1912. Yakov Protazanov made Departure of a Grand Old Man, a biographical film about Lev Tolstoy.
Animation pioneer Ladislas Starevich made the first Russian animated film in 1910 – Lucanus Cervus. His other stop-motion shorts The Beautiful Leukanida and The Cameraman's Revenge, produced for Aleksandr Khanzhonkov, are also among the first animated films. In the following years, Starevich made shorts based on fables such as The Grasshopper and the Ant, as well as World War I propaganda films.
Olga Preobrazhenskaya was the first woman director of Russia. In 1916 she made her directorial debut Miss Peasant. However, the film has been lost. In the Soviet era she directed Women of Ryazan.
During World War I, imports dropped drastically, and Russian filmmakers turned out anti-German, nationalistic films. In 1916, 499 films were made in Russia, more than three times the number of three years earlier.
The Russian Revolution brought more change, with a number of films with anti-Tsarist themes. The last significant film of the era, made in 1917, was Father Sergius by Yakov Protazanov and Alexandre Volkoff. It would become the first new film release of the Soviet era.
Cinema of the Soviet Union
Early Soviet cinema (1917–1953)
was the first political leader of the twentieth century to recognize the importance of film. He saw film as a way to unite the nation over which the Bolsheviks, then a minority party of some 200,000 members, had assumed leadership. His government gave top priority to the rapid development of the Soviet film industry, which was nationalized in August 1919 and put under the direct authority of Lenin's wife, Nadezhda Krupskaya.One of the first acts of the Cinema Committee was to create a professional film school in Moscow to train directors, technicians, and actors for the cinema. The All Union State Institute of Cinematography was the first such school in the world. Lev Kuleshov, who taught at the school, formulated the groundbreaking editing process called montage, which he conceived of as an expressive process whereby dissimilar images could be linked together to create non-literal or symbolic meaning. His work has been referred to as the Kuleshov effect. Two of Kuleshov's most famous students were Sergey Eisenstein and Vsevolod Pudovkin.
Although Russian was the dominant language in films during the Soviet era, the cinema of the Soviet Union encompassed films of the Armenian SSR, Georgian SSR, Ukrainian SSR, and, to a lesser degree, Lithuanian SSR, Byelorussian SSR, and Moldavian SSR. For much of the Soviet Union's history, with notable exceptions in the 1920s and the late 1980s, film content was heavily circumscribed and subject to censorship and bureaucratic state control.
The development of the soviet film industry was innovative and linked with the Constructivist art movement. In 1922–3, Kino-Fot became the first Soviet cinema magazine and reflected the constructivist views of its editor, Aleksei Gan.
As with much Soviet art during the 1920s, films addressed major social and political events of the time. An important film of this period was Sergei Eisenstein's The Battleship Potemkin, not only because of its depiction of events leading up to the 1905 Revolution, but also because of innovative cinematic techniques, such as the use of jump-cuts to achieve political ends. To this day, Battleship Potemkin is considered one of the greatest films of all time.
Vsevolod Pudovkin developed a new theory of montage based on cognitive linkage rather than dialectical collision. Pudovkin's Mother was internationally acclaimed for its montage, as well as for its emotional qualities. Later Pudovkin was publicly charged with formalism for his experimental sound film A Simple Case, which he was forced to release without its sound track.
Two other key filmmakers of the Soviet silent era were Aleksandr Dovzhenko and Dziga Vertov. Dovzhenko's best known work is his Ukraine Trilogy, and more specifically the film Earth. Vertov is well known for his film Man with a Movie Camera and the Kino-Eye theory – that the camera, like the human eye, is best used to explore real life, which had a huge impact on documentary filmmaking.
However, with the consolidation of Stalinist power in the Soviet Union, and the emergence of Socialist realism as state policy, which carried over from painting and sculpture into filmmaking, Soviet film became subject to almost total state control.
Films released in the 1930s include the popular musicals Jolly Fellows, Circus and Volga-Volga directed by the longtime collaborator of Sergei Eisenstein, Grigori Aleksandrov. These films starred leading actress of the time Lyubov Orlova, who was also Aleksandrov's wife.
The New Gulliver by Aleksandr Ptushko is a landmark in stop-motion animation.
In the 1930s and the 1940s Eisenstein directed two historical epics – Aleksandr Nevsky and Ivan the Terrible. Both films were scored by composer Sergei Prokofiev. Ivan the Terrible is referred to by film historian Yuri Tsivian, as "the most complex movie ever made".
Immediately after the end of the Second World War, the Soviet color films such as The Stone Flower by Aleksandr Ptushko, Ballad of Siberia, and Cossacks of the Kuban, both by director Ivan Pyryev, were released.
Soviet cinema went into rapid decline after the World War II: film production fell from 19 features in 1945 to 5 in 1952. The situation did not improve until the late 1950s when Soviet films achieved critical success partly as a result, similar to the cinema of other Eastern Bloc countries, for reflecting the tension between independent creativity and state-directed outcomes.
Late Soviet cinema (1953–1990)
In the late 1950s and early 1960s Soviet film-makers were given a less constricted environment, and while censorship remained, films emerged which began to be recognised outside the Soviet bloc such as Ballad of a Soldier by Grigory Chukhray which won the 1961 BAFTA Award for Best Film and the 1958 Palme d'Or winning The Cranes Are Flying by Mikhail Kalatozov. The Height by Aleksander Zarkhi is considered to be one of the best films of the 1950s. Yet, some films did not receive a wide release; The Story of Asya Klyachina by Andrei Konchalovsky, Commissar by Aleksandr Askoldov, Brief Encounters by Kira Muratova and Trial on the Road by Aleksei German.The most critically acclaimed Russian director of the 1960s and 1970s was Andrei Tarkovsky, who directed the groundbreaking art-house films Ivan's Childhood, Andrei Rublev, Solaris, Mirror and Stalker. His films won awards at Cannes and Venice Film Festival. His debut film Ivan's Childhood won the Golden Lion award at the Venice Film Festival in 1962. Tarkovsky's film Andrei Rublev won the FIPRESCI prize at the 1969 Cannes Festival. For Stalker, Tarkovsky won the Ecumenical Jury Prize in Cannes in 1980. He also won the Special Grand Prize for Solaris in 1972 and for Sacrifice at Cannes in 1986.
Other notable Soviet directors include Sergei Bondarchuk, Sergey Paradzhanov, Larisa Shepitko, Kira Muratova, Marlen Khutsiev, Mikhail Kalatozov, Nikita Mikhalkov, Vladimir Menshov and Gleb Panfilov.
The Seventh Companion marked the debut of film director Aleksei German. Due to Soviet censorship, his film Trial on the Road was shelved for 15 years. His son Aleksei is also a director.
Sergei Bondarchuk initially came to prominence as an actor. His directorial debut was Fate of a Man which was released in 1959. Bondarchuk is best known for directing and starring in the Academy Award-winning adaptation War and Peace. His son Fyodor Bondarchuk is also a film director and producer.
Among other critically acclaimed literary adaptations from the 1960s was Grigory Kozintsev's Hamlet, winner of the Special Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival.
Russian actor Nikita Mikhalkov had his feature directorial debut in 1974 with At Home Among Strangers. His brother, Andrey Konchalovsky, is also an award-winning director. Konchalovsky had his directorial debut with The First Teacher in 1965, which won an award at the Venice Film Festival.
Film director Kira Muratova faced censorship during the Soviet era and only started to receive public recognition and first awards during Perestroyka. Her film Among Grey Stones was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1988 Cannes Film Festival.
Comedy genre was always the most popular one in Russia and the Soviet union with the highest number of box-office successes. Most popular Soviet comedies of the era were directed by Leonid Gaidai, Eldar Ryazanov and Georgiy Daneliya, such as Carnival Night, The Irony of Fate, Kidnapping, Caucasian Style, Operation Y and Shurik's Other Adventures, The Twelve Chairs, Walking the Streets of Moscow, Gentlemen of Fortune.
Soviet filmmakers also produced historical adventure films, such as D'Artagnan and Three Musketeers and Gardes-Marines, Ahead!. Among those, "osterns", the Soviet take on the westerns, became also popular. Examples of the Ostern include White Sun of the Desert, The Headless Horseman, Armed and Dangerous, A Man from the Boulevard des Capucines. On TV, mystery and spy miniseries were prevalent, such as Seventeen Moments of Spring, The Meeting Place Cannot Be Changed, Investigation Held by ZnaToKi and a faithful adaptation of Sherlock Holmes stories starring Vasily Livanov as Holmes.
A respective amount of World War II dramas made in the 1970s and the 1980s were acclaimed internationally, some of which are Liberation by Yuri Ozerov, The Dawns Here Are Quiet by Stanislav Rostotsky, They Fought for Their Country by Sergei Bondarchuk, The Ascent by Larisa Shepitko and Come and See by Elem Klimov.
Co-production between Soviet Union and Japan, Dersu Uzala, adapted from Vladimir Arsenyev's book, directed by Akira Kurosawa and starring Maxim Munzuk and Yuri Solomin, won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Picture in 1976. The film was a box-office success and ended up reviving Kurosawa's career.
Yuri Norstein is perhaps the most famous Russian animator of the Soviet period; his animated shorts Hedgehog in the Fog and Tale of Tales gained worldwide recognition and have served as inspiration for many filmmakers.
Larisa Shepitko's film The Ascent was the first Soviet movie to win the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival in 1977.
Romantic drama Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears by Vladimir Menshov won the Best Foreign Picture award at the 1981 Academy Awards and it was very popular at the Soviet box-office with over 93 million viewers.
Come and See by Elem Klimov received the FIPRESCI prize at the 1985 Moscow Film Festival.
Science fiction film Dead Man's Letters, directorial debut of Konstantin Lopushansky, was screened at the International Critics' Week section of the Cannes Film Festival in 1987
and received the FIPRESCI prize at the 35th International Filmfestival Mannheim-Heidelberg. His follow-up film A Visitor to a Museum was entered into the Moscow Film Festival where it won the Silver St. George and the Prix of Ecumenical Jury.
In the 1980s Russian director Andrei Konchalovsky was the first filmmaker to find success in Hollywood. In America he directed Maria's Lovers, Runaway Train and Tango & Cash.
With the onset of Perestroika and Glasnost in the mid-1980s, Soviet films emerged which began to address formerly censored topics, such as drug addiction, The Needle by Rashid Nugmanov, which starred rock singer Viktor Tsoi, and sexuality and alienation in Soviet society, Little Vera by Vasili Pichul. However, the industry suffered from drastically reduced state subsidies and the state-controlled film distribution system also collapsed, leading to the dominance of western films in Russia's theatres.
Several Soviet films have received Oscars; War and Peace, Dersu Uzala, Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears.