Kenez, Part Two

Cinema and Soviet Society: From the Revolution to the Death of Stalin
By: Peter Kenez
Part Two: The Age of Stalin

The Cultural Revolution in Cinema

Change in the meaning of 'cultural revolution': When Lenin spoke of the necessity of cultural revolution, he had in mind the desperate need to catch up withe the industrial and advanced West. In this period, cultural revolution represented a resurgence of utopian notions about culture and politics and a demand for a complete break with the past. 


Was the Five Year Plan more of a turning point in history than the Revolution itself?


The great directors were charged with formalism (any deviation from a simple narrative line, any artistic innovation). 


March 1928 conference: The Blosheviks decided to end the heterogeneous character of Soviet film and impose a "correct" line. The directors were instructed to make films for the millions. The party took a position against artistic experimentation. 


Spring of 1930: elimination of Sovkino and the creation of Soiuzkino, with Boris Shumiatskii in charge (until he was arrested in 37). 


The cultural revolution saw a flourishing of film criticism. The critics didn't respect past achievements of international reputation. Film was supposed to be an agent of agitation and education. 


The Industry, 1933-41


1930: Sovkino replaced by Soiuzkino, with Boris Shumiatskii in charge (until he was arrested in 38--notice change in date). He was the ultimate censor, and his leadership assumed responsibility for all activities related to film-making. 


Jan 1935 conference on film-making: This time (as opposed to 1928) the directors were "allowed" to speak. They denounced what had been best about soviet film. 


Soviet factories FINALLY started making raw film in 1931. 


Cinema was one of the last functioning forms of entertainment for people. 


Censorship 1933-41


The party essentially wrote, edited, and re-edited everything, making it almost impossible to make a film in the Soviet Union. 


Socialist Realism, 1933-41


As defined by the Congress of Soviet Writers (143): "Socialist realism is the basic method of Soviet literature and literary criticism. It demands of the artist the truthful, historically concrete representation of reality in its revolutionary development. Moreover, the truthfulness and historical concreteness of the artistic representation of reality must be linked with the task of ideological transformation and education of workers in the spirit of socialism." 


The artist was supposed to see the communist future in the present. The viewer was supposed to be entertained and educated. 


Three stock figures: the party leader, the simple person, and the enemy (Japanese, German, Polish, Capitalist). 


Films of World War II 


The period of Nazi-Soviet co-operation could be regarded as the first thaw in Soviet intellectual life. Soviet propaganda was more intense than German or American propaganda, because it was both nationalized and heavily censored. It was what the directors were used to. 


The purest form of war propaganda was the newsreel. 


The tone of films changed as the Red Army succeeded in turning the tide (RESEARCH PAPER?).