Cinema and Soviet Society, 1917-1953 (Cambridge Studies in the History of Mass Communication)

n this history of Soviet cinema Peter Kenez describes the pre-revolutionary heritage, the changes brought about by the Revolution, the great flourishing of the golden years of the late 1920s, the constraints imposed on artists in the name of Socialist realism, the relative liberalization during the years of the Second World War, and the extraordinary repression during the gloomy last years of Stalin. The author's primary concern is the political uses of film. The Bolsheviks had high expectations: they believed that this medium would be a major vehicle for transmitting their social and political messages, and so experimented with the various ways with which they could bring movies to worker and peasant audiences. Although they achieved major successes, their unrealistically high expectations often led to disappointments and acrimonious debates. An examination of how the explicit and implicit messages in Soviet films changed over time helps us to understand the evolution of Soviet society. This study deals with the intersection of politics and culture and aims to illuminate both.In this history of Soviet cinema Peter Kenez describes the pre-revolutionary heritage, the changes brought about by the Revolution, the great flourishing of the golden years of the late 1920s, the constraints imposed on artists in the name of Socialist realism, the relative liberalization during the years of the Second World War, and the extraordinary repression during the gloomy last years of Stalin. The author's primary concern is the political uses of film. The Bolsheviks had high expectations: they believed that this medium would be a major vehicle for transmitting their social and political messages, and so experimented with the various ways with which they could bring movies to worker and peasant audiences. Although they achieved major successes, their unrealistically high expectations often led to disappointments and acrimonious debates. An examination of how the explicit and implicit messages in Soviet films changed over time helps us to understand the evolution of Soviet society. This study deals with the intersection of politics and culture and aims to illuminate both.