Soviet and Russian Cinema: Traditions and Innovations

Catalog description

The course approaches Soviet and Russian cinema from two perspectives: generic-historical, surveying movements and genres in Russian films from about 1915 to 2015; and critical, using the cinematic frame as a window into Soviet and Russian culture. Films to be shown range from the silent short to the historical epic, and from the gems of the avant-garde and Socialist Realism to late genre and auteur cinema in post-Soviet Russia. Under three broad headings — "Discourses and Ideology," "Identification and Ritual," and "Localism and Disintegration" — the course traces Soviet Russian constructions of community, nation ("ours/other"), class, and gender. (Offered in fall)