Introduction to Russian and Soviet Film

SLAVIC 193 Subject & Catalog Number

Description

The course introduces students to some of the most influential films in the history of cinema, such as the dynamic and politically-charged montage movies of Dziga Vertov, Sergei Eisenstein, and their avant-garde contemporaries of the 1920s and 1930s. We will examine early Russian melodramas, the film culture of the Bolshevik Revolution, the exotic and eccentric movie-land fashioned by Russian emigres in Paris and Berlin, and the strictures of Stalin-era Socialist Realism. Students will learn about the analysis of film style, from framing to editing to acting, as well as the political and social contexts of filmmaking and film-going. Films to be considered include: Cameraman's Revenge, Child of the Big City, The Man with the Movie Camera, The Battleship Potemkin, and Ivan the Terrible. Readings (all in English) include classic film theory of the era and critical reviews.