Table Of ContentC lasnost—
Soviet Cinema Responds
Texas Film Studies Series
Thomas Schatz, Editor
Glasnost—
Soviet Cinema
Responds
By NICHOLAS GALICHENKO
Edited by ROBERT ALLINGTON
University of Texas Press, Austin
Copyright © 1991 by the University of Texas Press
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
First Edition, 1991
Requests for permission to reproduce material from this work should be
sent to Permissions, University of Texas Press, Box 7819, Austin, Texas
78713-7819.
© The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of
American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of
Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984.
For reasons of economy and speed this volume has been printed from cam
era-ready copy furnished by the author, who assumes full responsibility for
its contents.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Galichenko, Nicholas, 1943-
Glasnost—Soviet cinema responds / by Nicholas Galichenko ; edited by
Robert Allington. — 1st ed.
p. cm. — (Texas film studies series)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-292-72747-X (cloth). — ISBN 0-292-72753-4 (paper)
1. Motion pictures—Soviet Union. 2. Motion picture producers and
directors—Soviet Union. I. Allington, Robert, 1945—
II. Title. III. Series.
PN1993.5.R9G35 1991
791.43'0947—dc20 91-580
CIP
Contents
Preface: Recent Soviet Film
—One Critic’s Choice ix
Chapter 1. The Age of Perestroika 1
Purging Stalin’s Ghost from the Film Industry 5
The Romm Connection 11
Beyond the Year of the Rabbit 17
Chapter 2. Youth in Turmoil 19
The New Raskolnikov, Dostoevsky Revisted 24
What Do You Want to Do with Your Life, Ivan Miroshnikov? 28
Looking Back: The Orphans (1977), Ivan Brovkin (1955, 1959) 32
Directors with Commitment 34
Chapter 3. Odysseys in Inner Space 37
Gherman’s Time Machine 41
Soloviev’s Parable of Hope 45
The Imperfect Hero 50
Chapter 4. The Directors of Glasnost: A Filmography 57
Vadim Abdrashitov 57
Tengiz Abuladze 59
Alexander Askoldov 62
Rolan Bykov 63
Grigori Chukhrai 64
Georgi Danelia 65
Nana Djordjadze 67
Alexei Gherman 69
vl • GLASNOST—Soviet Cinema Responds
Lana Gogoberidze 71
Nikolai Gubenko 72
Yuri Kara 74
£lem Klimov 76
Andrei Konchalovsky 78
Vyacheslav Kristofovich 79
Irakli Kvirikadze 81
Leida Laius 85
Konstantin Lopushansky 86
Nikita Mikhalkov 89
Kira Muratova 91
Valeri Ogorodnikov 97
Tolomush Okeyev 100
Gleb Panfilov 104
Sergei Paradjanov 106
Vasili Pichul 110
Yuri Podnieks 111
Eldar Ryazanov 113
Karen Shakhnazarov 116
Eldar Shengelaya 117
Georgi Shengelaya 118
Larisa Shepitko 121
Andrei Smirnov 122
Alexander Sokurov 123
Sergei Soloviev 126
Endnotes 129
Index 133—141
Illustrations
Listed by film tide or subject, in order of appearance
Repentance (Tengiz Abuladze) 4
Letters from a Dead Man (Konstantin Lopushansky) 7
Farewell ( Elem Klimov) 9
Theme (Gleb Panfilov) 15
Games for Teenagers (Leida Lauis) 21
Plumbum, or A Dangerous Game (Vadim Abdrashitov) 26
The Messenger Boy (Karen Shakhnazarov) 30
Wild Pigeon (Sergei Soloviev) 39
Wild Pigeon (Sergei Soloviev) 47
Theme (Gleb Panfilov) 52
Repentance (Tengiz Abuladze) 61
My English Grandfather (Nana Djordjadze) 68
Tomorrow There Came War (Yuri Kara) 75
Lonely Woman Looking for a Companion
(Vyacheslav Kristofovich) 80
The Swimmer (Irakli Kvirikadze) 82
Letters from a Dead Man (Konstantin Lopushansky) 87
Brief Encounters (Kira Muratova) 94
The Burglar (Valeri Ogorodnikov) 98
Mirages of Love (Tolumush Okeyev) 103
Forgotten Melody for a Lonely Flute (Eldar Ryazanov) 115
Preface:
Recent Soviet Film
.
— One Critic's Choice
f
^ Mlasnost—Soviet Cinema Responds is the result of many
hours in darkened theaters making notes to the glow of a penlight, of
numerous interviews with Soviet directors, actors, actresses, and film
industry officials, and of my personal observations made during a trip to
the Soviet Union in 1987 for the 15th International Film Festival in
Moscow.
The Soviet film industry produces some 130 feature length movies in
an average year. In addition to this, the recent outpouring of works,
delayed by censors, held in cold storage in the pre-glasnost era and now
released, makes the choice of directors and film works to be included in
a text such as this an onerous task.
The text is structured as a series of three essays, and a filmography of
the directors of the glasnost cinema. Throughout the book, still
photographs and reproductions of Soviet poster art help to illustrate the
work. These images have been reproduced through the courtesy of
Sovexportfilm.
The first essay, “The Age of Perestroika," outlines the changes that
have occurred in the cinema of the U.S.S.R., provides some historical
observations on the socialist realist tradition and the legacy of Stalinism,
and takes a look at the influential film educator and director Mikhail
Romm, whose students are now transforming the Soviet motion picture
medium. The second, 'Youth in Turmoil," is a somewhat sociological
view of films about youth—the most dynamic and socially revealing of
present productions. The third, “Odysseys in Inner Space," examines
the new direction in Soviet Cinema as a focus on the inner world of
individuals—a journey of philosophical dimension that brings East and
West closer in their perceptions and their values.
