SALYS R. Infernal Energy Revisioning Stalin Era

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Infernal Energy: Revisioning the Stalin Era

By Rimgaila Salys (U of Colorado, Boulder)

As national identity was eing re!onstituted after the fall of Communism, in the drive to

re!over the histori!al truth of the Soviet "ast, Russian !inema "rodu!ed an out"ouring of

re"resentations of the Stalin years# $hile there have een arguments in the $est aout theunre"resentaility of the %olo!aust, Russian &lmma'ers felt no ualms aout engaging the

violent as"e!ts of the "eriod, and almost every maor dire!tor from *i'ita +i'hal'ov to

Ale'sandr *aumov to Ale'sei erman has made his Stalin era &lm, though many have

remained un'nown to road Russian audien!es# +ost of these &lms were released etween

-./0 and -..., thus straddling oth the enthusiasti! s"e!tatorshi" of early "erestroi'a and the

disa""earan!e of audien!es during the e!onomi! !rises of the -..1s that !ulminated in the

&nan!ial !rash of -../#

2uring this de!ade the distriution system disintegrated, movie theatres e!ame dila"idated

and were turned into sho"s# At the same time, $estern &lms and videos e!ame widely

availale and audien!es aandoned Russian "rodu!ts# In -..0 the industry released only 34feature &lms, as !om"ared to 311 in -..1 (Segida and 5emlianu'hin -67)# A numer of

histori!al &lms, su!h as 8ost in Sieria (-..-), +os!ow 9arade (-..7), %ammer and

Si!'le (-..4), and hrustalev,+y Car; (-../), fell vi!tim to the !haos of a transitional "eriod

and were given either very limited or no national distriution#7111 s"ar'ed the eginning of e!onomi! re!overy and 9utin was

ele!ted "resident in +ar!h 7111, Russian !inema gradually turned its attention to other

!on!erns# Relatively few &lms on the Stalin era were made after 711-, and their agendas were

!hanged as well# A re!ent !olle!tion of essays on the !inema of the !risis de!ade is titled .1>e#

ino, 'otoroe my "oteriali# ?he Stalinism and Soviet Cinema !olle!tion edited y Ri!hard ?aylor

and 2ere' S"ring a""eared in -..3 with arti!les y Anna 8awton, Svetlana Boym and @ulian

ray on 9erestroi'a and "ost>Soviet re"resentations of the Stalin era# *ow that the wave ofeor!isti!>!atharti! &lmi! interest in the to"i! has "assed, it is "erha"s time to revisit this

sustantial !inemati! !or"us#

?here is no single lens through whi!h "erestroi'a and "ost>Soviet !inema viewed the Stalin era#

Instead of su!h a monovalent a""roa!h, I "ro"ose a taonomy of the dieringand

overla""ingto"i!s and agendas "reo!!u"ying &lmma'ers as they attem"ted to negotiate the

Stalinist "ast# In formal terms, histori!al &lms are !onventionally sudivided into mainstream

dramas, e"erimental or innovative &lms, and do!umentaries (Rosenstone, %istory on Dilm -4)#

I will e dis!ussing eam"les of the &rst two !ategories, with the e!e"tion of $orld $ar II &lms

and io"i!s, whi!h have diering genre "aradigms#style realism and em"hasies linear "lot, !ause and

ee!t narrative, !learly de&ned !onFi!t intensifying to a !lima and ending in a resolution with

formal !losure, !ontinuity editing whi!h serves to further the narrative, !lassi!al !utting (the

seuen!e of shots determined y dramati!>emotional em"hasis rather than y "hysi!al a!tion

alone), and a generally fun!tional visual style that does not distra!t from the a!tion#

Roert Rosenstone oers a numer of traits that s"e!i&!ally de&ne mainstream histori!al

drama# +ainstream &lms oer a !losed, !om"lete, sim"le story without alternative "ossiilities#
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?hey give us the loo' of the "ast, the myth of fa!ti!ity, and it is this histori!al mimesis that

validates their &!tional narratives# ?hese dramas "la!e the individual, whether "rominent or

un'nown, at the forefront of the histori!al "ro!ess# Even ordinary "eo"le as histori!al heroes

"erform admirale a!tions or suer o""ression and e"loitation, and the e"erien!e of the

individual e!omes metonymi!al to that of the nation (Rosenstone, Gisions of the 9ast 66>0-)#

$$II "easant ia in %arvest ?ime (7114)# But, e!e"t for Stalin and his

!ir!le, most of the "rominent individuals in mainstream Russian histori!al &lms are &!tional#

Serious histori!al &lms are de&ned y the sense of Hhistori!al thin'ing the wor's !ommuni!ate

and the degree to whi!h a!tual histori!al events have an im"a!t on the "lot (Burgoyne -7)#

?hese &lms may vary widely on the reality s!ale: a!tual and &!tional histori!al !hara!ters may

!oeist in various iterations of oth do!umentary and imagined narratives# In Ganished?ime (-./.) the honest and idealisti! 9eo"leJs Commissar Knisimov elieves that Stalin saved

his life in -.3L, after the arrest of his rother and suordinates in metallurgy, and only

gradually !omes to understand why he was removed from his "ost after StalinJs death#

In En!ore, Another En!ore; (-..7) an army !olonel, a %ero of the Soviet Union, falls into

igamy e!ause of the "rohiitions against divor!e for highly "la!ed oM!ials and shoots

himself after eating u" a villainous S+ERS% oM!er# In Burnt y the Sun +i'hal'ov generates

sym"athy for Civil $ar hero and army !ommander otov, arrested at the !on!lusion of the &lm,

y initially situating him in an idylli! s"a!e of inno!en!e and then !ounter"osing his heroism

and un!onditional love of !ountry to former $hite oM!er and *G2 agent +itiaJs etrayals for

the sa'e of "ersonal ha""iness#

Rather than fo!using on "rominent individuals, mainstream Russian &lms on the Stalin era tend

to deal with two grou"s, in relatively eual numers: on the one hand, the e"erien!e of the

intelligentsia (in!luding te!hni!al "rofessionals), on the other, the e"erien!e of the Hlittle man

(or less freuently, woman), the ordinary Russian !itien, and, least often in this grou", the

"easant e"erien!e# ?hemati!ally, a good third of the &lms deal with arrests and the !am"

e"erien!e, while the rest may tou!h on these, ut mainly engage other as"e!ts of life during

the Stalin era#

In ?omorrow was the $ar (-./L), ?he Cold Summer of N63 (-.//) and *ot y Bread

Alone (7116), engineers and a "hysi!ist inventor are vi!tims of the "urges or life>destroying

ureau!rati! revenge# In ?he 8aw (-./.) a "rose!utor, terri&ed into !owardi!e, signs the arrest

order of his !olleague and friend# In 2efense Counsel Sedov(-.//) an attorney who defends a

trio of agronomists a!!used of wre!'ing is himself !onned y the system# ?he student heroine

of oma (-./.) is arrested for reading ?svetaevaJs "oetry at a "arty# In *ot Afraid to 2ie (-..-)

a woman from the former gentry refuses to e!ome an informer, therey !hoosing

im"risonment and death# ?he writer>heroine of ?he +anus!ri"t (-..1) has lost her husand in

the "urges and is surrounded y intelle!tuals and "seudo>intelle!tuals while wor'ing at a

writersJ rest home#

Among the mainstream dramas aout ordinary "eo"le who "erform heroi! deeds or suer

o""ression, in ?en Oears without the Right to Corres"ond (-..1) a son see's legal retriution

against the informer res"onsile for his fatherJs arrest during the "urges# ?he "roe!tionist hero

of ?he Inner Cir!le (-..-) devotes his life to Stalin and loses his wife to Beria# In Dreee, 2ie,Come to 8ife (-./.) and ?he ?hief (-..L) single mothers and their fatherless oys struggle to

survive during the hungry "ost>war years# Bless the $oman (7113) follows the travails of an
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army wife from -.36 to the early ?haw years# In 9a"a (7114) a self>sa!ri&!ing @ewish father is

ree!ted y his amitious son "ursuing a musi!al !areer in anti>Semiti! Stalinist so!iety# In Drom

the 8ife of Dedor uJ'in (-./.) a wise "easant survives the trials of the Stalin era#

Rosenstone ma'es two further "oints aout mainstream histori!al &lms: e!ause individuals

are "la!ed in the foreground of the histori!al "ro!ess, Hthe solution of their "ersonal "rolems

tends to sustitute itself for the solution of histori!al "rolems# +ore a!!urately, the "ersonal

e!omes a way of avoiding the often diM!ult or insolule so!ial "rolems "ointed out y the

&lm# Rosenstone also argues that the tale told y the mainstream &lm sends a moral message

and usually leaves the audien!e with a feeling of u"lift grounded in the "remise of histori!al

"rogress: the &lm Htells us things have gotten etter or HarenJt we lu!'y not to have lived in

that terrile timeP Knly a few mainstream Ameri!an &lms li'e Radio Bi'ini or @D uestion the

"ossiility of meaningful !hange or "rogress (Rosenstone, H?he %istori!al Dilm 66)#

Russian &lms on the Stalin era mostly date from the !hernu'ha era and are !onseuently

dar'ened y the diM!ult "resent in whi!h they were madethe e!onomi! !rises of the nineties

as well as y the "ro"hyla!ti! "erestroi'a and "ost>Soviet drive to e"ose the evils of the

"ast, so that in these wor's u"lift is in short su""ly#suering, eternal feminine heroine of Bless the $oman, released in 7113, i#e#

after the !hernu'ha "eriod, ultimately &nds love with a sensitive naval oM!er and an outlet for

her thwarted maternal instin!ts y ta'ing in the daughter of a de!eased friend# In ovoru'hinJs

melodrama *ot y Bread Alone the inventor 2mitrii 8o"at'in is "erse!uted for "ro"osing an

innovative engineering "roe!t and then arrested for divulging state se!rets when his "roe!t

fails e!ause of the ma!hinations of a Stalinist estalishment rival who has lost his wife to

8o"at'in# %owever the &lm !on!ludes with u"lift, as his "rofessional and "ersonal "rolems

"romise to e resolved with the hel" of a sym"atheti! "eo"leJs de"uty and the irth of a son#

In a numer of mainstream &lms the audien!e u"lift is limited to satisfa!tion at the

"erforman!e of usti!e or the moral vi!tory of the hero# In the medio!re *ot Afraid to 2iethe

"atriar!h of a former gentry family and his daughter are arrested at the end of the &lm, ut at

the same time, one of the *G2 oM!ers involved in their !ase !ommits sui!ide over his failure

to save the heroine, therey "assing udgment on himself# ?he moral u"lift of ?he

+anus!ri"t "ertains to the "resent and future# ?he writer>heroine forgives and is re!on!iled to a

fellow writer and former e'Js authoring a so!ialist realist novel in order to rehailitate himself#

As the &lm !on!ludes, she sees a young girl who wor's at the writersJ rest home and inwardly

wishes her well: HBe ha""y; od e with you# U"lift thus emanates from her ho"e for the net

generation# In ?he Cold Summer of N63, although a former e' is vi!torious over a gang ofthugs terroriing a remote village, ultimately he is not re!ognied for his feat# After the

demonstration of the moral failure of the family that disavowed its im"risoned father, the &lm


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!on!ludes with symoli! vi!tory: the de"arting hero sto"s to share a !igarette with another e>

"risoner, while the &lmJs heroi! Hnational motif "lays on the soundtra!'# As in the western,

from whi!h the &lm orrows motifs and a!tion shots, the righteous, loner hero relu!tantly ta'es

it u"on himself to ring order, his side'i!' (o"aly!h) and his love interest (Sasha) die in the

"ro!ess, he survives and de"arts alone, ut moral vi!tory is his# In the &nal s!ene of ?en Oears

without the Right to Corres"ond, the hero +isha !almly awaits arrest for the murder of a well>

!onne!ted informer who was res"onsile for +ishaJs fatherJs death in the "urges# ?he heroJs

moral vi!tory lies in meting out the usti!e guaranteedut not "rovidedin the Soviet

!onstitution, the little red oo' he !arries throughout the &lm# In Iurii araJs ?omorrow was the

$ar emotional u"lift is arti&!ially eli!ited y musi!, the heroi! $$II mar!h HGstavai strana

ogromnaia in the "enultimate s!enes, and the &lm then susumes its "urge theme to a

de!laration of righteous revenge for the war deaths of high s!hool !lass .B: HAnd the

underground lived, and eat the astards, and too' revenge for Is'ra, for her mother, for all the

guys# It revenged itself rutally# Although Burnt y the Sun ma'es it !lear that the maor

!hara!tersotov, his wife, their daughter *adia, and former family friend +itiaeither die or

s"end their lives in eile, the Hfa!tual noti!es of rehailitation for the otovs on the s!reen at

the !on!lusion of the &lm satisfy the audien!e y im"lying that life has im"roved e!ause

usti!e has een "uli!ly "erformed#

Dinally, a numer of the mainstream &lms !on!lude "essimisti!ally, o"enly uestioning the

"ossiility of histori!al "rogress, and instead "ositing only !ir!ularity# ?he honest lawyer

of 2efense Counsel Sedov, while doing goodor rather, as he states, only his duty a!!ording to

Soviet lawunwittingly fa!ilitates the evil "er"etrated y the State# %is eorts to free three

!onvi!ted agronomists su!!eed, ut also lead to the arrest of the ureau!rats and *G2 "rison

oM!ial who "ro!essed the !ases# Sedov is only the unwitting instrument of the net stage of

terrorthe a""roa!hing -.3/ "urge of the *G2 for lawlessness# ?he individual thus !annot

ee!t histori!al "rogress# In oma, one of the few &lms that is dire!tly !on!erned with the

horrors of the !am"s, the !on!luding s!enes return us to the 9erestroi'a "resent, where the

Stalin era womenJs !am" now serves as a "rison for todayJs male !riminals# ?here is no

"rogress, only re"etition#

?he ending of 9etr ?odorovs'iiJs tragi!omedy En!ore, Another En!ore; also denies the

"ossiility of !hange in Russia# Hde naideshJ stranu na svete, the massovaia "esnia that

egins the &lm o"timisti!ally, transforms into an ironi! !ommentary on the Russian land, as it

"lays over the !on!luding events# $hile the good !hara!ters die or de"art in disgra!e, the

villains and mani"ulators remain, and !ontinue with their villainies to the refrain: HSvetit

solnysh'o na nee iasnoe ?svetut sady, shumiat "olia# Rossiia volJnaia, strana "re'rasnaia,

Sovets'ii 'rai, moia emlia (H?he sun shines in the !lear s'y ardens loom, the &elds rustle#

Dree Russia, eautiful !ountry, Soviet territory, my own land)# ?he "redatory S+ERS%

woman !ensor ogles another "otential young soldier vi!timQ Gera stro'es her "regnant elly

through whi!h she mani"ulates her wandering husandQ Ca"tain riu'ov again eats hisunfaithful wifeQ +i'hailov again gallo"s to "ull his love letters to multi"le women from the mail#

?he &lm !on!ludes with the tiny &gures of man and horse in a vast, snowy, ty"i!ally Russian

lands!a"e, o"ening out and etending meaning to the entire !ountry, where there is no

!hange, only re"etition#


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+ost of the mainstream Russian &lms on the Stalin era !an further e !ategoried as

melodrama, whi!h 9eter Broo's de&nes as the "rin!i"al mode for re"resenting the moral

universe, for arti!ulating vi!e and virtue in a "ost>sa!red, se!ular, "ost>Enlightenment era

la!'ing moral !ertainty ut grounded in rationality and a elief in "rogress (Broo's viii)# As an

e"ressive !ode !on!erned with moral legiility, the melodrama thus serves naturally as an

ee!tive vehi!le for the re"resentation of the etreme moral>ethi!al transa!tions of the Stalin

era#

In her wor' on Ameri!an &lm, 8inda $illiams identi&es !entral features of the melodramati!

mode that etend eyond genre and estalished !ategories su!h as the womanJs &lm or the

family melodrama and are eually o"erative in its Russian "ermutation# As mainstream &lm,

melodramas fo!us on vi!tim heroesheroines, whose virtue is eventually re!ognied in the

!ourse of the narrative# +elodramas often em"loy an aestheti!s of astonishment: when virtue

is &nally a!'nowledged, there is a "rolongation of emotion# Chara!ters are relatively

mono"athi!, la!'ing "sy!hologi!al de"th, and emody +ani!hean !onFi!ts of good and evil#

+elodramas ty"i!ally egin in a s"a!e of inno!en!e, whi!h the &lm strives to restore at the

end# %owever the mode is eually "reo!!u"ied with the "assage of time, dis"laying a tension

etween eing Hust in the ni!' of time (the ha""y ending) and Htoo late (the tragi! ending)#

H?oo late, the im"ossiility of returning to an initial, inno!ent and idylli! state "rovo'esnostalgia that, in turn, triggers "athos ($illiams 07>/1)#

In ?omorrow was the $ar, rather than denoun!e her arrested engineer father at a omsomol

meeting, s!hoolgirl Gi'a !ommits sui!ide# ?he vi!tims (oth Gi'a and her father, who is released

from "rison e!ause of the a""roa!hing war) are eventually vindi!ated, ut it is too late for the

dead girl and her ereaved father, for it is im"ossile to re!over their idylli! family

ha""iness# Burnt y the Sun initially de&nes a s"a!e of inno!en!e, a "aradisia!al lend of

ania, da!ha, Che'hovian !hara!ters, and ha""y family life# +i'hal'ov !onstru!ts otov as

vi!tim, whose virtues are initially os!ured and overshadowed y the talents and !harm of

family friend +itia# radually otovJs su"eriority over +itia is revealed, as he wins a!'

+arusiaJs love, outdan!es and then out"un!hes his rival# But it is Htoo late: with otovJs arrest,the s"a!e of inno!en!e is forever destroyed# otovJs "rolonged farewell to this idylli! eisten!e

toward the end of the &lm "rodu!es heightened "athos, due to the tragi! 'nowledge that we

"ossess and the family memers do not#asurd, whi!h oth "reserves the !lassi! narrative

"aradigm, evo'ing audien!e sym"athy, and argues that the only ee!tive way to de"i!t the


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traumas of the era is through a liminal stylisti!s of ana!hronisms, dreams, symols, "arodies

and grotesues#lover falls from the !eiling to "lay

S!huert in evening dressQ during a !on!ert the heroineJs husand "ours 'erosene on the

Futist, lights a mat!h and urns him to ashes as he "erformsQ the investigating "rose!utor sees

an angel on the street after a "riest tells him Hwe donJt have them#

5a'harovJs ?o ill a 2ragon (-.//) !omments on Stalinism and human nature via the allegory

of St# eorge (here merged with a modern 8an!elot) and the dragon# ?he &lm !omines a

medieval setting with the tra""ings of Stalinism: "eriod rhetori!, the Stalinist di!tator leisure

suit, falsi&!ation of s!ien!e and history, grand !onstru!tion "roe!ts, a troi'a !ourt, and StalinJs

alternating humiliation and rewarding of his suordinates#

viri'adeJs Comrade StalinJs ?ri" to Afri!a (-..-) and anevs'iiJs Dreee>2ie>Come to 8ife oth

foreground the arti&!iality of the !inema medium y inserting the &lming "ro!ess into the

diegesis# Comrade StalinJs ?ri" is thoroughly self>reFeivea &lm aout training a doule for

Stalin, the "ro!ess of whi!h is also !onstantly &lmed# In an early e"isode, an os!reen voi!e

announ!es that we are seeing a Hwor'ing moment of &lming, and a oun!y, handheld !amera

rea's the illusion of verisimilitude# ?he &lmJs a!tors a""ear as themselves, ut in "eriod

!ostume, and the voi!e narrates: H?he dire!tor too' out a revolver, said NangJ and !olla"sed in

the snow# But the dire!tor doesnJt get u" and is then !arried y the !on!erned a!tors into the

sanitarium in whi!h the &lm is eing shot# H?hen the do!tors will sayheart atta!'# ?he &lm

remained un&nished, the voi!e !on!ludes# Illusion and reality !ontinue to lur as an a!tress

a""ears to ehave in !hara!ter os!reen as she tou!hes the !rot!h of her &lm oyfriend with

the !omment Hiai!h'i (Halls) and the a!tor tells her to sto" it# But the same s!ene is later

re"eated within the &!tional narrative, !asting dout on the status of this &rst o!!urren!e# ?he

"eriod narrative of -.63 egins only after these non>diegeti! intrusions#

?he dire!tor (who is alive, it turns out) again destroys &lmi! illusion at an im"ortant un!ture of

the narrative: the lo!al "arty oss who has sele!ted the hero, +oisei 9i!h'hade as a !andidate

for Stalin doule, ta'es him to the train station loy Hwhere Stalin egan his heroi! ourney

and is aout to e"lain the great role 9i!h'hade will assume, when the &lm !uts to la!' and

white handheld &lming of the dire!tor laughing and ma'ing the sign for Ha s!rew loose with

hand at head#

Be!ause the sue!t of Comrade StalinJs ?ri" is, as we will see, !inemati! illusion as it "ertains

to the image of Stalin, viri'ade !onstantly uta"oses do!umentary and &!tional footage,

using !olor for the -.63 "resent, and la!' and white for e"isodes lin'ing +oisei to the 8eader

(do!umentary footage of Stalin, the diegeti! !ameramanJs footage, +oiseiJs s"ee!h in the

Stalin manner, +oiseiJs entering the river as doule to "rove the 8eaderJs health, the "hoto of

the grou" that "re"ares +oisei for his role), therey foregrounding oth StalinJs do!umentary

image and the arti&!iality of +oiseiJs imitation# S!enes with the dire!tor and a!tors are also

la!' and white, "ointing to the &lm as a whole as arti&!e# 2ie>Come to 8ife as &!tion# In the o"ening s!ene,

the dire!tor oth sings a few lines from the heroJs favorite song aout his hometown of Su!han,

unders!oring the autoiogra"hi!al nature of the &lm and highlighting the &lmma'ing "ro!ess:

H$ell, gang, readyP ood lu!', letJs start; At the !on!lusion, the &lm transitions out of its

diegeti! world through the rhymed words of the !raed mother of the murdered heroine: H8u',
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!hesno', goro'h, malina, na!hinaetsia 'artina# 9otom naoorot# I 'to 'ogo, 'to 'ogo deret,

ni'to ne "oimet (HKnion, garli!, "eas, ras"erries, the "i!ture is eginning# ?hen it goes the

other way round# And who thrashesFee!es whom, no one understands#)


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never learn mu!h aout the mysterious woman, why a man smeared with !lay &res an arrow at

her "assing train, why her former a"artment is o!!u"ied y Ue' suatters, why the son of

friends em"ties a frying "an of noodles on his motherJs head, why a !hild in a rait !ostume

!rosses her "ath in the street, or why the events in the silent &lm she wat!hes !orres"ond to

her own a!tions#


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elderly father are arrested, after a series of "eri"etias, at the eginning of the "urges#

Consumed y guilt and remorse, the *G2 interrogator handling her !ase shoots himself#

In GasilJ'ovJs And ?here are Cursed 2ays in Russia Again (-..1) a !am" oM!er who !olludes in

the murder of his daughterJs e' lover and the ra"e of a "risonerJs wife, loses the eloved

daughter in !hildirth and ends his life in isolation, s!orned and ree!ted y his grandson after

he learns the truth aout his inmate fatherJs death# ?he !on!lusion of the &lm shifts into an

e"erimental mode amidst o>s!reen laughter, the asurdist meta"hor of all the a!tors (oth

guards and a!tual !onvi!ts) dan!ing together, and a voi!eover !omment on 8eninJs

HtriumfalJnoe shestviethe trium"hant mar!h of the Revolution: HAll those tortured to death,

those tram"led, all those who remained alive, all those who elieved, those who were

de!eived, those with shoulder oards and those without, get ready for the trium"hant mar!h

a!'wards, together with my own !am" mar!h; ?he !oda thus dilutes the &lmJs a!!usatory

"ortrayal of the !orru"t !am" administration y de&ning oth the !ondemned and their ailers

as vi!tims of history#

In ?he +arriage with 2eath (-..7) Sasha, a young *G2 lieutenant on his &rst assignment,

su"ervises the ee!ution of several !ondemned men# ?he ee!ution is a!!identally witnessed

y a wedding "arty ta'ing a short!ut through the forest# A!!ording to a se!ret instru!tion, allsu!h witnesses must also e shot# After mu!h va!illation, all twenty>one memers of the

wedding "arty are ee!uted, with the dirty wor' "erformed y an old hand, Starshina ?atars'ii#

$hen left y the odies to guard against further intruders, the tormented ?atars'ii shoots

himself, as'ing in a sui!ide note to e Huried with those I have een shooting for si long

years# ?he lieutenant goes mad, hallu!inating "risoners he must eat and threatening his

soldiers with ee!ution as Hwitnesses# Kn!e again, these melodramas "erform usti!e as the

guilty "unish themselves#8eader of the nation has een

atta!'ed from all sides# Re"entan!e deserves its re"utation as the "re>eminent &lm on the era
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10/38

e!ause of its imaginative and en!y!lo"edi! re!itation of Stalinist myths, whi!h are

simultaneously integrated into a Fasha!' a!!ount of GarlamJs deeds that follows the general

!hronology of StalinJs a!tivities: an inauguration a!!om"anied y meaningless rhetori! &gured

as the gushing fountain of a ru"tured water main, the destru!tion of religion with the

sustitution of s!ienti&! materialism and the Soviet uto"ian "roe!tQ the !ourting and

suseuent destru!tion of the intelligentsiaQ the destru!tion of Kld Bolshevi'sQ the es!alating

asurdity of "urge rhetori! (Garlam de!lares that four out of three !itiens are enemies of the

state)Q the &nal stage of the "urges>>destru!tion y uota (rounding u" the 2araiselis)#

Re"entan!e dismantles the myth of the 8eader oth via dire!t re"resentation of his deeds and

!omi!>grotesue>asurd stylisti!s# (See $oll and Oounglood L6>-1.#) Garlam rememers an

insult and revenges himself on Sandro and +i'hail orisheli# %e toys with his future vi!tims y

"aying a friendly visit to Sandro and his family efore his arrest, y agreeing to +iriam and

+oiseiJs "etition regarding the !hur!h efore their arrest# In his "hysi!al as"e!t, Garlam is

!omi!ally universalied as all di!tators# At the height of the "urges his s"ee!hes are asurd and

grotesue: HItJs diM!ult to !at!h a la!' !at in a dar' room, es"e!ially if thereJs no !at there#

But we will# Garlam is the monstrous, satani! doule to the Christ>li'e Sandro# A!!ording to

Garlam, they are relatives, and Garlam is also an (inverted) artisti! "ersonality, with grotesue

o"erati! "erforman!es and sinister de!laiming of Sha'es"eare# %e is a iologi!al father, utwhen his son AvelJ !omes to sort himself out, he as's: H2onJt you re!ognie me, sonP $hy do

you !ome to the devil to !onfess your sinsP

2efense Counsel Sedov engages the "yramidal reat Damily in whi!h ea!h !itien has a

!ir!ums!ried o and is unale to !om"rehend the larger "i!ture or the rami&!ations of oneJs

a!tions# Sin!e res"onsiility devolves from the to" down and not vi!e versa, no individual is

fully answerale for an a!tion# Sedov dis!overs that the oM!ials who have !ondemned his

!lients are all de!ent "eo"le who sim"ly follow orders and have no understanding of what is

a!tually o!!urring#

Evtushen'oJs semi>autoiogra"hi!al StalinJs Duneral (-..1) aMrms the myth of the reat

Damily as it de&nes the unity of the 8eader and the 9eo"le, only to invert its im"lied ene&!ial

as"e!t: StalinJs death !auses deaths among his "eo"le# ?he signifying motif is the re!urring

a""earan!e of a sledge loaded with funeral wreaths, whose "easant driver 'ee"s as'ing,

H$here do they goP ?he wreaths "ertain to those !rushed to death on 9ush'in Street, near the

%all of Columns, where StalinJs ody lay in state, to the deranged woman who imagines herself

to e StalinJs se!ret wife and is run over y the limousine !arrying his ody, to 9ro'ofJev who

was uried without Fowers, all of whi!h had een reuisitioned for the 8eaderJs funeral, and to

the hero 5heniaJs girlfriend, who is 'illed when a tired soldier a!'s his tru!' into her#

?he reat Dather8eader myth is further e"li!ated

and !onseuently desa!raliedas "erforman!e, em"ty sign, sedu!tion and Dreudian"ro!ess# BalthaarJs Deasts !hroni!les the events of a -.36 anuet in agry, arranged for the

va!ationing Stalin and his !ir!le y *estor 8a'oa, the 9arty !hief of A'haia# ?he &lm


11/38

!onstru!ts leadershi" as "erforman!e, whi!h is uta"osed with the "erforman!e of the

A'haian dan!e ensemle and its star, Sandro of Chegem# StalinJs easts, as he himself !alls

them, also "ut on a show during the anuet: Goroshilov is an (im"li!itly vi!ious) glutton who

ites o the snout of a roast su!'ling "igQ Beria "a!es a!' and forth li'e a tiger stal'ing his

"rey and ga"es at the eautiful women dan!ersQ Stalin !alls the lamerained all>

union starosta alinin his Hall>union goat, eli!iting !om"liant leating# ?he A'haian dan!es

symoli!ally re"resent traditional so!ial !om"etition that StalinJs minions literally ena!t#

2an!ers !om"ete in a 'nife dan!e that ma'es the guests uneasy, their "aranoia fueled y their

own murderous a!tivities# ?he dan!ers !om"ete with ea!h other in sliding u" to Stalin without

tou!hing him, ust as Beria, Goroshilov and alinin !om"ete for StalinJs favor# Stalin himself

ehaves li'e the !hief of the trial grou" whi!h the dan!ers only "erform# %e tests Beria y

as'ing his wife to dan!e for them, ut rival 8a'oaJs wife turns out to e the etter dan!er#

8a'oa, and not Goroshilov, wins the !ontest for voroshilovs'ii strelo'# After Sandro wins

StalinJs favor y his lindfolded "erforman!e, the ensemle head notes that another dan!er is

now ealous of himQ StalinJs !olleagues are similarly ealous of ea!h other# Stalin tests the

aility of Sandro and another dan!er to down a large uantity of wine and distriutes food and

wine as rewards to the dan!ers, tearing a"art roast !hi!'ens with his hands, all the while railing

against Hgramotei (literate "eo"le), su!h as his "oliti!al rival Bu'harin# $hile de!rying the

strong family ties in the Cau!asus, he inFi!ts an a""ro"riately trial "unishment y ordering

the inno!ent rother of BeriaJs enemy "urged, so that the latter would feel eternal

res"onsiility for his rotherJs death# Stalin and SandroJs &nal "erforman!es re"resent "arallel

imaginings# Sandro re!alls his !hildhood meeting with Stalin the roer and wonders how

history would have een dierent, had he told his father aout the anditJs whereaouts# Stalin

imagines himself (driving an o>!art and holding a ay goat, ut in his usual military a!'et) as

that 2hugashvili who didnJt want to e!ome the ruler of Russia and who refused to !olle!tivie

the "easants out of "ity: H8et them live on their own, let ea!h have his own "ie!e of read and

his own glass of wine#

Comrade StalinJs ?ri" to Afri!a interrogates myth !reation y !inemaJs illusionisti! "ower,

s"e!i&!ally the &guration of the 8eader in its !elluloid emodiment# ?he Soviet mythology ofthe untou!hale and remote ody of the 8eader is destroyed here, as well as in hrustalev, y

an em"hasis on the "hysi!ality of StalinJs ody# As early as -.61, in his arti!le H?he Stalin +yth

in Soviet Cinema, AndrV Bain was !on!erned with the ways Stalin the histori!al &gure was

transformed into Stalin the !inemati! signi&er in &!tion &lms ?he Kath (liatva,-.40), ?he ?hird

Blow (?retii udar, -.4/) and ?he Battle of Stalingrad (Stalingrads'aia itva, -.4.): Hthe image

of Stalin "resented as NrealJ !onforms ea!tly to what a myth of Stalin would have him eto

what would e useful for him to e#


12/38

now e!omes the villainous sedu!er of Russia via his mu!h more !olorful etension, 8avrentii

Beria# If "ost!olonial theory argues that the violen!e of im"erialism is ins!ried on the odies of

women through ra"e, these &lms argue that totalitarian "ower is ins!ried through sedu!tion

that thoroughly !orru"ts# +i'hal'ov>on!halovs'iiJs ?he Inner Cir!le narrates the story of

StalinJs "roe!tionist, Ivan Sanshin, his relationshi" with the 8eader and his life with neighors

in his !ommunal a"artment# SanshinJs wife, Anastasiia, "er!eives Beria as funny rather than

frightening, whi!h enales him to su!!eed with her: HOou 'now, all the "eo"le are s!ared of

you, ut youJre 'ind of funny; W?hatJs right# $omen love me# Knly later, dis!arded y Beria

and in her madness, does she wish to eat mothalls e!ause of the furry (i#e#, satani!) ay

inside her# Stalin himself !arries out a "arallel "sy!hologi!al sedu!tion of Sanshin, the Russian

Everyman# ?he dire!tor instru!ted Ale'sandr 5ruev (Stalin): H?al' to Ivan as if you were

!oming on to a womanT +a'e him fall in love with you# Stalin was good at this (+i'hal'ov>

on!halovs'ii -41)# ?he &lm estalishes the love triangle Sanshin>Stalin>Anastasiia su!h that

the "rivate !onversations the !ou"le used to have in a large standing wardroe are eventually

dis"la!ed y a ust of Stalin in the same wardroe, and the !ou"le remains !hildless#

+esmeried y Stalin and amitious for himself, Ivan linds himself to moral issues>>the arrest

of inno!ent neighors and their small daughterJs inherited guilt# ?he meta>narrative of the &lm

is thus !on!retied in the "lot: Stalin sedu!ed a gullile ut !om"li!it nation# SanshinJs

"rofessor>neighor s"ea's the message: HIf it were not for su!h good, naXve and trusting Ivans,

as you are, in our world there would never have een a tyrant, a murderer, a devil# ?he Inner

Cir!le, whi!h was an Ameri!an "rodu!tion, ut also released in Russia, a""ears to e one of a

fewif not the only&lm on the Stalin era to assign lame to the Russian "eo"le#

In ?en Oears the villain, who needs "rote!tion from

the avenging hero, rings a gift to Stalin, a funhouse mirror in whi!h the memers of the

9olituro half>!omi!ally, half>seriously re!ognie their distorted forms as monstrous# Beria is

"resented as a tri!'ster hero, !hara!teried y seual e!ess, who gains his ends through

ruses: his aide, Had !o" Sar'iov, 'idna"s a young girl for Beria, "resents her to his oss and

tears o"en her dress, while Hgood !o" Beria sits her on his la" and !alms her down# ?he girl

e!omes his a!uies!ent mistress, the "ro!ess of her assimilation to BeriaJs monstrousness

!onveyed through their dan!e in front of another funhouse mirror#

?he &lms ?he 8ittle iant $ith a Big Se 2rive, ?he ?hief and +os!ow 9arade oer a Dreudian

!ritiuesometimes !omi!, sometimes seriousof the Dather8eader and of Stalinism as

im"erial "ower# In 8ittle iant the "oten!y of the Dather is dis"la!ed onto the more !olorful

&gure of Beria# Drom the time the hero +arat learns that the "rote!tor of his new lady love is

the !ountryJs H"ervyi !he'ist, he e!omes im"otent with all women, always imagining BeriaJs

shadow at the !riti!al moment# +arat is !ured only after he 'ills the oa !onstri!tor rival

(BeriaJs surrogate) for the love of a !ir!us sna'e dan!er#

?he ?hief o"erates on two levels: the story of Sania, a fatherless oy, and his mother who love

and are ruined y ?olian, a !harming !riminal, and the allegory of Stalin and the nation# A


13/38

"owerful, "otent male disguised in an honorale uniform a""ro"riates the fatherhood of an

or"haned oy, deforms his life values, and ta'es "ossession of eautiful, "assive, hel"less

mother (Russia), for!es her onto the road from the north to south of the entire !ountry (the

railroad mise>en>s!ne !ontinues Chu'hraiJs fatherJs Ballad of a Soldier), and ultimately

destroys and forgets her# ?he mother de!lares she will never love anyone as mu!h and Sania

&nally !alls ?olian H9a"J'a, as he is ta'en away from them (the nationJs emotional de"enden!y

on Stalin and fear of losing a strong leader)# In the end the oy ree!ts and 'ills his false father

(the 71th 9arty Congress), ut the fatherJs lega!y !ontinues to the "resent#


14/38

time, "erverted as they are y the system, fun!tion as agents of im"erial "ower, ena!ting

!astrating femininity#feminine, who most fully emodies what her lawyer eorgii

!alls HSoviet lust, the deadly fas!ination of 9rorva# eorgii is &rst attra!ted to ora!hevs'aia

in a "rote!ted "la!e ("rison), ut later, in her ed, when she turns him over, he !overs his

genitals in fear# $a'ing u" to see a 'nife in her hand, he es!a"es not only her !lut!hes, ut the

oundaries of 9rorva>+os'va itself, swimming +os'va>re'a, !rossing the ty"e of ridge y

whi!h "easants swarmed into the !ity, ho"ing for a etter life, and heading home to *ihnii>

?agil# $hile the $riter es!a"es "rorva through death, Ania and osha, though doomed, es!a"e

for the moment y dro""ing out, y moving to the margins of Soviet so!iety# In the !on!luding

s!enes of the &lm, Ania sings in the foyer of a movie theatre aout memory and the moment in

a "oliti!ally in!orre!t foreign language: H8aisse le monde se taire, Give une illusion !ette nuit,8e dernier fois, danse ave! moi, amour# +emers of the audien!e egin to leave and &le into

the viewing hall to wat!h more of the -.3. !olor "arade footage that egan +os!ow 9arade#

"urge -.31s# At the end of the

&lm, only the "ortrait of Stalin mounted on a trolley with a noisy rass and "oints to !oming

events# Be!ause of ermanJs !ons!ious !hoi!e of a H!inema of the a!'ground, life as

e"erien!ed y individuals, the !onventional foreground and the myth are either degraded or

largely asent# Stalin, who lies in his own e!rement, and a hysteri!al Beria "lay only it "arts

in hrustalev# ?he "ower elite is re"resented in a metonymi!al motifa string of la!' !ars

roaring through the night streets of the !ity# Although lens'ii and his !olleagues are fully

aware of the reat Dather (H$hen *ero dies, su!h ee!utions will egin# $hat little do!torsP

$ho needs usP), erman is instead !on!erned with the re!onstru!tion of (his own) memory,

throwing us a line to the "ast (lens'ii and his sonJs tutor, Garvara SemenovnaJs dire!t

address), therefore dis"la!ing the histori!al !enter to the "eri"hery#


15/38

A"art from ermanJs larger "roe!t of re!onstru!ting the "ast, 8a"shin is "rimarily !on!erned

with the Bolshevi' uto"ian endeavor to re"rogram human "ersonality# $hile erman targets

the myth of the *ew +an in its su!ategory of reforging harmful so!ial elements, he goes even

further in &guring the world of -.36 as dee"ly dysfun!tional # ?he reforging motif "ervades all

as"e!ts of the narrative from the arts to "oli!e wor'# ?he lo!al theatre "rodu!tion of

9ogodinJs ?he Aristo!rats (Aristo'raty)deals with the re>edu!ation of !riminals# erman shows

the ending of the "lay, in whi!h the reforging is su!!essful# In !ontrast, everywhere outside,

even in the theatre loy, the great e"eriment is negated at every turn# Adashova "re"ares

for her role in the "lay y tal'ing to the "rostitute aterina, who has een senten!ed to the

!am"s for re>edu!ation, ut the !onversation ends adly when aterina u"ends Adashova,

dis"laying her underwear, ust as 8a"shin wal's in# ?he "ioneersJ e"eriment in the theatre

loy, !onditioning a fo not to eat a rooster 'e"t in the same !age, ends adly when the

hungry fo regresses and devours the ird# ?he SolovJev gang, whi!h 8a"shin "ursues

throughout the &lm, are !riminals in the Russian tradition, even inhaiting arra!'s that were a

fo!us of "re>revolutionary !riminal a!tivity# 8a"shinJs eorts to erase what !annot e reformed

fail utterly when his friend hanin is 'nifed y the very murderer 8a"shin has een "ursuing,

yet misses at the !riti!al moment# *either the sin!ere and dedi!ated 8a"shin nor anyone else is

ale to rema'e !haoti! yt, the andits !annot e reforged and hanin !an arely wait to

es!a"e this "rovin!ial future "aradise#

%ammer and Si!'le tells of the ma'ing, rise and fall of the *ew +an, Evdo'im unetsov, from

the ody of a "easant woman, Evdo'iia unetsova# ?he &lm dis!redits the myth y "arody,

!on!retiing to the "oint of asurdity the dis!ourse of the *ew +an in Soviet "ra!ti!e: medi!al

e"erimentation in servi!e to eugeni!s (the se>!hange o"eration in whi!h 2r +aria as 2r

Dran'enstein "rodu!es Hthe !reature)Q learned "erforman!e of gender as Evdo'im lifts

weights, learns to urinate standing u" and ma'e love to a womanQ a!uisition of Soviet

sue!tivity (Hor"haned y his do!tor>surrogate fatherJs sui!ide, Evdo'im wor's to !reate

himself as model Soviet sue!t, internaliing the ideal of the *ew +an as Sta'hanovite,

outstanding student, family man, "eo"leJs de"uty, model for +u'hinaJs $or'er and Colle!tive

Darm $oman)Q !inemati! "rodu!tion of the *ew +an (the "arodi! newsreel footage ofEvdo'imJs a!hievementsQ the ournalist and s!ul"torJs &lming of Evdo'imJs life)# Evdo'imJs

attem"t to re!laim sue!tivity ends in the destru!tion of his mas!uline *ew +an identity as

Stalin returns him to the feminine y naming him (HComrade 2usia)# After es!a"ing the

stainless steel !ar!ass of +u'hinaJs s!ul"ture that !onstrains his self, Evdo'im is re>!on&ned in

a se!ondary iteration of the myth, the "aralyed ody of the heroi! invalid# ?he &lm negates

the myth of or!hagin and +eresJev y re"la!ing their will to re!laim their identities as *ew

+en y Evdo'imJs mental and "hysi!al a""ro"riationra"e y his mas!ulinied wife and

!urator, 8ia, and his es!a"e into death#


16/38

%arvest ?ime further ma'es a strong argument

against so!ial engineering, as the heroine regresses from Soviet elief to the Christianity

su"erim"osed on the Chuvashes and, ultimately, to the surviving "agan religion# As her family

life deteriorates, Sta'hanovite useva addresses orthodo "rayers to the Fag fetish and later,

in a des"erate attem"t to save her dying husandJs life, goes out a dawn to sa!ri&!e a "et

goose y a sa!red tree# 2is!arding her su"er&!ial identity as *ew $oman, she "erforms a

ritual 'amlanie, whi!h allows the shaman to ourney to the lower world to otain the release of

the si!' manJs soul from evil s"irits# If the surfa!e theme of the &lm is the destru!tion of

individual life y an ideology, the less ovious underlying message is the !on!omitant

eradi!ation of traditional "easant !ulture, whi!h the &lm sees as an authenti! way of life, y a

su"erim"osed stratum of uranied Soviet !ulture (Salys Hleaning +eaning)#

%istori!al K"timism

Soviet histori!al o"timism is roundly dis!redited in +y Driend Ivan 8a"shin: the irthday "arty

"arti!i"ants loo' forward to the !oming war and Adashova "redi!ts in!reased "rodu!tion of

Arau>2iurso !ham"agne in -.47, ut the audien!e 'nows otherwise# As the froen odies of

the SolovJev andJs vi!tims are loaded onto a tru!', 8a"shin o"ines defensively, H$eJll !lear

the land of s!um, turn it into a lossoming garden, and still have time to stroll in it ourselves#?he heavy mist !overing the lands!a"e then lifts, revealing a froen wasteland on whi!h

nothing will ever grow (+i'haili' 3.)#

Soviet millennial thin'ing, in whi!h the uto"ian future invests the "resent with its signi&!an!e,

is "arodied in Re"entan!e as orisheliJs wife sings BeethovenJs Kde to @oyafter her husand

and SandroJs arrests, and the musi! !ontinues to "lay over the s!enes of SandroJs trial and

ee!ution# In &lms on the era, the su""orting !eleration !ulture of %igh Stalinism tends to e

referen!ed via "eriod footage of two 'inds: +ay 2ay and &'ulJtura "arades and notoriously

8iuovJ KrlovaJs dan!e on the !anon in?he Cir!us (?sir')# Even though in ?he Cir!us the dan!e

arti&!ially stages the ha""iness mas'ing +arion 2ionJs sualtern "osition, "erestroi'a and

"ost>Soviet !inema inoma, ?he Inner Cir!le, 2efen!e Counselor Sedov and other &lms e"loitthe ethi!al "arado of !he!het'a on a !annon against the dar' underelly of the era# Knly in

Sedov, one of the most "er!e"tive &lms on our to"i!, does the hero laugh at KrlovaJs

"erforman!e, !learly &nding relief from the urdens of the !riminal Raio !ase that threatens to

destroy him#

In ?he ?hief ?olian, alone of the movie audien!e, laughs derisively at the o"timisti! mar!hing

s!ene that o"ens rigorii Ale'sandrovJs S"ring (Gesna)# In +os!ow 9arade2y'hovi!hnyi gives

us the visual "leasure of Stalinist s"e!ta!le: the golden statues at the 2ruha narodov

fountain have a hy"er>real glitter# *evertheless Ania and the young writer im"ulsively run

through a 2inamo "arade, as an overhead shot foregrounds the disru"tion of the

!horeogra"hed s"e!ta!le, and Ania later laughs !ontem"tuously as "rison oM!ials stand at

attention, !ounting down to the eginning of a +ay 2ay "arade#


17/38

?he Enemy of the 9eo"le

?he myth of enemies of the "eo"le is, of !ourse, de!onstru!ted through every !inemati! arrest

of inno!ents in Re"entan!e, 2efen!e Counsel Sedov, ?en Oears $ithout the Right to

Corres"ond, ?he Cold Summer of J63, ?omorrow was the $ar, ?he 8aw, oma, and other &lms#

Sedov "rovides the most etensive oM!ial !onstru!tion of enemies of the "eo"le and

de!onstru!ts the logi! of widely a!!e"ted usti&!ations for arrests# Di!tionalied !hief "rose!utor

Gyshins'iiJs raid s"ee!h segues into do!umentary footage of +i'oianJs analogous s"ee!h

from Slavnye dvadtsatJ let, a history of the se!urity for!es, with oth mirrored earlier in the

language of "rison head +atiu'hin: mad or vile dogs ("oganye soa'i), hardened (materye)

enemies, fas!ist hirelings (fashist'ie naimity), @a"anese and English s"ies, ?rots'y>Bu'harinite

saoteurs (diversanty), "oisoners of !attle and "eo"le and so on# Sedov also "arses the

res"onse s"e!trum of diering generations to !harges of wre!'ing# ?he oldest agronomist

attem"ts to "rove inno!en!e through fa!ts: HI gave Seregin money for valen'i for +asha, not to

destroy a tra!tor# ?he middle>aged rother ma'es an argument from "ersonal motive: H$ould I

do su!h a thing when I have four !hildren and another on the wayP ?he youngest rother is

the least rational and analyti!al, dis"laying the mindset of the "ost>revolutionary generation,

sim"ly shouting: H$e are Soviet "eo"le; A fourth man veralies the myth of treason from

elow, of whi!h leaders are ignorant: H?his is a !ons"ira!yQ itJs IagodaJs re!'lings (the

"eorative H"osledyshi Iagody)# And all logi! la"ses in the "athology of the madman who egs

Sedov for hel" e!ause Hthey are "re"aring to low u" the metro system and assassinate

Comrade aganovi!h#

In Re"entan!e Garlam de!lares that four out of every three !itiens are enemies and

+uratovJs ?he +anus!ri"t, set at the eginning of the anti>!osmo"olitan !am"aign, frames all

!itiens as "otentially guilty e!ause the entire "o"ulationfrom the writers to wor'ers at a

rest homehave "ersonal ties to enemies of the "eo"le# ?he %ouse on Sand ma'es a more

radi!al "oint regarding the arrest of inno!ents# ?o the de!e"tion "lot of ?atiana ?olstaiaJs story

HSonia, with its imaginary love, the &lm a""ends the very "hysi!al in&delity of the two family

memers who hoodwin' the ha"less and naive Sonia# *ot only does SoniaJs e"istolary

roman!e, !on!o!ted y the family, "rove to e more enduring and real than the Hreal loveaair within the etended family, ut ?he %ouse on Sand uestions mainstream !inemaJs

mono"athi! idealiation of intelligentsia "urge vi!tims as good "eo"le# ?he !ruel o'ers, the

writer 8era, who dies in the "urges, and his sister>in>lawlover Ada are "resented as anything

ut inno!ents#

In oma the &rst &lm set in the !am"s, the student +ariia, starving and seually degraded y

oth female inmates and male guards, signs a denun!iation of her !am" oM!er>lover to avoid

an additional senten!e and the loss of their ay, and is for!ed to denoun!e a driver for

ringing al!ohol into the womenJs !am"# ?he suerings of this Agamenian homo sa!er &nd no

usti&!ation as +ariia is "ut out to die in the night !old y angry !riminal inmates#

Ale'sandr +ittaJs 8ost in Sieria, a Russian>British

!o>"rodu!tion, set in the U8A and with a detailed re"resentation of its warring !riminal


18/38

elements (su'i vs vory), oasts an unusual foreign hero, whose story is !al!ulated to a""eal to

$estern audien!es# In -.46 a British ar!heologist, Andrew +iller, mista'en y S+ERS% for a

s"y, is 'idna""ed while wor'ing at the Iranian order and sent to the !am"s, where he

manages to survive and even fall in love# At the last moment, he is saved from !ertain death in

olyma y a reuest for his release from his former "atroness, the ShahJs wife# +iller also

e!omes ahomo sa!erstarving, degraded and sui!idalwho develo"s into a moral man#

Com"letely demoralied y a doule degradation, the harsh !am" !onditions and the

dehumaniing of "oliti!al "risoners y !riminal inmates, +illerJs e"i"hani! moment !omes

when he &ghts a!', eating u" the oending !riminal who has "ut a dead rat in his sou", and

de!lares, HIJm a human eing; +iller refuses to inform on fellow inmates, dares to attem"t an

es!a"e from the !am", saves the life of an or"han girl, and refuses to stoo" to a thievesJ "loy

to avoid transfer to the death !am"s of olyma# %is transformation is an etreme eam"le (he

egins as a free !itien of the $est) of Aleander Et'indJs oservation aout the narrative

"attern of !itien to vi!tim to moral !itien in Russian &lms dealing with the !am"s as indi!ative

of the wor'ings of re!u"erative memory, whi!h transforms the histori!al reality of the vi!timJs

senseless suering into a moral ourney (Et'ind)#wor'er K'osh'inJs marriage fails# Adashova

has !onstant migraines and is always on the edge of hysteria, K'osh'in osessively ta'es histem"erature, 8a"shin himself suers from seiures !aused y a Civil $ar wound, haninJs wife

dies of di"htheria, 8a"shinJs !ommanderJs daughter has 'idney disease, and a "aralyed oy

inhaits the town suare# (See ovalov and +i'haili'#)


19/38

?he world of -.63 in hrustalev is fragmented,

!haoti! and hysteri!al in its narrative and mise>en>s!ne# ermanJs method, the !onstru!tion of

narrative via the emotional>intuitive logi! of memory i#e#, as sue!tive history, disru"ts the

!lassi! "aradigm# %is !ons!ious em"hasis on the a!'ground, life as really lived, rather than

the foreground of a uni&ed Stalinist !eleration !ulture, de&nes a sense of s"lintered reality# In

the &rst half of the &lm, lens'ii wanders a disorienting and layrinthine s"a!e, eginning withthe !haos of his generalJs a"artment !rammed with relatives (in!luding two unregistered @ewish

sisters who live in a !loset), to the luurious a"artment of a !olleague, !luttered with a !haos of

e!ess oe!ts and e!!entri! "ersonalities, to the !orridors, tunnels, and hidden s"a!es of his

hos"ital, where he dis!overs his own doule, to the !ellar room of his sonJs tutor, &lled with

disintegrating oe!ts# ?he Hthingness of ermanJs mise>en>s!ne, whether the e"ensive

furniture and whatnots of elite a"artments or the ro'en>down athtus and eds of the "oor,

eaggerates the sense of disorder and !haos in the &lm# S"a!e is deformed y reverse

"ers"e!tives, !lose>u"s of "eo"le and large oe!ts of whi!h we see only "arts (Bereov!hu'

-.4, 71->17)# lens'ii egins his morning y hanging u"side down on the rings# ?he inversion

is a!tualied when he is arrested, ra"ed y ur'i in the trans"ort van, then "lu!'ed from his

"ersonal hell and trans"orted to heavendressed in !lean !lothes and sent to attend the dyingStalinand &nally de"osited in front of his former a"artment#

In oth mainstream and e"erimental &lms the State and so!iety ena!t not the Soviet legality

of the -.30 !onstitution, ut a "ervasive !riminality# $hen, in ?en Oears the hero, +isha, with

the little red oo' of the !onstitution in hand, returns after the war to see' legal re!ourse

against 5avJialov, his fatherJs friend whose false a!!usation led to the fatherJs arrest and

ee!ution in -.3L, he is warned y a lawyer that the "owerful 5avJialov might not go to "rison

even if he had 'illed someone on the street# +isha enfor!es the law himself y ee!uting

5avJialov and then waits to e arrested himself#

A numer of &lms on the Stalin era !onstru!t the entire !ountry as a lo!us of !riminality with

the 9eo"le as its vi!tims# In ?he ?hief Russia is oth du"ed and sedu!ed y a meta"hori!alStalin>father &gure# In +os!ow 9arade the young writer de&nes the H"rorva as: Hwhat we really

have now, the most im"ortant thing that everyone in Russia now fearsit doesnJt eist# ItJs a

!onvention# ItJs not a "erson or !on!e"t# ItJs sim"lynothing# But a nothing that "ulls you in

and destroys you# S!ares and !ri""les you# 8i'e H"rorva# Dor no reason# By smell# Dor the hell

of it#


20/38

$hile the glittering s"e!ta!le of Stalinist +os!ow enti!es and destroys, the !on!rete

re"resentation of H"rorva in the &lm is the serial murderess ora!hevs'aia# H9rorva attra!ts

ut entra"s: Sania is tra""ed y the s!heme to "rodu!e a fa'e stallion and "erishes, as do

Gasilii and his wife (oth agents of the system) and the allerina who su!!ums to GasiliiJs

landishments# ora!hevs'aia fas!inates and entra"s the lawyer eorgii through her

seualied !riminality (se and then murder)# %e des!ries her as the emodiment of Soviet

lust (sovets'oe vohdelenie) and re!ounts her murder of four men: HShe has four !rimes and

not the least remorse# SheJs a gorged monster# +y +use is a monster# In her ignoran!e,

analogous to that of the underedu!ated *G2 elite, she hates all +us!ovites: HI donJt li'e

+us!ovites# ?heyJre sort ofwell>rought>u"# I would ust slaughter all of them#


21/38

the villagers are herded into a arn y the anditsQ as they are released after the andits are

wi"ed out and the former Stalinist authorities (the trading "ost manager and harormaster)

again ta'e !hargeQ as the former e' who saved the village re!ognies a fellow e>"risoner,

oth othered vi!tims among the festive +os!ow !rowds#

?he erosene SellerJs $ife is set in -.63, in a surreal and im"overished aliningrad,

metonymi!al to the !ountry under late Stalinism# ?he surgeon 9asha UdalJtsov was im"risoned

for negligen!e in the lood transfusion death of a "atient and e!ame a street vendor of

'erosene after his release# %is evil twin, Sergei, who ruined 9asha y swit!hing the !ontainers

of lood, e!omes the !hairman of the !ity !oun!il and at the same time, the head of the lo!al

ma&a# $hen a "rose!utor is sent to investigate his rie ta'ing, 9asha "lays the "art of his twin

in a masuerade meant to !onfuse the "rose!utor# ood and evil, as &gured in the twin

rothers, are thus indistinguishale in Stalinist so!iety, and the !ity government is allied with

the !riminal world#

Dreee>2ie>Come to 8ife is a !oming of age story set in the "ost>$orld $ar II Russian Dar East#

Galer'a, a fatherless oy who lives with his armaid mother, runs away to Gladivosto' after

!ausing a train wre!' and oins a gang of thieves# %is ?atar friend aliia "ersuades him to

leave, ut the !hildren are tra!'ed down y the gang memers, who fear dis!overy# aliia is'illed and Galer'a adly inured# In "ost>war Russia, the town, the 5one and thievesJ worlds

leed into one another e!ause all share violen!e as the normal !hannel of !ommuni!ation#

K""osed is the world of @a"anese 9K$s, distinguished y dignity, "ea!e, !are for fellow

"risoners and uiet song#

9arallel to the guards, dogs and !am" ee!utions is the violen!e in the !ivilian one: Galer'a

'no!'s down a small oy without thin'ingQ aliia 'no!'s down Galer'aQ neworn 'ittens are

routinely drownedQ a thief is eaten in the mar'etQ Galer'aJs mother eats himQ a dan!e ends in

the usual rawl, and so on# Cam", s!hool and !ivilian s"a!e are !ongruent# At the eginning of

the &lm it is un!lear whether the dirty, tired "eo"le !oming out of a mine are e's or free

wor'ers# ?he s!ene re"eats later in the &lm, now with the red star ato" the mine, reFe!ted in a

"uddle# $or'ers, "risoners and State are one#

?he lo!al s!hool "rin!i"al has !lose ties to the !am" administration: e's are sent to !lean u"

the overFowing s!hool latrine and he as's for &ve "risoners to ere!t "oles and ared wire

around the s!hool# A woman tea!her !asually uses a !am" meta"hor to des!rie noise in the

s!hool uilding: H?heyJve turned the s!hool into a torture !hamer# $hen will they sto"

sawingP ?he "rin!i"al orders a !u"oard from the @a"anese 9K$s, ut they ma'e him a !oMn

instead (their usual order), to the amusement of a !am" guard#

$hen a thief is !aught in the mar'et and eaten y the towns"eo"le, an *G2 agent !omes on

the s!ene with the !omment, HIs that the way to hitP and does a "rofessional o on the thief#

In the immediately following s!ene Galer'aJs mother eats him for su""osedly stealing fromher "urse# ?he motherJs oyfriend is a !am" ee!utioner who !arries "hotos of the vi!tims in

his a!' "o!'et# A e' wat!hes through the window as !am" guards gole sou"Q oth are

hungry# Galer'a runs away e!ause he is !onvin!ed his mother will turn him in as an enemy of

the "eo"le# Both Galer'a and a &fteen year old girl inmate attem"t to es!a"e on the same

freight train# ?he guardJs H$ho are you running fromP addressed to the girl, a""lies eually to

Galer'a# In their treatment of the !hildren, the thieves are li'ened to *G2 interrogators: H%eJll

!onfess to me# 8et me have him; $hen dis!ussing the murder of the !hildren: HI really li'e this

sort of thing; aliiaJs mother, !raed y grief, utters the signifying !oda to the &lm: Hand who

trashes whom, no one !an understand#

In ?he -1-st ilometer (711-), 8eonid +ariaginJs autoiogra"hi!al &lm set in the summer of

-.63, the teenage heroJs !losest ties are to a lo!al gang of thieves and its leader, ostia

onovalov, who dis"enses more home truths aout the State and the 9eo"le than the oyJs

"arents or tea!hers# ?he "arallel etween the oy and the thieves emerges most for!efully at


22/38

the end: the hero leaves for +os!ow on the night train, aandoning his lover Rita# As he is

erated y RitaJs mother, who runs the station sna!' ar, one of the thieves em"ties her !ash

register#

CK+9E*SA?KRO DI8+S

?his !ategory strives to re!over some as"e!t of the era from its negative !onnotations# Kne of

the very earliest &lms, Iurii araJs ?omorrow was the $ar, set in -.41, is not only

!om"ensatory, ut !onformist in its regression to ?haw era ideals#$orld $ar II wre!'ers and informers, is nostalgi! for an idealied Civil $ar era, whi!h

su""osedly united oth a"oliti!al intelle!tuals and !ommissars in a ust !ause#

Kne grou" of !om"ensatory &lms strives to rehailitate the idealist, "atrioti! Communists of

the Stalin era# $ith lower>level "rofessionals li'e the mining engineer father of+irror for a

%ero (-./L) or dete!tive !hief Ivan 8a"shin of the Ale'sei erman &lm, re!overy is "ossile

e!ause these individuals did their mostly non>"oliti!al os !ons!ientiously, did not ta'e an

a!tive role in re"ressions, ut ty"i!ally suered nonetheless# ?he father in +irror struggles to'ee" a mine safe in the fa!e of rising "rodu!tion uotas and is &nally arrested, as his son later

learns# ?he frame narrator of 8a"shin de!lares his love to the "eo"le of his !hildhood, a "ast

whi!h erman see's to re!over as it was 'nown y himself and his "arentsJ generation# ?he

dire!tor shows dee" sym"athy for the selFess idealism of his fatherJs generation, sustained y

the em"ty "romise of a millenarian future# 8a"shin is set in -.36, a time of relative "ea!e and

"ros"erity, ust efore the "urges in whi!h the hero would have "erished# In the end,

oth 8a"shin and hrustalev, +y Car; elaorate ermanJs larger theme of shared !ognitive

limitation, the fathersJ inno!ent inaility to gras" the signi&!an!e of events in the "resent

moment, whether the a""roa!hing "urges or the !oming war or the death of Stalin (Condee

-/0, 7-7>-3)#

?he "rolemati! &lm of this grou" is the famous Burnt y the Sun, whi!h see's to re!over a

"easant Civil $ar hero (a re&ned Cha"aev), who "erished in the "urges#


23/38

athroe# +itia "roe!ts multi"le, mostly "erformative, identities: the lind old man at the end

of a "ioneer "arade, the magi!ian from +agri, the Summer Santa, the +itia we all 'new, the

sinister man in a gas mas', musi!ian, singer, dan!er, storyteller, and *G2 agent#

*evertheless his "erformative identities !ontain elements of truth e#g#, the !ir!umstan!es of his

servi!e to the State situate him as a elated "arti!i"ant at the end of the Soviet histori!al

"arade and as magi!ian from +aghre, he referen!es his years in Dran!e: although H+aghre

refers to *orth Afri!a, the word literally means Hthe "la!e of sunset or west# After his grand

entran!e "erforman!e, he "lays and sings the HGesti la giua (H9ut on the Costume) aria

from I 9aglia!!i in whi!h Canio dis!overs his wifeJs etrayal, ut must nevertheless don his

!lown !ostume, for the show must go onand for +itia the show is ust eginning# +ulti"le

hiding shots in Burnt y the Sun visually su""ort +itiaJs mas'ing: he is hidden ehind a glass

door from his former tutor 9hili""e as he "lays Russian rouletteQ he is os!reen as he washes

o his old man disguise and tells lies aout his "ersonal lifeQ he dis!ards his roe only in

os!reen s"a!eQ as he tells the fairytale aout his "ast, he re"eatedly goes ehind a la!e

!urtainQ his !onversation with otov aout the arrest is hidden from +arusia, who !annot hear

ehind a glass door#

Burnt y the Sun in!or"orates a fol'lori! stratum

that !omes out of the lines of the H+ar!h of Aviators sung y the "arading "ioneers at the

eginning of the &lm: H$e were orn to ma'e fairy tales !ome true and !ontinues in +itiaJs!reated s'a'a# $hile he vindi!tively identi&es otov as the fairytale monster ash!hei the

Immortal, at the eginning of the &lm he self>identi&es "erformatively to *adia as an ogre:

H$hom do I smellP# ?his fol'lori! !ode, in its imri!ations with the "aradoes of life in Stalinist

so!iety, su""orts the framing of +itia as villain and otov as hero# ?he surfa!e narrative

of Burnt y the Sun is !on!erned with the "urge of a memer of the Soviet military elite# In the

dee" narrative, a stranger arrives in a stale so!iety, destailies and destroys it through

"erforman!es that oth de!eive and e"ose the truth# %owever +itiaJs "erforman!es far

e!eed their oM!ial "ur"ose: to forestall sui!ide or the destru!tion of eviden!e, a sue!t must

e ignorant of the a""roa!hing arrest and, in any !ase, +itia violates "ro!edure y forewarning

otov# ?he e!essive, gratuitous etravagan!e of +itiaJs "erforman!es identi&es him as a

tri!'ster W a transgressive fol'lori! &gure, oth a mali!ious destroyer and mis!hievous"ran'ster, driven y his own desires, who is ale to !hange sha"es and ado"t disguises, and

uses his wits rather than rute for!e to attain his ends# ?hrough his "ran's and violations of

!onvention, the amoral tri!'ster may fun!tion as a !ulture hero, revealing the truth aout a

so!iety through his anti>so!ial a!tivities# Although he is !unning in laying tra"s for others, he is

often not suM!iently !unning to avoid them himself (%yde 3>-4, Radin iii)#


24/38

8i'e the tri!'ster, +itia has lived his life under "hysi!al and veral disguises and "ossily there

is no longer a real self ehind the shifting mas's or Hthe real self lies ea!tly there, in the

moving surfa!es and not eneath (%yde 64)# +itia uses his wits to ee!t oth his "erforman!e

and s"irit otov away# %e "lays "ran's, graing +arusia under water and "ulling a !hair away

from iri'# %is attitude toward otov, who sent him out of the !ountry and then married

+arusia, is uniformly mali!ious# +itia disru"ts the status uo y his sudden a""earan!e and his

truth>telling: he !alls +arusiaJs un!le a "olygamist, re"eats otovJs K9U "hone numer to

him, gro"es the "hoi! s"inster +o'hovaJs reasts and "oints out her !areless dusting, and

!alls iri' a lover of sweet wines and undemanding women# %is fairytale tells truths that the

family does not wish to revisit# *evertheless the tri!'ster is often too smart for his own good:

+itia himself falls into the symoli! tra" laid for otov: at the ea!h he !uts himself on the

ro'en glass that otov had earlier un!ons!iously avoided#

Rather than fo!using on the more !ommon melodrama of vi!timiation, another grou" of

!om"ensatory &lms stages Stalinism via modes of a!tive and overt resistan!e to State terror,

resistan!e whi!h is simultaneously &gured as !omi! with the added lift of !hanson and light

instrumental musi!# @ust as with the vigilante &lm, audien!es rea" satisfa!tion from the

su!!essful "erforman!e of resistan!e and usti!e (however tem"orary), while transgressive

!omedy and musi! serve to distan!e, to allow the audien!e to !ome to terms with, to "ut away,and, in some !ases, remythologieat least visuallya disturing, "ainful era# In 9etr

?odorovs'iiJs En!ore, Another En!ore, the !olonel and young lieutenant, who have onded in

homo>so!ial triangulation over a shared woman, get roaring drun' and eat u", in "rolonged

far!i!al detail involving dis"lays of long underwear and hysteri!al wives, the lo!al S+ERS%

maor S'idonen'o, the villain who is res"onsile for the ruin of all the &lmJs heroes#

In +os!ow 9arade weJre told from the very

eginning that in -.3. the USSR is allied with ermany, Stalin is all "owerful after the "urges,

the only resistan!e having !ome from horses and women# $hat follows is the legend (these

&lms rely on them) of the reellious stallion Rafa', who refused to mar!h to +ay 2ay "arademusi! and threw all his riders, and the reellious "halli! woman, Ania, who did the same#

?hereJs even a reellious tro"i!al &sh in the &lm, a s"e!ies of Ania doule# $hile the mare

+arseillaise, eui""ed with an arti&!ial "enis from the "ro" de"t of the Bolshoi, is sustituted

as a do!ile mount for the army !ommander leading the "arade, AniaJs resistan!e is not so

easily !astrated# ?he &lmJs humor is su""orted y !aaret songs and ironi! !arousel musi!

throughoutthe walt of lifeeven at an ee!ution# ?he ironi!, non>diegeti! musi! is

a""ro"riate e!ause in the Rafa' story, in "arade and remlin anuet s!enes, the &lm

engages musi! as the 'eystone of Stalinist "ro"aganda# Kne way or another, itJs all aout

mar!hing to the musi!#

$ith the "assage of time the need for moral udgment re!edes and the &lmma'er !an

!ontem"late the era from an aestheti! view"oint# $hile re"resenting state violen!e against the

individual in its narrative, +os!ow 9arade remythologies the Stalin era via a !om"ensatory


25/38

admiration for its visual !ulture and musi!# 2y'hovi!hnyiJs stated aim was to re!over the "eriod

aestheti!ally for modern audien!es:

I 'now that we need to !hange our attitude toward our "ast# ItJs asolutely untrue today

loo'ing wife, Daina, is

'idna""ed y BeriaJs men straight from a s'ating rin', and then !lum"s around BeriaJs

a"artments wearing i!e s'ates#

Daina resists Beria with insults and su!!eeds e!ause he views her &rst as drun', then !ray in

!lassi! fashion, e!ause she s"ea's the truth: H$e !arried you at a demonstration, your

"ortrait was "un!tured y a nail


26/38

Another form of !om"ensatory resistan!e turns on

the less heroi! idea that it is "ossile and ne!essary to es!a"e from the "ervasive hegemoni!

!ulture# Sometimes it is via the usual route: In %ammer and Si!'le the "aralyed hero,

monumentalied as his own museum ehiit, tri!'s his daughter into fa!ilitating his es!a"e into

death# ?he young writer of +os!ow 9aradees!a"es through sui!ide# +ore interestingly, the

lawyer eorgii es!a"es "rorva, the la!' hole of Stalinism, returning to *ihnii ?agil, his

hometown a!'water, via an old railroad ridge, a reversal of an i!oni! image the ridges y

whi!h "easants streamed into the !ity after the Revolution, loo'ing for a etter life#

?he &rst half of hrustalev, +y Car; de!onstru!ts the myth of a uni&ed !ulture and rationally

fun!tioning so!iety through his use of s"a!e and !amera angles# Kn!e lens'ii de!ides u"on

es!a"e, his "reviously errati! s"atial "ath, now mostly outdoors, e!omes fo!used and dire!t in

the se!ond half of the &lm# ?he !losing e"isode, in whi!h he has es!a"ed y dro""ing out of the

!enterJs so!ial>"rofessional hierar!hy, shows him as a train !ondu!tor in an o"en railroad !ar,

alan!ing a glass of wine on his head to entertain his !ir!le of drivers and "rostitutes# ?his

se!ond es!a"e, the &nal railroad tri" to somewhere (or nowhere), dis"lays, in "la!e of lens'iiJs

"reviously inverted i#e#, unalan!ed, fate, an eually !arnivalied utsu!!essful alan!ing a!t,

signifying an es!a"e from the random and disordered Stalinist universe#


27/38

remote train de"ot where Ignat !an wor' under the radar# Elsa gives u" her ermani!

sue!tivity and female voi!e, assuming the "ersona of a mute, a disaled ty"e traditionally

loved and "rote!ted y the Russian "o"ulation#

Dinally, several !om"ensatory &lms re!over the "eo"le of the era via traditional national traits

that eist outside of or "redate Soviet era dis!ourse# Rostots'iiJs Drom the 8ife of Dedor

uJ'in is an early "erestroi'a &lm, one of the few that address "easant life during the Stalin

era# By the late forties, when the a!tion of the &lm egins, uJ'in has already een through

the meatgrinder: he had married and estalished his household efore the Revolution, was

arrested in -.3L and had otained his freedom y volunteering to &ght during the war# 2uring

the "ost>war famine years he de!lares his intention to leave the 'ol'ho, whi!h "ays him H67

'ilos of u!'wheat mied with s"arrow dro""ings annually, not enough to feed his family, to

e!ome a edinoli!hni'# uenJ'ov, the semi>literate 'ol'ho !hairman and enemy of Dedor,

who is a graduate of the agri!ultural a!ademy, then attem"ts to get him e"elled from the

'ol'ho as a malingerer, without !rediting him for /41 earned wor' days, im"oses doule taes

and ta'es away his mil'>goat# Using the letter of the law and hel"ed y more enlightened

oM!ials, uJ'in e!omes a forester, guarding logs on the river# But in a storm, uenJ'ov

refuses to lend him a tra!tor to drag the logs on shore# uJ'in saves the logs y "aying a

driver with vod'a, ut is then !harged with "lowing his 'ol'ho "lot illegally# %e wins the !ase,ut loses his o with the reorganiation of the distri!t and is lo!'ed from wor'ing on the river

y uenJ'ov# uJ'in then turns to weaving as'ets and almost freees to death after rea'ing

his leg while gathering ran!hes, ut nevertheless survives, and at the end of the &lm o'ingly

oers to "ull his sonJs tru!' out of the mud with the tail of his horse#

Kver the years uJ'in over!omes the envy of fellow villagers, ureau!rati! inertia, vindi!tive

administrators, natural disasters, and "hysi!al inuries# $ith his o'es, ane!dotes, ironi! asides

and wry !omments addressed to the audien!e, he is the "roverial !lever "easant who outwits

a series of stu"id and ine"t Soviet masters# uJ'inJs dreams in the form of "rimitivist "aintings

visually elaorate his ironi! humor and lin' him to the "easant heroes of Ale'sandr +edved'in#

?he wise and enter"rising "easant, the a!'one of the !ountry and a "henomenon eistinga"art from the Soviet dis!ourse, has survived the de"redations of the Stalin era#

In another early &lm on the "ost>war era, ?he Savage (-.//), the Russian hero Ali' has a "re>

revolutionary sense of !hivalry and honor (signaled y his amateur theatre grou"Js staging of a

Bunin "lay) that is o""osed to the !rude and rutal ehavior of the Ue' ureau!rat Dar'had#

Ali' does not for!e his eloved, +aia, into se when he has the o""ortunity,and when his sister

is shoved and ruised y Dar'had, Ali' sla"s him to avenge her honor and is immediately

arrested y odyguards# $hen Ali' returns from "rison several years later, he &nds his family

dan!ing at Dar'hadJs sonJs wedding# %is !ode of honor is outdated, his sa!ri&!e a""ears

"ointless, ut he has remained true to himself#

Kgorodni'ovJs ?he Barra!'s is set in a ma'eshift

wooden uilding, inhaited y a motley !olle!tion of very dierent ty"es stranded y the war in


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the remote Urals town of Sat'a in -.63# As the &lm "rogresses, these !hara!ters form into

either !ongruent "airs (the lo'adsh!hitsa>te!hni!al "rofessional Gorontsova and the

"oli!emangeroiWliuovni' BolotinQ DogelJman, the "hotogra"hersmall>time !roo' and 8i"a, the

well>endowed widow who "erforms illegal aortions) or !ontrasting inaries: the former

erman 9K$ Dridri!h and a Russian !ollaorator>9oliei# But when Bolotin has too mu!h to

drin' and loses his servi!e revolver down the hole of the outhouse (the loss is a !riminal

oense), the entire odd !om"any of the arra!'s oins in to &nd it in the se"ti! "it underneath,

whi!h then e!omes !ause for !olle!tive reoi!ing in the rain# ?he message one ta'es away is

that even if these very dierent Russian "eo"le s"end their days waist>dee" in shit, they have

not lost the admirale an!estral uality of HsoornostJ# And after the "rolemati! inary, the

foreigner Dridri!h and the villainous Russian 9oliei !an!el ea!h other out through a murder, the

remaining Russians are united in fol' singing over a !ommunal anuet# DogelJmanJs Fash>lit

"hotogra"hs freee !hara!ters into stills at !riti!al intervals in the &lm (in!luding the &nal "hoto

of the grou" with the sign Hreetings from Sat'a,), a devi!e whi!h enhan!es the nostalgi! tone

of the &lm#

Dirst on the +oon also ma'es a !om"ensatory argument, ut in a mu!h more imaginative and

intelligent way# ?he &lm !hroni!les the Soviet s"a!e "rogram whi!h sent a man to the moon in

-.3/, ut was dis!ontinued and erased from history, along with its "arti!i"ants, after the "ilot,Ivan harlamov, disa""eared during the maiden Fight# But harlamov, a fol'sy ty"e with

enormous "hysi!al strength who !an also ste" dan!e with his hands and a vod'a glass, !rash

lands in Chile, sustains rain inuries, ut nevertheless !rosses the 9a!i&! in a oat, traverses

China and @a"an on foot, rea!hing Soviet +ongolia, where he is !on&ned in a "sy!hiatri!

hos"ital, from whi!h he es!a"es# As a non>"erson from the now non>eistent s"a!e "rogram, he

is outside the system, ut su!!essfully eludes the se!ret "oli!e throughout the rest of his life#

Drom -.40>6- he even wor's in an UlJianovs' !ir!us in a strongman a!t titled HAle'sandr

*evs'ii, in whi!h he easily hoists a trio of enemy ?eutoni! 'nights# Using so"histi!ated

"asti!he of thirties do!umentary &lms, Dirst on the +oon ma'es the argument that harlamov,

with his su"erhuman strength, intelligen!e and will to survive, is a true Russian ogatyrJa

national ty"e that has eisted and survived outside the Soviet dis!ourse of the *ew +an andSta'hanovite#6)#

?here is no uestion that a numer of Russian &lms on the Stalin era either overtly or indire!tly

address their !ontem"oraneity !riti!ally or, more re!ently, argue to su""ort the status uo#

In ?he Swimmer (-./-), viri'adeJs early &lm "artly devoted to the Stalin era, the grandson ofa famous distan!e swimmer wor's as !ulture dire!tor for the lo!al tourist ureau, organiing

ha!'neyed events for visitors# After wat!hing the &lming of his familyJs history of great


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swimmers, he !hallenges himself to underta'e a distan!e swim# If to swim is to live, the &lm

dares the "eo"le of the late Soviet era to return to the ideals and striving of an earlier time

(ray 373)# ?he frame narrative ofRe"entan!e, whi!h shows etiJs re!ounting of her family

tragedy and the retriution visited u"on the Aravide family to e merely wishful thin'ing,

warns "erestroi'a audien!es that there has een no re"entan!e# After his tri" a!' in time to

his "arentsJ Stalin era youth, the modern day son in +irror for a %ero !on!ludes that we !annot

!hange the "ast, ut we !an understand it# ?he title of 9rishvinJs 9a"er Eyes refers to a

humorous "ro"osition "ut forth y a ?G wor'er of the -.41s: what if "a"er eyes glued to the

eyelids of a ?G news announ!er loo'ed at the !amera, while the readerJs natural eyes

wandered freelyP ?wo "arallel "lots in 9rishvinJs 9a"er Eyes illustrate this doule vision# In an

emedded &lm, a !onventional histori!al melodrama set in -.4., !ontem"orary ?G dire!tor

9avel 9rishvin "lays an +B !a"tain !ondu!ting an investigation of a high 9arty oM!ial and

simultaneously having an aair with the oM!ialJs wife, who wants her husand ee!uted# At the

same time, 9rishvin is resear!hing a "lanned do!umentary on the Soviet live ?G "ioneers who

mysteriously died, disa""eared or lost their os in -.4.# 9rishvin suggests merging the two

stories to the dire!tor of the melodrama, ut he refuses, insisting on a sim"le "urge &lm, to wit:

HStalin was the loody ee!utioner of Russia#

As 9rishvin delves into the story of the live ?G grou", he learns that they were not arrested, utwere vi!tims of one of their own, the announ!er Shutov, a "ran'ster who was ealous of

hrustalev, the grou"Js rilliant !hief, loved y ShutovJs wife, Alisa# As a "ran', Shutov seals

the a"artment of *e'rintsev, another grou" memer, with a !oin, !ausing *e'rintsev to run

away from "utative arrest and end his days in an insane asylum#

suordinates, "o"ular su""ort for so!ial order# Although the dragon is rought down y

8an!elot, the towns"eo"le are soon ready to 'neel to him rather than ta'ing res"onsiility for

their lives# ?he &lm !on!ludes with a grou" of fas!inated !hildren who follow a dragon>'ite,

!ontrolled y the former tyrant who remar's to 8an!elot, HSo, is it everything from the

eginningP ?o ill a 2ragon adures -..1s audien!es to H'ill the dragon in oneself and warns

of the return of totalitarianism in the struggle for the minds and hearts of the net generation#


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Stanislav ovoru'hinJs Bless the $oman and *ot y Bread Alone "ro"agate !onservative

national and gender myths intended to address the "rolems of "ost>Soviet Russia# ?he &lm

euates the reat and small families, GeraJs husand, 8ari!hev, with Stalin, and thus her

"ersonal life to the life of the nation# ?he Stalinist "atriar!hy that ultimately !rushes her oM!er

husand is nevertheless dis"la!ed y him onto his wife, whom he de"rives of motherhood,

female friendshi" and the su""ort of her family# Early in their marriage, 8ari!hev s"ells out the

husandJs rights: a washed, fresh and ha""y wife who always has dinner ready when he !omes

home# ?he wife has only one right: to e loved# 8i'e the "o"ulation whi!h serves the needs of

the state and is the ene&!iary of StalinJs love in media slogans, Gera follows orders as the

!ou"le moves from one "rovin!ial "osting to another, and 8ari!hev thwarts her maternal

im"ulses y for!ing her to have an aortion and "reventing her from ta'ing in his son from an

earlier marriage# $ith the death of Stalin !omes 8ari!hevJs deathQ with the laun!hing of S"utni'

and the eginning of the ?haw, GeraJs life egins anew, as she &nds love with a sensitive and

!ultured naval oM!er and ado"ts the daughter of her dead friend#

As the Russian version of the eternal feminine, Gera is &lmed so as to !omine oth the sensual

and the sa!red for ovoru'hin, a Botti!elli Genus rising from the sea (8iuars'aia)# ?he &lm

endorses her as the angel in the house, the Hsour!e of light to whom all are drawn and to

whom all !ome home, the model of female &delity, self>sa!ri&!e, and instin!tive motherhood#GeraJs friend, the woman do!tor Smolina, with her lovers and illegitimate !hildren Hloses y

dying, while Gera egins a new, ha""ier life#

*ot By Bread Alone, ovoru'hinJs ada"tation of the i!oni! 2udintsev novel, suggests three

solutions to !ontem"orary RussiaJs "rolems that !ome out of its ?haw era narrative: a

!onventional feminine ideal, servi!e to the +otherland and advo!a!y of sovereign demo!ra!y#

?he heroine *adia is an even more saintly variant of Gera fromBless the $oman ("layed y the

same a!tress, Svetlana hod!hen'ova), endowed with moral re!titude, &delity and a !a"a!ity

for self>sa!ri&!e# In the novel *adia ears her husand, the villainous ureau!rat 2rodovJs

!hildQ the &lm sim"li&es things y ma'ing 2rodov im"otent or sterile, and the !hild

8o"at'inJs# In the fa!e of o""osition from self>serving Stalinist oM!ials who either ree!t or stealhis ideas, 8o"at'in struggles to have his im"roved tue manufa!turing ma!hine a""roved for

general "rodu!tion# 2rodov dismisses the invention e!ause it is the wor' of an individual, not

the !olle!tive# 8o"at'in sa!ri&!es !areer and livelihood to the "roe!t, thus ful&lling

ovoru'hinJs revival of the ideal of wor'ing selFessly for the good of the +otherland# 8o"at'in

is also a Russian "atriot who is distured when he sees "eo"le !rowding around a shiny foreign

automoile# %e is saved from hard laor and moved to a sharash'a with ho"es of release y a

Hgood ?haw oM!ial, a "eo"leJs de"uty and engineer, "layed y Ale'sandr Roenaum, a

favorite 9utin singer# ?he ?haw elief in wor'ing toward !hange within the so!ialist system is

thus re"a!'aged for !ontem"orary !onsum"tion#Stalin era, 9a"a addresses the same regressive message of self>sa!ri&!e to

su""osedly sel&sh !ontem"orary Russian audien!es as do the ovoru'hin &lms#


31/38

A se!ondary message to a resurgent nation>state is the "ositive treatment of Russianness in

the !ontet of family# $hen the father of 2avidJs Russian friend Slava 8eedev is im"risoned as

an enemy of the "eo"le, Slava refuses to re"udiate him, is e"elled from the !onservatory,

thus relinuishing the "ros"e!t of a musi!al !areer# 2avid does the o""osite, re"udiating his

fathertwi!e wishing him deadin order to further his !areer# In s"ea'ing of his father, Slava

uses the same words the imaginary Aram later attriutes to the re"entant 2avidJs future son:

HI didnJt sim"ly love him# I was always "roud of him# $hen driven y eternal "ressures to

!hoose, the Russian a!ts ethi!ally# 2avid !hooses to re"udiate his father and his shtetl "ast out

of amition rather than real ne!essity, and oth father and son have an admitted "ro"ensity for

telling untruths# ?he fraught issue of @ewishness and homeland (from family friend +eier GolJfJs

"ilgrimage to the $ailing $all to 2avidJs a!'nowledgement of the ?ulJ!hin stone wall as the

same) is resolved in 2avidJs assimilation (his Russian wife) and then dissolved in the iologi!al

"rima!y of family#

?%E ABSE*CE

Documents

SALYS R. Infernal Energy Revisioning Stalin Era