Evolution of Stunt Episodes in Fiction Films about the Great Patriotic War
Abstract
Taking the same stunt episode in three film adaptations of the
short story “The Dawns Are Quiet Here...”, which were made by S.I. Rostotsky
(1972, USSR), M. Weining (2005, China — Russia) and R.F. Davletyarov (2015,
Russia) as an example, the article studies the transformation of the film stunts
in terms of their choreography.
The principal distinctive characteristics of each of these adaptations are
specified. Particular emphasis is laid on the artistic value of stunt episodes as
a means of creating the cinematic truth in Soviet (later Russian) films about
the Great Patriotic War (1941–1945). The peculiarity of Russian stunt episodes
in fiction war films is that a heroic exploit per se is a stunt. The heroism of
the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic war meant above all overcoming,
persistence and humanism. And the utmost manifestation of these qualities
achieved by plastic expressive means is a stunt. The author assumes that every
film stunt must have an intrinsic artistic side to it, which precisely complies with
the narrative plotline while evoking a direct association with the plastic pattern
of a particular character. The corresponding body of evidence is the result of an
empirical method of analyzing the object in the temporal aspect (retrospection
and prognosis).
Today Russian films about the Great Patriotic War (1941–1945) and their
predecessors, Soviet movies — which may be considered a gold standard of the
use stunts — can be looked upon as a cinematic paragon of presenting the truth
about the deadliest war of the twentieth century both in historic reenactment
and artistic retrospection
Keywords
cinema,
stunt,
Great Patriotic War,
stunt performance,
film image UDC 778.5.04.072:094+778.5.044с/р+778.5И(Китай) Dzhan I. Danilov Leading editor of the Academic Journal “Vestnik VGIK” | Journal of Film Arts and Film Studies Evolution of Stunt Episodes in Fiction Films about the Great Patriotic War
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Review
For citations:
Danilov D.I. Evolution of Stunt Episodes in Fiction Films about the Great Patriotic War. Vestnik VGIK. 2020;12(3(45)):91-101. (In Russ.)
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