The Image of War in the Cinema of the 60s. Knights without Past and Future

Abstract

On the basis of films about the Great Patriotic War produced during
the thaw period, the idea of young characters’ romantic image of a war-time heroic
deed is advocated. The article examines the cinematic image of the war as the view
of a new generation of directors, removed in time from the events of 1941–1945.
The depiction of war in films of the thaw period demonstrates the inevitable clash
of the idealistic consciousness of young knights with the destructive forces of war.
The problem of romanticizing heroism in war becomes relevant due to the change
of perspective on the phenomenon of war, which invades normal existence and
takes away the lives of young people who are just beginning their journey.
The scientific novelty lies in determining to what extent the screen image of
war is influenced by the temporal distance between generations of directors who
made films in wartime, when patriotism was a leading motivating force, and their
children, the directors of the thaw.
Using the films of Mikhail Kalik ‘‘Goodbye, boys!’’, Vladimir Motyl ‘‘Zhenya,
Zhenechka and Katyusha’’, Naum Birman ‘‘Chronicle of a Diving Bomber’’ and
others, the author reveals the gap between the romantic dream of a heroic deed
and reality. The necessity to go to war is more tragic for young heroes in films of
the Thaw than in wartime films.
The author argues that the more reverent attitude of thaw cinema to the fate of
its characters results from the time distance sufficient for a new understanding of
the phenomenon of war in human life, a decrease in the patriotic fervor and a shift
of focus from general military actions to the life of a specific person.
Looking at the image of the hero of the thaw period and the artistic space
of films of the 1960s, the author calls the sense of a life unlived the result of
the youthful craving for a heroic deed and the confrontation of yesterday's
schoolchildren with the severity of war reality. The author reveals the problem of
young heroes' unpreparedness for the trials of war and shows the meaninglessness
of the chivalrous sacrifice in the name of a romantic idea.