The Village in Soviet Cinema: From Socialist Realist Paradise to Non-Soviet Space
https://doi.org/10.69975/2074-0832-2025-64-3-33-46
Abstract
The article examines the evolution of the on-screen village in Soviet cinema. Two key periods have been chosen for comparison: the heyday of socialist realism in the 1930s and the peak of the Brezhnev era in the 1970s. One of the key factors in the creative reconsideration of the concept of village is urbanization, the beginning of which in the Soviet Union coincided with the emerging of socialist realism, and the peak — with the end of the Khrushchev ‘‘thaw’’. Examples of films from both periods show that from a relevant place of action, the on-screen village turns into a hopelessly lost utopia, deprived of the Soviet ideological context.
About the Author
N. V. KotikRussian Federation
Nikita V. Kotik, Post-graduate student
3 Wilhelm Pieck Str., Moscow, 129226
References
1. Vinogradov, V.V. Ot vlasti nad zemlej k vlasti zemli [From the Power over the Earth to the Power of the Earth]. Vestnik VGIK, no. 3, 2024, рр. 29‒43, Available at: https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/ot-vlasti-nad-zemley-k-vlasti-zemli (Accessed 19 March 2025). (In Russ.)
2. Danilov, V.P. Sozdanie material`no-texnicheskix predposy`lok kollektivizacii sel`skogo xozyajstva [Creation of Material and Technical Prerequisites for Collectivisation of Agriculture]. Moscow, Izd-vo Akademii nauk SSSR Publ., 1957. 451 p. (In Russ.)
3. Ivniczkij, N.A. O kriticheskom analize istochnikov nachal`nogo e`tapa sploshnoj kollektivizacii (osen` 1929 — vesna 1930 gg.) [On a Critical Analysis of the Sources of the Initial Stage of Total Collectivisation (Autumn 1929 — Spring 1930)]. Istoricheskij arxiv, no. 2, 1962, pp. 191–202. (In Russ.)
4. Sarab`yanov, D.V. (ed.) Istoriya russkogo i sovetskogo iskusstva [The history of Russian and Soviet art]. Moscow, Vy`sshaya shkola Publ., 1979. 328 p. (In Russ.)
5. Lunacharskij, A.V. Revolyucionnaya ideologiya i kino [Revolutionary ideology and cinema]. Kinonedelya, no. 46, 1924, P. 11. (In Russ.)
6. Mazur, L.N. “Derevenskoe kino” 1950‒1980-x gg. kak istoriko-kul`turny`j fenomen sovetskoj e`poxi [“Village Cinema” of the 1950s and 1980s as a historical and cultural phenomenon of the Soviet era]. Kul`turologicheskij zhurnal, no. 1, 2014, Р. 6. (In Russ.)
7. Mazur, L.N. Xudozhestvennoe kino i sel`skaya migraciya: istochnikovedcheskij analiz [Fictional cinematography and rural migration: a source analysis]. Izvestiya Ural`skogo federal`nogo universiteta. Ser. 2, Gumanitarny`e nauki, no. 2, 2012, pp. 156‒169. (In Russ.)
8. Mitroxin, N.A. Russkaya partiya: Dvizhenie russkix nacionalistov v SSSR. 1953‒1985 gody [Russian Russian Party: The Movement of Russian Nationalists in the USSR. 1953‒1985]. Moscow, Novoe literaturnoe obozrenie Publ., 2003. 624 p. (In Russ.)
9. Narodnoe xozyajstvo RSFSR v 1956 g. [The national economy of the RSFSR in 1956]: Stat. ezheg. Moscow, 1957. 252 p. (In Russ.)
10. Narodnoe xozyajstvo SSSR 1922‒1972 gg. [National economy of the USSR 1922‒1972]. Moscow, Statistika, Publ., 1972. 848 p. (In Russ.)
11. Naselenie SSSR, 1987 [The population of the USSR, 1987]. Moscow, Finansy` i statistika Publ., 1988. 439 p. (In Russ.)
12. Volodarskij, L.M. (ed.) Naselenie SSSR [The population of the USSR]. Moscow, Politizdat Publ., 1983. 191 p. (In Russ.)
13. Nemakov, N.I. Kommunisticheskaya partiya — organizator massovogo kolxoznogo dvizheniya (1929‒1932): Po materialam nekotory`x oblastej i kraev RSFSR [Communist Party as an Organiser of the Mass Collective Farm Movement (1929‒1932): On the Materials of Some Regions and Territories of the RSFSR]. Moscow, Izd-vo Moskovskogo universiteta Publ., 1966. 270 p. (In Russ.)
14. Razuvalova, A.N. Pisateli-“derevenshhiki”. Literatura i konservativnaya ideologiya 1970x godov [“Village” Writers. Literature and Conservative Ideology of the 1970s]. Moscow, Novoe literaturnoe obozrenie, 2015. 616 p. (In Russ.)
15. Senyavskij, A.S. Urbanizacionny`j process v SSSR v e`konomicheskom izmerenii: strukturny`e i institucional`ny`e aspekty` [The urbanization process in the USSR in the economic dimension: structural and institutional aspects]. VTE`, no. 2, 2019, pp. 147‒161. (In Russ.)
16. Trajnin, I.P. Kino na kul`turnom fronte [Cinema on the Cultural Front]. Publika kino v Rossii. Sociologicheskie svidetel`stva 1910‒1930-x godov [Cinema Audience in Russia. Sociological Evidence from the 1910s‒1930s], Gos. in-t iskusstvoznaniya; [vstup. st., sost., primech. Yu. U. Foxt-Babushkina]. Moscow, Gos. in-t iskusstvoznaniya; Kanon+ Publ., 2013. 494 p. (In Russ.)
17. Trajnin, I.P. Puti kino [Paths of Cinema]. Kinonedelya, no. 40‒41, 1924, pp. 8–10. (In Russ.)
18. Cetkin, K. Vospominaniya o Lenine [About Lenin = Memories of Lenin]. Moscow, Partijnoe izd-vo Publ., 1933. 96 p. (In Russ.)
19. Brudny, Y. Reinventing Russia: Russian Nationalism and the Soviet State, 1953‒1991. Harvard University Press, 2000. 364 p. (In Russ.)
Review
For citations:
Kotik N.V. The Village in Soviet Cinema: From Socialist Realist Paradise to Non-Soviet Space. Vestnik VGIK. 2025;17(3(65)):33-46. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.69975/2074-0832-2025-64-3-33-46