WORLD CINEMA Soviet (Montage) Cinema

The cinema of Russia began in the Russian Empire, widely developed under the Soviet and in the years following the fall of the Soviet system, the Russian film industry would remain internationally recognized. 1896 Path Brothers Contemporaries to the Lumires Screened actualities Had a company called Socit Path Frres During the first part of the 20th century, Path became the largest film equipment and production company in the world Stenka Razin was the first finished Russian narrative (silent) film which was directed by Alexander Drankov. Aleksandr Khanzhonkov was Russia's first cinema entrepreneur. He produced Defense of Sevastopol, Russia's first feature film and Ladislas Starevich's ground-breaking puppet animations. Drama in a Gypsy Camp Near Moscow was a popular film directed by Vladimir Siversen released in 1908 Russians were the ones who experimented the most with films Yakov Protazanov is one of the most important directors in Soviet Cinema. He was a Russian and Soviet film director/screenwriter and one of the founding fathers of cinema of Russia. In the period from 1911 to 1918 he directed some 80 features; of these the following are considered his masterpieces: The Queen of Spades (1916) Father Sergius (1917) Yevgeni Bauer a.k.a The Greatest Master of Russian Cinema Is considered a leading stylist of Russian silent cinematography and placed particular emphasis on the pictorial aspect of film-making. Is also considered a master of psychological drama, and also one of the first Russian directors who developed the artistic side of cinema including montage, mise-en-scene and the composition of the frame. He directed The Child of the Big City The Alarm

October Revolution (1917) Took place due to lack of economic stability/equality One of its motives to was to bring about an uprising The Russian King was abdicated and Bolsheviks, a political party headed by Lenin, soon came to power. Filmmakers did not want Lenin to use cinema as a means of political propaganda; they buried/destroyed their equipment. Lenin considered cinema the greatest of all arts. Hence the Ministry of Education, founded as the People's Commissariat for Education but commonly called Narkompros came into being. o It was the Soviet agency charged with the administration of public education and most of other issues related to culture. o It was initiated by Lenin and his party to continue filmmaking. It was headed by Lenins wife, Krupskaya. Russia was a multi-lingual, multi-religious country; with the passage of time, some religions were banned. The civil war began in Russia thus. Filmmakers went to the site of warfare to film it; their films were called News Reels. News Reels ended up becoming teachers at State Film Schools as there was a lack of teachers there. The destruction of film equipment led to montages (early 1920s)

Lev Kuleshov was a veteran of cinema; he was both a filmmaker and film theorist who taught at and helped establish the world's first film school (the Moscow Film School) Introduced, developed and did a lot of experiments with montages. o A montage is a series of discontinuous shots that give an overall meaning of something but means nothing by each picture/clip individually. o His most famous montage: Man's (expressionless) face

Bowl of Soup

Man's (expressionless) face

Rosebud

Man's (expressionless) face

Coffin

It gave the overall meaning of a mans grief/apathy due to the loss of someone dear Made a feature film called The Adventures of Mr. West in the Land of Bolsheviks; it was very famous for its cinematography and mise-en scene. Dziga Vertov is another noteworthy Soviet director Mikhail Kaufman was his cameraman (also his brother) Elizaveta Svilova was his editor (and wife) Started Kino Pravda/Cine Eye o Didnt believe in romantic films o Motive was to see life as it is (no theatricality) o Started the documentary style of shooting Made Man with a Movie Camera; it shows different aspects in the life of Russia (all montages) Sergei Eisenstein Wrote a lot of famous books Made a lot of movies Polished montages (in its complete form) Was a caricaturist and a mathematician as well Later got interested in films after working (?) in Kuleshov Studio Started a 5-year syllabus in filming and (mainly) editing Made Battleship Pottemkin which is a very good movie to study editing. Also made Strike and October Other important filmmakers Alexander Dovzheko Tar Kovsky