Городской кинотеатр советской эпохи: трансформация социального пространства (на примере Москвы, Ленинграда, Челябинска)

Abstract

The study provides the main theses of a historical study of city cinemas of the Soviet era (on the example of Moscow, Leningrad, and Chelyabinsk). In this study, the cinema is studied as a social space, which, which French sociologist Henri Lefebvre believed consisted of three levels: how it is planned and implemented in a material form; how it functions in the actual conditions of its time; and how it is experienced and interpreted by its the users (audience). Based on this concept, the study investigates the system of Soviet management of cinemas, their architectural images in the urban landscape, the problems of operating cinemas, and audience’s opinion on ‘going to the cine­ma’. The key conclusions of the study indicate that, on the one hand, cinemas were a social space of cultural recreation for Soviet citizens, and, on the other hand, films, cinemas' architecture, and the events hosted in the cinemas were aimed at promoting Soviet ideological beliefs.