Stalingrad re-imagined as mythical chronotope: Fedor Bondarchuk’s Stalingrad in IMAX 3D

Abstract

In this article, I maintain that IMAX 3D Stalingrad (2013) by Fedor Bondarchuk takes the mythologization of Stalingrad to an entirely new level in order to create an innovative national myth for contemporary Russia. The film not only incorporates the traditional Soviet Stalingrad myth of ‘a sacred battle’, but also shapes the city as a mythical space through fictional postmemory, which is posed as authentic. Stalingrad imbeds its setting into the ‘IMAX paradigm’ meant to transport its viewers into the fictional but credible reality of the embattled city, which has more in common with, for example, the space station Pandora or Hogwarts. The film defies linearity of historical time in favour of the mythical recurrence of Stalingrad entrapped in the vicious cycle of war. It presents Stalingrad as a mythical chronotope tied to the idea of circular time, enveloping the individual. The cinematic city, where time folds in on itself, thus belongs more to the romantic-folkloric tradition than to history. I pay close attention to how camerawork and IMAX special effects re-enact Stalingrad for the younger audiences used to representations of war in computer games. My article demonstrates how digital effects intensify nationalist sentiment through their visceral-emotional impact.