The Cinema of Russia and the Former Soviet Union. 24 Frames by Birgit Beumers (review)

Abstract

750 SEER, 87, 4, OCTOBER 200g In laterchapters Levi drawshisreaders'attention to directors and films oftendiscussedin the contextof culturalpoliticsin the 1990s (e.g. Emir Kusturica's Underground and Srdan Dragojevic's Pretty Village, Pretty Flame).He also includesotherfilms whichare sometimes overlooked in studiesabout recentcinema.These examplesvaryin theirartistic merit, but suchmerit is notthereasonfortheirinclusion in thisvolume.The films castlighton different reactionsto the conflicts, offer different understandings of their causesand consequences, and are drawnfromdifferent partsoftheformer Yugoslavia(e.g. Oleg Novkovic'sSay Why YouLeft Me, AndrejKosak's The Outsider and Vinko Bresan's How theWarStarted onMy Island).The long section on Sarajevo'sNew Primitivism, in particular the comic TheTopListofthe Surrealists, provides a welcomediscussion ofpopularculture which,although notfrom cinema,was influential initsportrayal ofaspectsofYugoslavlifeas experienced in theyearsleadingup to thewarin Bosnia. These careful and measuredstudies throw thelesswellarguedsections of thebook intosharprelief. Almostthewholeof ChapterThree containsa discussion ofKusturica's film aesthetic, strangely omitting mention ofprevious long studiesof the director's oeuvre by Goran Gocic and Dina Iordanova. Kusturica's filmUnderground is markedin thebookforitscontribution to the myth ofYugoslaviaas an anti-Serb conspiracy. Partoftheevidenceforthis viewis givenin thefight scenethatis stagedcinopenlyethnophobic terms' (p.99),withBlackyand Markoteaching a Croatand a Muslima lessonfor stealing Partyfunds. Whereas,thetwomaincharacters actually facea third opponentwho is an ekavic-speaking Serb.The Muslimis calledMustafato whomBlackymakesa deliberate comment aboutMoscow.Thiswouldseem to indicatean allusionto MustafaGolubovic,an NKVD agentkilledbythe Gestapoin Belgrade.Levi also pointsto a 'correspondence' (p. 104)between Underground and thefunction performed byMira Marko vie's YugoslavUnited Left(JUL).However,theargument lacksa clearexplanation fora possible parallelgiventhataudiencesin cinemasand the public at politicalrallies entertain different relationships withthetexts presented tothem.The production and circulationof meaningsin these two contextsrequirefurther elaboration in orderto sustain suchclaims. Thesedrawbacks aside,Levifulfils hisintention toinvestigate 'thecomplex relationship betweenaestheticsand ideologyin the Yugoslav and postYugoslavcinema '(p.3). His bookis a useful additionto thisfieldofenquiry inwhichhe opensmanyquestions, clarifies someimportant issuesand points outavenuesforfuture research. Department ofRussian andSlavonic Studies D. A. Norris University ofNottingham Beumers,Birgit(ed). The Cinema ofRussiaand theFormer Soviet Union.24 Frames.Wallflower Press,Londonand New York,2007.xvi+ 283 pp. Illustrations. Notes.Filmography. Bibliography. Index.¿50.00; £18.99. The premiseof the '24 frames'seriesis thatthe artistic, industrial and technological history ofa region'scinemacan be conveyed through analysis REVIEWS 75I oftwenty-four ofits'seminal'films. As everwithsuchprojects, itisalltooeasy forreadersto objectto inclusions or omissions, so I shallnotenterintothat gamehere.The bookworks wellas an introduction to thecinemaofRussia and theformer SovietUnioningeneral, and itschronological organization is useful from thatpointofview,butitalso worksas a wayin to specific films and directors, and each chaptercan be readdiscretely. Some authors concentrate on providing historical, socialand political contexttotheworkdiscussed and approachthefilm mainly interms ofnarrative content. Othercontributors areprimarily concerned withcinematic technique and providea moreformal analysis. In theopeningchapteron A LifeForA Life, Rachel Morleypaysparticular attention to Bauer'scinematic language, whichreliesheavilyon mise-en-scène as a means of expression. Yet content is also thoroughly analysed,and thefilmis clearlyshownto be morethan merely a pre-Revolutionary socialmelodrama, as lessperceptive critics have 00 kjix-pni^n liui^iiiiiga aiayj 1^ vocilo nidi Kjivuywou manythink;his keyinterest is in thewaysin which1 'ideological template' (p.70)from whichitappears,atfin 1 • • 1 ".1. ,T-I 1 1 A 1 . . • 11CIO 111W1 K^ LKJ 11 UlClll thefilmsubverts the >tglance,tobe made, discussing nowitrelatesto rurmanov s novel.Adaptation is an issuetreatea by otherauthors, suchas David Gillespie'schapteron RedGuelderbush, and Anthony Anemone'son My Friend IvanLapshin. ThroughAnemone'ssubtle and informed analysis, thereaderis shownexactly whythisfilm'represents one of the highestachievements of Russian art of the twentieth century' (•n qtt'ì T/ikewise rearlincr David TVfarFaHven's niere the reader ran nnrlerstandwhyNorshtein 's TaleofTaleswasjudgedtobe 'The Greatest Animated FilmofAllTime' (p. 183). Otherchapters shedlight onfilms whichhavebeenmisrepresented oroverlookedin variousways,at different times.Ian Christie explainshow itwas that although TheExtraordinary Adventures ofMr Westin theLand oftheBolsheviks was a box office and criticalsuccessin theUSSR, it was not seen abroad untilthelate1960s.He discusses thisworkand itscontext indetail,including Kuleshov'suse of American(thriller) and German (Expressionist) devices forSovietpurposes, and he linksthefilmto EuropeanModernist literature of thetime,as well as revealing itscontinuing relevanceto studiesoffilm narrative. Elsewhere, MikeO'Mahoney informs thereaderofthefascinating promotional campaignforAelita, and revealshowmisinterpreted thefilm has been (including by thosewho have not actuallyseen it),simply because of Aleksandra Ekster's stunning Constructivist costumes. PhilCavendishlinksDovzhenko'sEarth to experimental 'New Wave' films of the 1960s.He looksat movement and stasisin thefilm, and linksit to photography. Othercontributors who are also particularly interested in the film...