Cinema of Russia

The cinema of Russia began in the Russian Empire, flourished under state support during the Soviet era and suffered a setback in the years following the fall of the Soviet system. In the 21st century, Russian cinema has made moves towards commercial viability.

Cinema of the Russian Empire

Main article: Cinema of the Russian Empire

The first films seen in the Russian Empire were brought in by the Lumière brothers, who exhibited films in Moscow and St. Petersburg in May 1896. That same month, Lumière cameraman Camille Cerf made the first film in Russia, recording the coronation of Nicholas II at the Kremlin.

Aleksandr Drankov produced the first Russian narrative film, Stenka Razin, based on events told in a popular folk song and directed by Vladimir Romashkov. Ladislas Starevich made the first Russian animated film (and the first stop motion puppet film with a story) in 1910 - Lucanus Cervus. Among the notable Russian filmmakers of the era were Aleksandr Khanzhonkov and Ivan Mozzhukhin, who made Oborona Sevastopolya (The Defense of Sevastopol) in 1912. Yakov Protazanov made Ukhod Velikovo Startsa (Departure of the Grand Old Man), a biographical film about Lev Tolstoy.

During World War I, imports dropped drastically, and Russian filmmakers turned out anti-German, nationalistic films. In 1916, 499 films were made in Russian, more than three times the number of just three years earlier.

The Russian Revolution brought more change, with a number of films with anti-Tsarist themes. The last significant film of the era, made in 1917, Father Sergius (Otets Sergii) would become the first new film release of the Soviet era.

Cinema of the Soviet Union

Main article: Cinema of the Soviet Union

Although Russian was the dominant language in films during the Soviet era, the cinema of the Soviet Union encompasses more than just film made in Russia as it includes films from the republics of the Soviet Union, including the Armenian SSR, Georgian SSR, Ukrainian SSR, and, to a lesser degree, Lithuanian SSR, Byelorussian SSR and Moldavian SSR. At the same time, the Russia's film industry, which was fully nationalized throughout most of the country's history, was guided by philosophies and laws propounded by the monopoly Soviet Communist Party which introduced a new view on the cinema, which was different from the one before or after the existence of the Soviet Union.

Under the Soviet system, the Socialist realism movement was fostered, which carried over from painting and sculpture into filmmaking.

Notable films of the era include Sergei Eisenstein's Battleship Potemkin, which was released to wide acclaim in 1925. One of the most popular films released in 1930s was Circus. Notable films from 1940s include Aleksandr Nevsky and Ivan Grozny. In the late 1950s and early 1960s Soviet cinema, beginning with films such as Ballada o Soldate Ballad of a Soldier that won the 1961 BAFTA Award for Best Film and The Cranes Are Flying. Vysota (Height) is considered to be one of the best films of the 1950s (it also became the foundation of the Bard movement).

The 1970s brought many fine films, including Andrei Tarkovsky's Solaris; Seventeen Instants of Spring (Semnadtsat mgnoveniy vesny), which created the immortal character of Standartenführer Stirlitz; White Sun of the Desert (Beloe Solntze Pustyni) (1970), a classic Ostern – the Soviet Union's own take on the Western genre.

Cinema of the Russian Federation

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The collapse of the Soviet Union brought a virtual end to quality cinema in Russia and the other republics.

Very few films of note were created for more than a decade, and many of those that were critically-praised did not get widely released. These included Oblako-ray (Cloud-Paradise) and Burnt by the Sun (Russian: Утомлённые солнцем, Utomlyonnye solntsem). The Barber of Siberia (1998) (Russian: Сибирский цирюльник, Sibirskiy Tsiryulnik) by Nikita Mikhalkov became very famous.

The new Russian cinema is more profit-oriented, with artistic needs taking a backseat to more immediate desires. Much low-quality action, comedy and pornography has been filmed.

Nevertheless, some filmmakers have emerged who take their inspiration from the old masters. Among these is Alexander Sokurov, who has been called the "New Tarkovsky" and filmed a number of highly-praised films: Mother and Son, Russian Ark (the world's first unedited feature film) and The Sun, among others.

The thematically-similar films, The Return (Vozvrashcheniye) and Roads to Koktebel, have also received critical acclaim in recent years. The Return won two prestigious awards at the Venice Film Festival.

In the early 2000s, after decades of appearing mostly on television screens and in special theatres, animated feature films began going into wide release and were quite successful among Russian audiences (eg. Dobrynya Nikitich and Zmey Gorynych, Prince Vladimir).

New Russian cinema is finding audiences overseas, with examples including the horror-fantasy, Night Watch and its sequel Day Watch.

See also

• History of Russian animation

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