FAVK040 The Soviet Film Avant-garde

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2010
Extent and Intensity
2/0. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: k (colloquium).
Teacher(s)
PhDr. Jaromír Blažejovský, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
prof. PhDr. Jiří Voráč, Ph.D.
Department of Film Studies and Audiovisual Culture – Faculty of Arts
Timetable
Sat 9:10–12:25 C34
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
A lecture about Russian and Soviet cinema from the beginning to the end of World War II. The focus of the course is concentrated on films and theoretical works of filmmakers of the twenties (Lev Kuleshov, Dziga Vertov, Sergei Eisenstein, Vsevolod Pudovkin, Aleksander Dovzhenko, Grigori Kozintsev, Leonid Trauberg, Fridrikh Ermler), including the films about the contemporary everyday life (Jakov Protazanov, Abram Room, Boris Barnet). We will see how was the Soviet cinema subordinate to the esthetics of stalinism in the 30ties (Vasilyev bros., Grigori Alexandrov, Mikhail Romm, Mikhail Chiaureli).
Main objectives can be summarized as follows:
to understand relationships between ideology, the party leadership and the film industry in U.S.S.R.;
acquainting students with the history of Russian and Soviet cinema till 1945;
an elementary introduction into Soviet film theory;
to experience Soviet films as a spectator.
Syllabus
  • 1. Introduction, methods, historical context and periodization
  • 2. Pre-revolutionary Russian cinema
  • 3. First steps of Soviet film industry
  • 4. Montage cinema: Kuleshov, Pudovkin, Eisenstein, Vertov
  • 5. FEKS: Kozincev, Trauberg. Ermler
  • 6. Films about the contemporary everyday life
  • 7. The beginnings of sound era, socialist realism
  • 8. In the service of stalinism
  • 9. Cinema during the Great Patriotic War
Literature
  • BORDWELL, David. The cinema of Eisenstein. New York: Routledge, 2005, viii, 316. ISBN 0415973651. info
  • GILLESPIE, David. Early Soviet cinema : innovation, ideology and propaganda. 1st pub. London: Wallflower, 2000, 109 s. ISBN 1903364043. info
  • EJZENŠTEJN, Sergej Michajlovič. Umenie mizanscény. Translated by Viera Mikulášová-Škridlová. Bratislava: Divadelný ústav, 1999, 261 s. ISBN 80-88987-03-2. info
  • ÈJZENŠTEJN, Sergej Michajlovič. The Eisenstein reader. Translated by Richard Taylor - William Powell. 1st pub. London: BFI Publishing, 1998, vii, 211. ISBN 0851706762. info
  • EJZENŠTEJN, Sergej Michajlovič. Umenie mizanscény. Translated by Viera Mikulášová-Škridlová - Miroslav Nemann. Bratislava: Národné divadelné centrum, 1998, 477 s., [9. ISBN 80-85455-69-2. info
  • Inside the film factory : new approaches to Russian and Soviet cinema. Edited by Richard Taylor - Ian Christie. 1st pub. in pbk. London: Routledge, 1994, xviii, 256. ISBN 0415115957. info
  • Inside Soviet film satire : laughter with a lash. Edited by Andrew Horton. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993, xi, 171. ISBN 0521021073. info
  • The red screen : politics, society, art in Soviet cinema. Edited by Anna Lawton. 1st pub. London: Routledge, 1992, vi, 360. ISBN 0415078199. info
  • Eisenstein revisited : a collection of essays. Edited by Lars Kleberg - Hakan Lövgren. Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell International, 1987. ISBN 9122008888. info
  • ÈJZENŠTEJN, Sergej Michajlovič. Paměti. Praha: Odeon, 1987. info
  • LEYDA, Jay. Kino : a history of the Russian and Soviet film. 3. Ed. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1983, 513 s. ISBN 0691003467. info
  • DOVŽENKO, Oleksander. Básník filmového plátna : výbor z díla. Edited by René Mucha, Translated by Věra Bezděková. V Praze: Čs. filmový ústav, 1976, 314 s. URL info
  • KOZINCEV, Grigorij Michajlovič. Život a film. 1. vyd. Praha: Orbis, 1975, 388 s. URL info
  • DOVŽENKO, Oleksander. Z deníků. Vydání první. Praha: Československý spisovatel, 1964, 133 s. info
  • ÈJZENŠTEJN, Sergej Michajlovič. Kamerou, tužkou i perem. Edited by Lubomír Linhart, Translated by Jiří Taufer. 2., rozš. vyd. Praha: Orbis, 1961, 477 s. URL info
  • PUDOVKIN, Vsevolod Illarionovič. Vývoj sovětské filmové režie. Translated by Lubomír Linhart. [Praha]: nákladem Levé fronty, 1931, 20 s. info
Teaching methods
Lectures, watching films, reading, discussions.
Assessment methods
Assessment: written test.
Language of instruction
Czech
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
Study Materials
  • Enrolment Statistics (recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/spring2010/FAVK040