UDC

130.2:791.43

Authors

Aleksey V. Zyablikov
Kostroma State University; ul. 1 Maya 14, korp. “V”, Kostroma, 156000, Russian Federation;
e-mail: a.zyablikov@yandex.ru

Abstract

This article reveals the religious layers of totalitarian cinematography and traces the inner relations between the traditions of hagiographic literature and Soviet cinematography of the 1930s – 1950s. It is impossible to understand the mental characteristics of the Soviet project and explain its ideological viability and appeal without turning to the history of Soviet cinematography of the 1930s − 1950s. During that period, the figure of Stalin became the meaning-making centre of Bolshevik theogony, with religious instruments and technologies beginning to play an important role in official propaganda. The slaveowning despotism created by the “Father of Nations” Joseph Stalin in the mid-twentieth century might not have happened had it not been supported by the ecstatic religious outburst of all the participants in the process. Cinematography gave refuge to social myths that were pressed and deformed by severe reality. One of the main points of film propaganda was attributing heroic and mythological nature to the events of the October Revolution and the Civil War. The cult of Red Army heroes and their hagiography were the meaningful basis of the Soviet civilizational phenomenon. This task was fulfilled by such talented film directors as F. Ermler, M. Romm, M. Kalatozov, L. Lukov, S. Yutkevich, Vasylyev brothers, A. Dovzhenko, L. Arnshtam, S. Gerasimov, I. Kheifits, A. Zarkhi, G. Kozintsev, L. Trauberg, and others. Many religious concepts, such as soul, death, immortality, transfiguration and holiness found their interpretation in the films of the1930s − 1950s. The motif of martyrdom, supplemented with the neopagan idea of revenge, came to be in great demand as well.

Keywords

Soviet cinematography of the 1930s – 1950s, totalitarian cinematography, film propaganda, hagiography, hagiographic motifs in films

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