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C lasnost— Soviet Cinema Responds Texas Film Studies Series Thomas Schatz, Editor Glasnost— Soviet Cinema Responds By NICHOLAS GALICHENKO Edited by ROBERT ALLINGTON University of Texas Press, Austin Copyright © 1991 by the University of Texas Press All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America First Edition, 1991 Requests for permission to reproduce material from this work should be sent to Permissions, University of Texas Press, Box 7819, Austin, Texas 78713-7819. © The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984. For reasons of economy and speed this volume has been printed from cam era-ready copy furnished by the author, who assumes full responsibility for its contents. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Galichenko, Nicholas, 1943- Glasnost—Soviet cinema responds / by Nicholas Galichenko ; edited by Robert Allington. — 1st ed. p. cm. — (Texas film studies series) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-292-72747-X (cloth). — ISBN 0-292-72753-4 (paper) 1. Motion pictures—Soviet Union. 2. Motion picture producers and directors—Soviet Union. I. Allington, Robert, 1945— II. Title. III. Series. PN1993.5.R9G35 1991 791.43'0947—dc20 91-580 CIP Contents Preface: Recent Soviet Film —One Critic’s Choice ix Chapter 1. The Age of Perestroika 1 Purging Stalin’s Ghost from the Film Industry 5 The Romm Connection 11 Beyond the Year of the Rabbit 17 Chapter 2. Youth in Turmoil 19 The New Raskolnikov, Dostoevsky Revisted 24 What Do You Want to Do with Your Life, Ivan Miroshnikov? 28 Looking Back: The Orphans (1977), Ivan Brovkin (1955, 1959) 32 Directors with Commitment 34 Chapter 3. Odysseys in Inner Space 37 Gherman’s Time Machine 41 Soloviev’s Parable of Hope 45 The Imperfect Hero 50 Chapter 4. The Directors of Glasnost: A Filmography 57 Vadim Abdrashitov 57 Tengiz Abuladze 59 Alexander Askoldov 62 Rolan Bykov 63 Grigori Chukhrai 64 Georgi Danelia 65 Nana Djordjadze 67 Alexei Gherman 69 vl • GLASNOST—Soviet Cinema Responds Lana Gogoberidze 71 Nikolai Gubenko 72 Yuri Kara 74 £lem Klimov 76 Andrei Konchalovsky 78 Vyacheslav Kristofovich 79 Irakli Kvirikadze 81 Leida Laius 85 Konstantin Lopushansky 86 Nikita Mikhalkov 89 Kira Muratova 91 Valeri Ogorodnikov 97 Tolomush Okeyev 100 Gleb Panfilov 104 Sergei Paradjanov 106 Vasili Pichul 110 Yuri Podnieks 111 Eldar Ryazanov 113 Karen Shakhnazarov 116 Eldar Shengelaya 117 Georgi Shengelaya 118 Larisa Shepitko 121 Andrei Smirnov 122 Alexander Sokurov 123 Sergei Soloviev 126 Endnotes 129 Index 133—141 Illustrations Listed by film tide or subject, in order of appearance Repentance (Tengiz Abuladze) 4 Letters from a Dead Man (Konstantin Lopushansky) 7 Farewell ( Elem Klimov) 9 Theme (Gleb Panfilov) 15 Games for Teenagers (Leida Lauis) 21 Plumbum, or A Dangerous Game (Vadim Abdrashitov) 26 The Messenger Boy (Karen Shakhnazarov) 30 Wild Pigeon (Sergei Soloviev) 39 Wild Pigeon (Sergei Soloviev) 47 Theme (Gleb Panfilov) 52 Repentance (Tengiz Abuladze) 61 My English Grandfather (Nana Djordjadze) 68 Tomorrow There Came War (Yuri Kara) 75 Lonely Woman Looking for a Companion (Vyacheslav Kristofovich) 80 The Swimmer (Irakli Kvirikadze) 82 Letters from a Dead Man (Konstantin Lopushansky) 87 Brief Encounters (Kira Muratova) 94 The Burglar (Valeri Ogorodnikov) 98 Mirages of Love (Tolumush Okeyev) 103 Forgotten Melody for a Lonely Flute (Eldar Ryazanov) 115 Preface: Recent Soviet Film . — One Critic's Choice f ^ Mlasnost—Soviet Cinema Responds is the result of many hours in darkened theaters making notes to the glow of a penlight, of numerous interviews with Soviet directors, actors, actresses, and film industry officials, and of my personal observations made during a trip to the Soviet Union in 1987 for the 15th International Film Festival in Moscow. The Soviet film industry produces some 130 feature length movies in an average year. In addition to this, the recent outpouring of works, delayed by censors, held in cold storage in the pre-glasnost era and now released, makes the choice of directors and film works to be included in a text such as this an onerous task. The text is structured as a series of three essays, and a filmography of the directors of the glasnost cinema. Throughout the book, still photographs and reproductions of Soviet poster art help to illustrate the work. These images have been reproduced through the courtesy of Sovexportfilm. The first essay, “The Age of Perestroika," outlines the changes that have occurred in the cinema of the U.S.S.R., provides some historical observations on the socialist realist tradition and the legacy of Stalinism, and takes a look at the influential film educator and director Mikhail Romm, whose students are now transforming the Soviet motion picture medium. The second, 'Youth in Turmoil," is a somewhat sociological view of films about youth—the most dynamic and socially revealing of present productions. The third, “Odysseys in Inner Space," examines the new direction in Soviet Cinema as a focus on the inner world of individuals—a journey of philosophical dimension that brings East and West closer in their perceptions and their values.