© Columbia University Press
The Cinema of Russia & the Former Soviet Union
Paper, 288 pages,
ISBN: 978-1-904764-98-4
$29.50
December, 2006
Cloth, 288 pages,
ISBN: 978-1-904764-99-1
Wallflower Press
$80.00
"The latest in Wallflower's excellent 24 Frames series, each of which examines a national (or regional) cinema by commenting on two-dozen selected movies. Typically, the Russian volume - edited by Birgit Bemuers, introduced by Sergei Bordov (Prisoner of the Mountains) and covering 1916 to the present - avoids, where possible, the too obvious, or too voluminously written-about: thus we have Richard Taylor on Eisenstein's Strike rather than Battleship Potemkin; Natasha Synessios on Tarkovsky's Ivan's Childhood rather than Andrei Rublev. Typically, too, the thematic content is rich, if - in the context of ten-page articles - succinct and introductory.
Of the stuff I know, Ian Christie writes exemplary summations of Lev Kuleshov's influential 1924 agitprop adventure Mr West in the Land of the Bolsheviks and Aleksandr Sokurov's Russian Ark, as does Anthony Anemone of Aleksei German's long-banned My Friend Ivan Lapshin, but there are equally interesting and informative pieces on (even) more obscure movies, from the musical Carnival Night to animations like Norstein's Tale of Tales. It's obvious that the writers are drawn from the academic pool, but in the main, they show an enviable ability to address and appeal to a wider, if still serious, audience." — Wally Hammond, Time Out
"An excellent introduction to some of the leading Russian and Soviet filmmakers and films... Highly recommended." — Choice
"A welcome and useful contribution . . . it would make an excellent textbook for upper-division undergraduate and graduate courses in the history of Soviet and Russian cinema." — Seth Graham, Russian Review
"Valuable supplementary reading . . . the collection is significant because it provides an excellent introduction to the cinema of the former Soviet Union." — Elena Baraban, Canadian Slavonic Papers
"Lucidly written, vibrant, insightful, elegant and imaginative, these essays lead the reader - advanced as well as newcomer - into the depths of the best Russian and Soviet films and provide fascinating reading. Birgit Beumers has gathered in this volume the leading scholars who are working currently in the field. Using the most powerful images encoded in this cinema, the authors enable us not only to experience Russian and Soviet values and sensibilities but also to take part in the process of reconceptualisation of these great movies that are so finely analyzed in this volume." — Evgeny Dobrenko, , University of Sheffield
"Ranging from silent cinema to musical comedy, from art film to animation and blockbuster, the films under discussion here provide 24 diverse and compelling answers to the question "What is Russian cinema?" Carefully chosen and meticulously researched by leading scholars, these essays cover both familiar classics and lesser-known films that have played a pivotal role in cultural politics from imperial Russia through the Soviet period - including films of the socialist republics - to today's post-socialist reality. The volume is an invaluable companion to any exploration, in the classroom or on one's own, of Russo-Soviet culture over the last century" — Nancy Condee, , University of Pittsburgh