I will watch that! It’s available on Kanopy – I’m really glad they have so much of the Criterion collection and older films that you can’t find elsewhere. Oops, I did mean to mention that while the “Golden Age” films were popular with critics, they didn’t do as well with everyday audiences, while the more traditional Stalinist films were massively popular!
Author: ejrhodes5
Comment on Stalin’s Favorite Movie: Soviet Film in the 1930’s by ejrhodes5
Thanks! It is really interesting how politics and society affect art in all its forms. The thought that Stalin had a favorite movie is funny to me too (hence the title of my post) – it’s sometimes hard to remember that infamous figures like him had regular human interests.
Comment on Stalin’s Favorite Movie: Soviet Film in the 1930’s by ejrhodes5
Thanks for your comment! I’ve seen most of the films I linked to, except for Strike! and Earth. The 1972 Solaris by Tarkovsky is easily my favorite – it’s a kind of psychological sci-fi film. Of the earlier Soviet movies, my favorite is Man with a Movie Camera – it’s very innovative and different.
Comment on Episode 4: A New Purge by ejrhodes5
Great post! I think it’s crazy that he set quotas – I have to wonder where he got the numbers from. How do you decide how many politically suspicious people there are in a society? It seems like quota systems never really work out well; as you mentioned, in this case it resulted in false accusations made just to avoid becoming one of the required executions.
Comment on The Emancipation of Soviet Citizens from Religion by ejrhodes5
The Bolsheviks’ crackdown on religion is really fascinating. What’s especially interesting to me is how much of a resurgence the Orthodox Church made after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Even though many in Russia don’t attend church regularly, somewhere around 70% consider themselves members of the Orthodox Church. It’s become a kind of nationalistic symbol in Russia.
Comment on Episode 3: Revenge of the Reds by ejrhodes5
This was a great post! It is really interesting how the Red army’s use of propaganda aided their cause. The promise of bread, land, and peace alongside the abolition of class were obviously very optimistic goals that didn’t exactly turn out the way people expected. It reminds me of the Rick and Morty episode “The Ricklantis Mixup.”
Comment on Whatta man, whatta man, whatta mighty masculine man! by ejrhodes5
Great post! I also think it’s really interesting that the Bolsheviks wanted all citizens to embrace masculinity, whereas Western societies urged women to be traditionally feminine. Maybe part of the reasoning behind this was to distinguish themselves from the capitalist West. Although it’s misguided, I guess they felt that choosing one look/emotional state for citizens to follow would keep people from being able to express class differences.
Comment on “The life of the motherland is in your hands!” – The Kornilov Affair by ejrhodes5
Thank you! It took a while to make sense of all the events, especially because some sources left important things out that other sources included. None of them seemed to have the complete story! Personally I still don’t trust Varys haha
Comment on The Conspiracy of General Kornilov by ejrhodes5
Great post! I also did my blog post on the Kornilov incident. It’s very true that the event was confusing (and at times, hilarious), which is complicated by the fact that many historians like to demonize either Kornilov or Kerenskii, depending on their political leanings. In response to your second question, one of the sources I found stated that Kerenskii had exhibited confusing behavior in the few days prior to the “coup.” Kornilov took this behavior to mean that Kerenskii was being held politically hostage by the Petrograd Soviet, and was signaling for help. So, Kornilov (who had previously been considering attacking the Soviet) decided it was good time to invade Petrograd. The whole affair was a very interesting mess of events like this.
Comment on It was the Best of Times and it was the Worst of Times by ejrhodes5
Great post – I also like the focus on how the revolution affected culture! One thing that’s interesting is that although it’s accurate to say that the restriction of media to certain subjects was “a social step back,” many Soviet citizens made amazing artistic achievements. In cinema, for instance, many groundbreaking films were made, even though they were restricted in subject. “Man with a Movie Camera” (1929), “Potemkin” (1925), and “Strike!” (1925) are all highly regarded by modern filmmakers. It’s interesting how these filmmakers excelled despite limitations on their creativity.
