A History of Russian Cinema - by Birgit Beumers (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Film emerged in pre-Revolutionary Russia to become the 'most important of all arts' for the new Bolshevik regime and its propaganda machine. The 1920s saw a flowering of film experimentation, notably with the work of Eisenstein, and a huge growth in the audience for film, which continued into the 1930s with the rise of musicals. The films of the Second World War and Cold War periods reflected a return to political concerns in their representation of the 'enemy'. The 1960s and 1970s saw the rise of art-house films. With glasnost came the collapse of the state-run film industry and an explosion in the cinematic treatment of previously taboo topics. In the new Russia, cinema has become genuinely independent, as a commercial as well as an artistic medium.

A History of Russian Cinema is the first complete history from the beginning of film to the present day and presents an engaging narrative of both the industry and its key films in the context of Russia's social and political history.

Review Quotes

"An indispensable addition to any library, this superbly researched and engagingly written history of Russian cinema will be the standard reference for years to come. Beumers introduces readers to the rich complexity of Russian cinema and convincingly demonstrates the key role played by the 'most important art' in Russian, Soviet, and post-Soviet culture." --Denise J. Youngblood, Professor of History, University of Vermont

"A comprehensive history of Russian cinema has not been available until the publication of this book.
In short, [Beumers] has provided a most effective presentation of Russian movies as art." --Slavic and East European Journal

"This is an excellent resource for students of film and history. Recommended." --P.H. Stacy, CHOICE Magazine

"As valuable as it is timely and would be ideal for use in survey courses on the history of Russian and Soviet cinema, and periods therein. It deserves a long publishing life, with regularly updated editions." --Cultural & Social History

"The best account to date of Russian cinema in all its forms and guises ... A History of Russian Cinema is the important companion that teachers of Russian cinema have been waiting for. It gives precious reading on all the major films that are likely to be on the curriculum of Russian cinema courses, and Beumers' extensive knowledge of Russian theatre gives the book a personal touch that no existing account can match. A study of the intricate star system of Russian cinema could find no better pen than Beumers'." --Europe-Asia Studies

"One hundred and one years after the birth of Russian cinema, cinephiles and students can again avail of a clear, wide-ranging and up-to-date Englishlanguage account of the field...Beumers's new history is an invaluable introductory and reference study, revealing Russian cinema as a coherent and self-refl ective movement which - crucially - is still evolving." --Muireann Maguire, Wadham College, Oxford, Slavonic and East European Review

About the Author

Birgit Beumers is Reader in Russian in the School of Modern Languages at Bristol University. She is author of Nikita Mikhalkov: Between Nostalgia and Nationalism and PopCulture: Russia! and editor of Russia on Reels: The Russian Idea in Post-Soviet Cinema and 24 Frames: Russia and the Soviet Union. She is also editor of the journals, KinoKultura and Studies in Russian and Soviet Cinema.