Russian Cinema: The Early Years
“Moving Pictures” were actually invented first by Louis Aimé Augustin Le Prince
Invented and patented 1st motion-picture camera in 1888
Cinema introduced in Russia by Louis and Auguste Lumière (brothers) in 1896.
Their “cinématographe” was patented in 1895.
The first moving-picture presentation in Russia occurred in Saint Petersburg on May 4,
1895
The second on May 26, 1895
Both showed films made by the Lumières.
The arrival of the cinématographe coincided with the coronation of Nicholas II (May 14,
1895), which was captured on camera by the Lumière cameraman Charles Moisson.
At first, it was just a fair attraction:
A traveling booth
An amusement for the masses (which meant the price was affordable, and that
people had money to spend on amusements)
The first theaters opened in 1903.
They attracted the middle class and the bourgeoisie.
By 1908, there were 75 cinemas in Moscow
A law was passed establishing a minimum distance between cinemas and their
number
1910 – 84 cinemas in Saint Petersburg
1913 – 130 cinemas in Saint Petersburg
Before World War I: 1300 cinemas in Russia, seating 300-800 each.
Production centered in Moscow: 15 studios in 1913.
All social classes went to the cinema, the “electric theater.”
Tickets were priced by seats, from the more expensive boxes, then stalls, to the cheapest
balcony.
Eventually entire cinemas would have distinct audiences depending on programmes,
locations, and interiors. Ticket prices would reflect this as well.
The combination of nitrate-based film stock, the heat of the projector, and hastily thrown
together facilities, plus very flammable lighting media (gas or even oxygen) created extremely
hazardous conditions.
In 1906, a floating cinema on the Volga, seating 800, burns down before it even opens.
In 1911 a fire in a town between Moscow and Saint Petersburg leads to new safety
legislation.
There is censorship, but it’s only applied to images of the Tsar, to pornography, to
religious themes, and after events of 1905 (unrest, “revolution”), to themes of the French
revolution, and to demonstrations. The Church also restricted the depiction of religious themes
on-screen and of the filming of services.
At first, only foreign films were available (not counting homemade candid shots).
Then Russian production takes off.
In 1907 Alexander Drankov (1880-1949), former official Duma (Assembly)
photographer, opens an office in Saint Petersburg with the intention to make films showing
“authentic views of the country.”
Pathe and Gaumont (French companies) immediately follow suit (up ‘till then they only
imported films).
NOTE: amateur, private movies have been made since the arrival of the cinematograph;
we’re talking about commercial movie production here.
By 1908, Drankov has produced 17 films, sold in Russia and abroad, in his series of short
documentaries “Picturesque Russia”.
1908: First Russian feature film
“Stenka Razin”
Premieres on October 15, 1908 (day considered “birthday of Russian cinema”)
Silent film with music specially composed for it by Ippolitov-Ivanov
Screenplay based on popular song of the same name.
1908: Alexandr Khanzhonkov produces 2 documentary-style fiction films:
The Gypsy Camp
A 16th Century Russian Wedding.
In response, Pathe-Moscow produces a film on Cossacks and at the same time introduces
the art film in Russia.
The first Russian-produced Pathe film dealt with historical figures.
1909: Thiemann (Тиман) leaves Gaumont (french company) and founds his own studio
in patnership with Reinhardt, a tobacco merchant.
At first, they distribute foreign films, then they start making their own.
They hire directors such as:
Yakov Protazanov
(Яков Протазанов)
Vladimir Gardin
(Владимир Гардин)
Viacheslav Viskovsky (Вячеслав Висковский)
Vladimir Uralsky
(Владимир Уральский)
Vsevolod Meyerhold (Всеволод Мейерхольд)
Grigory Libken, owner of a sausage factory in Yaroslavl, sets up the first “film
exchange” where cinema owners can rent a film to show it instead of purchasing it outright.
The themes of folklore and supernatural are also popular in Russian cinema.
1910 Rusalka produced by Khanzhonkov
Another popular source of inspiration is Russian literature. For instance, the adaptation of
Alexander Pushkin's Queen of Spades (Пиковая Дама), produced by Khanzhonkov in 1910.
Note that Pushkin's poem was also the inspiration for Tchaikovsky's opera of the same name, and
many cinema adaptations to follow.
The same Khanzhonkov produced the first modern-day-length historical epic, The
Defense of Sebastopol' (Оборона Себастополя). It premiered in 1911 in Yalta. The events
depict the actual defense of the city of Sebastopol in Crimea during the 1905 war, which resulted
in a Russian defeat.
Comedies were also popular, so much so that lead actors developed their own followings.
They were primarily situational comedies.
Another genre that flourished was the melodramas, mostly about women's sad fate, lost
love, love betrayed, star-crossed lovers (especially if they came from different social
backgrounds), etc. A major theme of melodramas was women's unsuccessful attempts at
breaking through the conventions of social barriers.
ntrsbbrebreakingbreaking through the barriers of convention and social expectations.