Grading system
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A+ Excellent innovative analysis, well structured, well written paper with
no errors of language.
A
Good analysis. Solid paper, well structured and generally well written.
Occasional error or two of language
A- Generally good analysis. Well structured for the most part. One or two
defects of organization or somewhat more errors of language.
B+ Some good analysis. Fairly well structured, but with several defects of
organization and language.
B
Middle of the road paper. Occasional examples of good analysis but
with several problems of organization or language.
C+ Evidence of some research and thought. Several problems with ideas,
organization, and language. Just passable at the Honours level.
C
Evidence of some work. Considerable problems at the level of
analysis, organization and language.
D+ Evidence of some work, but very weak analysis, expression,
organization or did not meet all the requirements of the assignment.
D
Barely passable: shows some knowledge of the subject, but weak on
all levels, and/or did not meet most of the requirements of the assignment.
TEN “COMMANDMENTS” of essay-writing
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1) The length of the essay should be as required: neither 4 nor 7 pages, if it
is a 5-page work.
2) Write in paragraphs.
3) Each paragraph should be about 10 lines long (or longer).
4) Don’t leave extra space between paragraphs. Indent each paragraph
instead.
5) Provide page numbers.
6) Italicize or underline titles of films or books. Take titles of chapters, parts,
reels, etc. in inverted commas.
7) Don’t waste paper on bibliography if it is short - put it on the same sheet
as the last page, if there is space. No back cover!
8) Introduce quotes, don’t let them stand by themselves.
9) Know how to use apostrophe: its/it’s, sailors/sailor’s/sailors.’ Mind the
difference between a colon and a semi-colon.
10) Try to abstract yourself from the present-day experience, don’t impose
contemporary values on bygone epochs; don’t think that contemporary
art/literature/cinema is superior to that of the past: it is simply different and
can use more technical tricks.
From the Victory to the “Thaw”
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The victory of 1945: great expectations.
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Zhdanov’s suppression of the arts (Zoshchenko and Akhmatova).
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The “struggle against cosmopolitanism” and the “Doctors’ plot”.
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Film industry stultified, bureaucratized: in 1951 nine films made.
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Post 1953: Khrushchev and the speech to 20th Party Congress (1956): denunciation of
“the cult of personality”
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New beginnings in cinema: funds, cinemas built, director (Pyriev) at head of industry.
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New themes: personal lives. Influence of Italian, French cinema (neorealism).
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1958 The Cranes Are Flying (Dir. Kalatozov, Mosfilm, 1957) wins Golden Palm (Palme
d’Or) at Cannes.
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1959 Ballad of a Soldier (Dir. Grigory Chukhrai, Mosfilm, 1959) nominated for Oscar.
Typical poetic of war film post 1953
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engaging narrative line
realism of depiction
strong acting values
innovative camera technique
absence of irony, little satire
interweaving of humour and dramatic
moments
Typical motifs
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contrast between battlefront and rear
ironic heroism of soldiers
the good commanding officer
corruption among officials in rear (party)
faithfulness of soldier
unfaithfulness of woman left behind
Ideological content
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no mention of Stalin or communism
simple moral system : good versus bad
enemy is faceless
heroism and endurance of Russian/Soviet
people
• solidarity of all peoples of Soviet Union
and beyond against Fascism
The Cranes Are Flying
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Director Mikhail Kalatozov, 1957.
Camera: Sergei Urusevsky
Starring: Aleksei Batalov, Tatiana Samoilova
Simple plot, complicated psychology.
Influence of the war on lives of individuals.
The film does not condemn a “morally flawed”
heroine: humanism and compassion.
• Tragedy containing elements of humour and
satire.
Composition (examples)
• The film starts as films usually end: blissful
happiness of young sweethearts running
towards the horizon. The line of the
embankment on the screen points to the “future.”
• Important dialogues take place on the
embankment, but the line is cut short.
• The heroine carries a little boy, her perished
lover’s namesake, along (another) embankment
– the horizon opens again.
Innovative filming technique
• Extensive use of handheld camera (“off-duty
camera”) – frantic camera movements when the
heroine, desperate, runs along the street
(realism: Urusevsky, the cameraman, used to be
a war correspondent).
• Camera follows the heroine, without a cut, at eye
level and then flies up to give a panorama.
Speeds up – slows down.
• Extreme close-ups. Eyes.
• The villain’s feet trampling the broken glass
(Hitchock-like, sinister shots). The heroine’s face
upside down (her life turns upside down).
Innovative filming technique
• Lighting and sound. Ex.: Sounds of the fire in a
crumbling building suddenly stop as the heroine
goes into shock. The only sound interrupting the
silence is ticking of the clock amidst the ruins.
The heroine reads a letter hearing her lover’s
voice, “irrelevant” music on the background:
sharp emotional contrast.
• Blinking light during the scene of the rape.
• The heroine moves from light to shadow when
she learns that her lover has died.
Innovative filming technique
• The camera follows the heroine and we join her point of
view, but then switches to the crowd to show she is just
one of the many.
• Urusevsky invented circular rails for moving the camera.
• The scene of the hero’s death involves constant rapid
shifts of points of view (from “inside” – from the ground
and from “outside” – from above).
• The camera spins as he loses consciousness. Spinning
trees.
• The overlap of images renders the hero’s stream of
consciousness.
The ending
Optimistic, even though the hero is dead:
• the villain is punished
• the heroine has a closure
• the war is over
• life goes on, new children are born
• other young lovers will not have to part