Russian and Soviet cinema occupies a unique place in the history of world cinema. Legendary filmmakers such as Sergei Eisenstein, Vsevolod Pudovkin, Dziga Vertov, Andrei Tarkovsky, and Sergei Paradjanov have created oeuvres that are being screened and studied all over the world. The Soviet film industry was different from others because its main criterion of success was not profit, but the ideological and aesthetic effect on the viewer. Another important feature is Soviet cinema’s multinational (Eurasian) character: while Russian cinema was the largest, other national cinemas such as Georgian, Kazakh, and Ukrainian played a decisive role for Soviet cinema as a whole. The Historical Dictionary of Russian and Soviet Cinema provides a rich tapestry of factual information, together with detailed critical assessments of individual artistic accomplishments.
This second edition of Historical Dictionary of Russian and Soviet Cinema contains a chronology, an introduction, and a bibliography. The dictionary section has over 600 cross-referenced entries on directors, performers, cinematographers, composers, designers, producers, and studios. This book is an excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about Russian and Soviet Cinema.
Table of Contents:
Editor’s ForewordJon Woronoff
Preface
Reader’s Note
List of Abbreviations and Acronyms
Chronology
Introduction
THE DICTIONARY
Bibliography
About the Author
About the Author :
Peter Rollberg is Professor of Slavic Languages, Film Studies, and International Affairs at The George Washington University in Washington, D.C. He has been at GWU since 1991, after teaching at the University of Leipzig, Germany, and Duke University.
Review :
Rollberg has produced a well-researched second edition, significantly expanding the first edition (2009) with 130 new entries and an additional 100 new cross-references beyond the original 500-plus entries. Designed to promote Russian and Soviet cinema to scholars and the general public, this volume packs a wealth of information on a diverse selection of directors, screenwriters, actors, composers, designers, producers, cinematographers, studios, genres, and scores of individual art house and popular films into concise, one- to three-page entries. A prefatory 12-page chronology helpfully identifies first film screenings and feature-film productions, the founding of major studios, and international award-winning films of the now-independent former Soviet republics of Russia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, and Lithuania, among others. The author's meaty 18-page introduction explores the impact on cinema of historical, cultural, and political events, including two World Wars, Stalinization, and the Soviet Union's breakup in 1991. A richly substantive bibliography of reference works, national cinematographies, monographs, diaries, letters, memoirs, and journals (largely in English, Russian, French, and German) concludes this noteworthy resource to encourage further research along this fascinating cinematic byway.
Summing Up:Highly recommended. All readership levels.
This hefty tome, in its second edition, is the definitive work on this topic, as its covers all three major political periods in what is now called Russia (including many liberated and independent countries that once were part of Russia): the Tsarist period, the Communist period, and the post-Communist state. The author grew up in the Communist Soviet Union, and lived near the Gor'kii Studio for Children's and Youth Films in Moscow. He even starred in the 1972 film Hurray! We Have Holidays! The dictionary begins with a detailed introduction which divides Russian and Soviet cinema into five eras: bourgeois commercial cinema (1896-1918); the birth of Soviet cinema (1918-30); the transition to sound and implementation of Stalinist values (1931-53); thaw, ‘stagnation,’ and final crisis (1954-85); and the end of Soviet cinema and beyond (1986-2015). The dictionary content itself is framed in the front by a substantial chronology, and in the back with an extensive bibliography that follows the five eras of the introduction. Overall, this reference work is a fantastic addition to any college or university library.
The book will prove to be an excellent resource for researchers of Russian and Soviet cinema. It should be on the shelf of educational establishments with film studies courses.
Now in its second edition, this handsome…hardcover tome introduces readers to a higher level of appreciation of Soviet cinema and marks a leap forward in the scholarship on the topic…. [Rollberg’s] chief success – greater than his mini-biographical entries or summaries of cinematic masterpieces, even – is his attention to the cinemas of the former Soviet republics. In this regard, Rollberg’s text is beyond competition…. Rollberg succeeds admirably. His comprehensive and thoughtfully organized research, along with his perspicuous prose, makes Historical Dictionary of Russian and Soviet Cinema an essential reference tool for any Russian and Soviet film maven.
