Russian Culture through Cinema

This course is for those who have a special interest in Soviet and Russian cinema and cultures. It offers an introduction to Russian culture through film from the 1950s up to the present. The course covers a range of iconic films and places them in the context of profound political, historical, and cultural changes. While it is mainly focused on screen representations of Soviet/Russian cultures, it will also provide opportunity to examine the cinematic artistry of the discussed films. Class is primarily discussion-based. The course is held in English and no knowledge of Russian or background in Russian or Film studies is required.

DELIVERY MODE

• Face-to-Face

COURSE OUTLINE

A film screening and discussion of the following:

• Post-War Soviet cinema: M. Kalatozov’s The cranes are flying (1957)
• Post-War Soviet cinema: A. Tarkovsky’s The Steamroller and the Violin (1960)
• The master of Soviet film comedy: E. Ryazanov and Office Romance (1977)
• V. Menshov’s epoch-making romantic drama: Moscow does not believe in tears (1979)
• The 1990s’s Russia: P. Lungin’s Taxi Blues (1990)
• The trauma of the Russo-Chechen wars: Nikita Mikhalkov’s 12 (2008)

LEARNING OUTCOMES

By the end of this course, students should be able to:

1. Discover and analyse a series of iconic Soviet and Russian films from the 1950s up to the present;
2. Develop a deep understanding of the social and cultural processes represented in selected films from the period studied;
3. Develop an informed understanding of the place and role of Soviet and Russian cinema in world culture and cinema;
4. Increase one’s knowledge of Soviet and Russian societies and develop a greater appreciation and understanding of the past and present of the Russian-speaking world.