Cinemasaurus: Russian Film in Contemporary Context

by Nancy Condee (Editor), Alexander Prokhorov (Editor), Elena Prokhorova (Editor)

Cinemasaurus examines contemporary Russian cinema as a new visual economy, emerging over three decades after the Soviet collapse. Focusing on debates and films exhibited at Russian and US public festivals where the films have premiered, the volume's contributors--the new generation of US scholars studying Russian cinema--examine four issues of Russia's transition: (1) its imperial legacy, (2) the emergence of a film market and its new genres, (3) Russia's uneven integration into European values and hierarchies, (4) the renegotiation of state power vis-�-vis arthouse and independent cinemas. An introductory essay frames each of the four sections, with 90 films total under discussion, concluding with a historical timeline and five interviews of key film-industry figures formative of the historical context.

310 pages, Paperback

Published April 14, 2020

Reviews

[Translator Monkey · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good book, fascinating to read and compare notes with scholars on a number of movies I’ve seen through the years, but most of these are brand new to me. And because it’s a scholarly piece, there is a ton of spoilers throughout – they authors explore all of the plot, holding nothing back. I’m fine with that – lately, I don’t so much watch primarily for plot but for good storytelling and filmmaking. Many readers might be turned off by the scholarly tone taken in the book, but I was mostly expecting it. I’ve gone to the University of Pittsburgh’s Russian Film Symposium for some years now, and the organizers of that event are among the book’s authors, and the pre- and post-film discussions tend to cross the lines of what some might feel is grossly scholarly. I enjoy it – I appreciate the added context where I might not have the cultural understanding of a single shot in a film that is alluding to large and dangerous notions (e.g., cultural superiority vs. cultural decay, historical distortion, etc.) without actually putting it in front of the curtain.

I’ll admit, though, that at times the contextualization is a bit thin and the reader can feel somewhat put-upon, that the authors are in search for a metaphor that doesn’t really ring true, much less exist. This is a rarity, however; by and large, we’re presented with a readable and wonderful masters-level version of IMDB’s trivia section for any given film.

Almost as valuable as the insights into the films themselves are the hundreds of outstanding film titles and directors offered that I hadn’t heard of before, and most likely would never have otherwise encountered. An added bonus of a handful of short interviews is icing on the cake.