The Smile of Stalin, or How to Come to Like Socialist Realism
Abstract
Shot in 1934, that is exactly when the doctrine of Socialist Realism was proclaimed in the Soviet Union, the film The Jolly Fellows was a debut film by 31-year old Grigoriy Vasilyevich Aleksandrov (correctly Mormonyenko). The film had all the qualities of a daring debut. All its distinctness, eccentricities and a long list of thoroughly discussed borrowings make it one of the flagship examples of the cinema of Socialist Realism. It was also Aleksandrov’s greatest achievement in his long career as a film director. Hendrykowski makes a detailed analysis of both the conditions in which the film was made and first viewers’ receptions. He shows that it was nearly interpreted as a politically incorrect film, which would have probably ended in tragedy for the film director.
Keywords:
socialist realism, Grigoriy Vasilyevich Aleksandrov, Soviet cinemaReferences
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Authors
Marek Hendrykowskikwartalnik.filmowy@ispan.pl
Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań Poland
Historyk i teoretyk filmu, wykłada na Uniwersytecie im. Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu. Autor książek m.in. Historia filmowego Oscara (1988, 1993), Słownik terminów filmowych (1994).
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Copyright (c) 2003 Marek Hendrykowski
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