after watching two Russian series recently- the more serious & historical (with some flourishes) Trotsky, and the more soap opera-esque Road To Calvary,
one conclusion I've drawn - whatever is going on with Putin and his authoritarianism, the Russian media culture is way past romanticizing Bolshevism or Stalin, if these are at all representative.
which is cool.
I've seen a few of movies about Russian history:
War and Peace
Anastasia
also The Battleship Potemkin (silent movie)
All were very good.
9th Company (2005) - a fairly good one about the Afghanistan War.
i suppose you could make a case that such debunking of the cult of stalin & bolshevism might work in favor of a new couter-revolutionary like putin.
he evokes those aspects of the old soviet state which bespeak power, but also the older elements of orthodoxy, the high-romantic culture of the late romanov era, legitimizing a re-emergent class system with putin and his oligarch class at the top.
myth-making, culture-making can certainly be eclectic, when a society is re-building itself on new foundations.
There probably couldn't be two more opposite movies about the same characters and from the same director and writer than the Russian historical movies Burnt by the Sun and Burnt by the Sun 2.
I don't see the end of Putin coming anytime soon. The Russians seem to prefer authoritarian rule. Not sure if his successor will be as succesful, though. It'll be interesting to see what will happen.
BBTS had a huge effect on me. talked to a russian expat about it, probably 18 year ago, he seemed to think it was written for western audiences - never knew what to make of that assessment.
did not know there was a sequel. will have to check into that - thanks!
Well, I can see how the movie would appeal more to a Western audience than a Russian one.
Are you sure about checking it out? Mikhalkov is a big friend of Putin these days. I can already tell you that dead people are brought back to life.
hm, doesn't measure up. disappointing. i think i do remember some negative reviews when i did try to look into this when the second film was released.
share