Revolt of the Filmmakers: The Struggle for Artistic Autonomy and the Fall of the Soviet Film Industry (Post-Communist Cultural Studies)

Rating:
Summary: It would have been an interesting article
Review: This book is not really a study of the films of the Perestroika and Yeltsin era. It is more of a sociological study of Russian filmmakers as a class. Faraday presents his thesis (over and over) that late Soviet conditions made the filmmakers a privileged class that resented the restrictions placed on it but failed to connect to popular taste in any meaningful way. Thus when the USSR collapsed, Russian filmmakers were unable to make popular films and became marginalized.

This would have made an interesting article, but as a book, it goes on for too long. Also, it would have been nice if Faraday had actually discussed some of the movies. The only movie he discusses at any length is "Burnt by the Sun," which he dislikes as trite in theme and overly pretty. Overall, this was a disappointment.

Rating:
Summary: It would have been an interesting article
Review: This book is not really a study of the films of the Perestroika and Yeltsin era. It is more of a sociological study of Russian filmmakers as a class. Faraday presents his thesis (over and over) that late Soviet conditions made the filmmakers a privileged class that resented the restrictions placed on it but failed to connect to popular taste in any meaningful way. Thus when the USSR collapsed, Russian filmmakers were unable to make popular films and became marginalized.

This would have made an interesting article, but as a book, it goes on for too long. Also, it would have been nice if Faraday had actually discussed some of the movies. The only movie he discusses at any length is "Burnt by the Sun," which he dislikes as trite in theme and overly pretty. Overall, this was a disappointment.