A History of Russian Cinema

Dr. Birgit Beumers has written extensively on Russian film as well as its culture and media, and her expertise shows. This history of Russian cinema is accessible and wonderfully balanced, and contains an extensive discussion of the highly dynamic period since the 'collapse.' There is always some history to any overview of Russian/Soviet cinema, given how extensively the state governed the country's film apparatus for many years. That having been said, some texts lean a little too much into the politics and lose sight of the cinema. Beumers does not do that. Her text illuminates on the state/art link, and the narrative is loosely organized around periods of Russian/Soviet political history, but she never takes the reader too far away from what they came for - the movies. The selection of films discussed is broad and comprehensive, and the appendices are loaded with resources for further study.A well-written, well-researched, and most welcome book that clearly displays the author's love of Russia's underappreciated film history. Would probably make an excellent text for a college course, and highly recommended for anyone who simply enjoys Russian cinema.

This easy to read book goes over all of Russian cinema's history (until print) along with all the political happenings. Each section starts off with all the relevant information on the politics of the period (because Russian cinema has always been heavily shaped by the politics of the day, even more than most), and the second half is full of summaries of all the major films. So, why did I only give it three stars? Because the summaries are sometimes wrong. Most of the time, it is minor, but I can't quite trust a book that gives you incorrect information even on little things. I understand that the author probably couldn't have watched all the films that are described in the book (it is all of Russian cinema after all) or she was working from memory on many. But a simple search of a synopsis from secondary sources would have set her straight.

Bought this because it was required reading for a college course on Russian cinema.If you're a hardcore film buff, it may be a good read, but for those with a more casual interest or those just reading for school it's rather dull.I do appreciate that it gives an in depth look at Russian cinema since most people assume that other countries have no film industry of their own and merely play subtitled versions of US films. Russian cinema actually inspired many camera angles and scenes in American films.

I bought this book for a very good friend who truly loves Russian cinema. She is also fluent in the language. She told me this was an excellent book and she really enjoyed it. I got such nice feedback from her on this item that I believe I can recommend this book for anyone who enjoys foreign films.

It's ingenuity of me, but I thought that this book was more detailed. Even so, it's a good generic aproach to Russian Cinema.