Bezhin Meadow: Difference between revisions
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==Production== |
==Production== |
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Before production of the film began, the script was well received by Eisenstein, but there were initial concerns about the quality of the plot and characterization involved. Filming began, and in October 1935 the first developed film was presented to Mosfilm Studio, who was producing Bezhin Meadow. The studio requested changes, and production continued. In the late 1936, the script was again revised, with Eisenstein acknowledging errors in his production |
Before production of the film began, the script was well received by Eisenstein, but there were initial concerns about the quality of the plot and characterization involved. Filming began, and in October 1935 the first developed film was presented to Mosfilm Studio, who was producing Bezhin Meadow. The studio requested changes, and production continued. In the late 1936, the script was again revised, with Eisenstein acknowledging errors in his production after another version was rejected by the studio. During the production, Eisenstein did not widely reveal footage of the film for review.<ref name='FilmFactory_BM_031937' /> |
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Prior to release, it was required that Bezhin Meadow be screened and approved by the Central Executive Committee of the Communist Party. Multiple versions of the film were banned by the Committee, which cited them as "inartistic and politically bankrupt," and claimed that Eisenstein "confused the class struggle with the struggle between good and evil."<ref name='Time_BM_032737' /> By an order from the Chief Directorate of Soviet Cinema, production of the film was stoppped on March 17, 1937.<ref name='FilmFactory_BM_031937'>{{cite book | last = Christie | first = Ian | authorlink = | coauthors = Boris Shumyatsky (Pravda) | title = The Film Factory: Russian and Soviet Cinema in Documents, 1896-1939; O fil'me Bezhin lug | publisher = Routledge | date = [[1994-12-13]] | location = New York, New York | pages = 378-381 | url = http://books.google.com/books?id=dkVKmMW3V9EC&pg=PA378&lpg=PA378&dq=bezhin+meadow&source=web&ots=HrWWn-W0ym&sig=iLz4ZVXMa_mOVaBZ1mDvm3V_hgc | doi = | id = | isbn = 978-0415052986 }}</ref> After the film's final rejection, Boris Shumyatsky, the head of the Soviet GUK (Principal Directorate for the Cinema) took responsibility for the failure in the media, with an essay detailing the film's history in [[Pravda]]. According to Shumyatsky, Behzin Meadow was a [[slander]] against the Soviet countryside, and an example of [[Formalism (philosophy)|Formalism]] that needed to be eliminated.<ref name='FilmFactory_BM_031937' /> |
Prior to release, it was required that Bezhin Meadow be screened and approved by the Central Executive Committee of the Communist Party. Multiple versions of the film were banned by the Committee, which cited them as "inartistic and politically bankrupt," and claimed that Eisenstein "confused the class struggle with the struggle between good and evil."<ref name='Time_BM_032737' /> By an order from the Chief Directorate of Soviet Cinema, production of the film was stoppped on March 17, 1937.<ref name='FilmFactory_BM_031937'>{{cite book | last = Christie | first = Ian | authorlink = | coauthors = Boris Shumyatsky (Pravda) | title = The Film Factory: Russian and Soviet Cinema in Documents, 1896-1939; O fil'me Bezhin lug | publisher = Routledge | date = [[1994-12-13]] | location = New York, New York | pages = 378-381 | url = http://books.google.com/books?id=dkVKmMW3V9EC&pg=PA378&lpg=PA378&dq=bezhin+meadow&source=web&ots=HrWWn-W0ym&sig=iLz4ZVXMa_mOVaBZ1mDvm3V_hgc | doi = | id = | isbn = 978-0415052986 }}</ref> After the film's final rejection, Boris Shumyatsky, the head of the Soviet GUK (Principal Directorate for the Cinema) took responsibility for the failure in the media, with an essay detailing the film's history in [[Pravda]]. According to Shumyatsky, Behzin Meadow was a [[slander]] against the Soviet countryside, and an example of [[Formalism (philosophy)|Formalism]] that needed to be eliminated.<ref name='FilmFactory_BM_031937' /> |
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Revision as of 21:49, 8 January 2008
| Bezhin Meadow | |
|---|---|
| File:Bezhinmeadow.jpg | |
| Directed by | Sergei M. Eisenstein |
| Produced by | V. Babitsky |
| Starring | Vitya Kartashov, Nikolai Khmelyov, Pyotr Arzhanov, Yekaterina Teleshova, Nikolai Maslov, Boris Zakhava |
| Cinematography | Vladimir Nilsen, Eduard Tisse |
| Distributed by | Mosfilm |
Release date | 1937 |
Running time | 30 minutes |
| Country | USSR |
| Language | Russian |
Bezhin Meadow is a 1937 Soviet film, directed by Sergei Eisenstein, which is famous for having been destroyed before completion.
Original Turgenev story and Pavlik Morozov
The film was based in part on a story by Ivan Turgenev, a 19th century Russian scholar and novelist, but was adapted to focus as well on the story of Pavlik Morozov, a Soviet youth glorified by the Soviet Union propaganda as a martyr. His story, dated to 1932, is that of a 13-year old boy who denounced his father to the authorities and was in turn killed by his family. It was a Soviet morality tale: opposing the state was selfish and reactionary, and state was more important than family. His story was a subject of compulsory children readings, songs, plays, a symphonic poem, a full-length opera and six biographies. There is very little original evidence related to the story; much of it a hearsay provided by second-hand witnesses.
Background
Bezhin Meadow was to be the first film produced by Eisinstein in several years within the Soviet Union, after having fallen out of favor with the Communist Party leadership.[citation needed]
Production
Before production of the film began, the script was well received by Eisenstein, but there were initial concerns about the quality of the plot and characterization involved. Filming began, and in October 1935 the first developed film was presented to Mosfilm Studio, who was producing Bezhin Meadow. The studio requested changes, and production continued. In the late 1936, the script was again revised, with Eisenstein acknowledging errors in his production after another version was rejected by the studio. During the production, Eisenstein did not widely reveal footage of the film for review.[1]
Prior to release, it was required that Bezhin Meadow be screened and approved by the Central Executive Committee of the Communist Party. Multiple versions of the film were banned by the Committee, which cited them as "inartistic and politically bankrupt," and claimed that Eisenstein "confused the class struggle with the struggle between good and evil."[2] By an order from the Chief Directorate of Soviet Cinema, production of the film was stoppped on March 17, 1937.[1] After the film's final rejection, Boris Shumyatsky, the head of the Soviet GUK (Principal Directorate for the Cinema) took responsibility for the failure in the media, with an essay detailing the film's history in Pravda. According to Shumyatsky, Behzin Meadow was a slander against the Soviet countryside, and an example of Formalism that needed to be eliminated.[1]
Production on the unreleased film cost 2,000,000 rubles, and spanned two years.[2]
Film plot
The film is based in part on the Soviet folk lore tale of Pavlik Morozov, a child and Young Pioneer who is murdered by kulaks, a type of landowning farmer. He is slain for reporting crimes by his father, a kulak himself, to the Soviet government.[2][1] In the film, the child is named Stepok, departing from the original lore.[1]
References
- ^ a b c d e Christie, Ian (1994-12-13). The Film Factory: Russian and Soviet Cinema in Documents, 1896-1939; O fil'me Bezhin lug. New York, New York: Routledge. pp. 378–381. ISBN 978-0415052986.
{{cite book}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ a b c "Rebuke and Reorganization". Time Magazine. 1937-03-27. Retrieved 2008-01-08.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help)
External links
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