Adventure Silent Cinema and the Soviet Anthropological Project

Наука телевидения. 2024. Vol. 20(1). P. 13–42.

Тульчинский Г. Л.

The article aims to explore the role of national cinema in the early 20th century and its contribution to the development of the Soviet anthropological project. Any significant transformation of society involves the human factor. This factor can be observed in two ways: as a consequence of changes, which shape the new social experiences acquired through individual socialization, and as the unique qualities of those organizing the transformations. The beginning of the 20th century marked a period of active formation of mass society, urban lifestyles, and entertainment industries. Within this landscape, cinema held a special, perhaps even crucial, position—probably due to its accessibility and the condensed intensity of content presentation. The adventure genre, in particular, played a dominant role and greatly contributed to the success of film distribution. The interplay between commercial and creative aspects has been influential in shaping the development of cinema from its inception. However, during the Soviet era, the balance between entertainment and creativity began to shift, influenced by socio-political circumstances. Firstly, there was an increasing emphasis on social themes in films. Secondly, by the 1930s, these circumstances had evolved into direct political pressure, significantly impacting the content requirements for films and even the fate of their creators. This resulted in a clear contradiction: while cinema content portrayed the ideal of an initiative, responsible, and creative individual, in reality, individuals, including film authors, were expected to conform to ideological requirements. This contradiction between the broadcast content and the real lives of people led to the squandering of the resources of the anthropology project and the creative potential of cinema. Nonetheless, it did not impede the development of models and technologies that shaped the personalized power of mass society, which have retained their significance to this day. Hence, cinema, which initially emerged as a form of entertainment with adventure genre for a dominant, not only played a role in shaping the concept of the “mass man,” but also laid the groundwork for the models and technologies that defined a “person in power.”

Ключевые слова: идеология, ideology, трикстер, советская власть, экранная культура, screen culture, trickster, silent cinema, немое кино, Soviet power, adventure cinema, anthropological project, авантюрно-приключенческое кино, антропологический проект