This lecture is co-sponsored by the Alice D. Mortenson/Petrovich Distinguished Chair in Russian History.
About the Lecture: When Soviet films were shown in the United States in the 1930s and 1940s, reviewers often complained about their slow tempo and propagandistic appeals but praised their acting and cinematography. Although since 1930 the Soviet film industry relied primarily on domestic film stock, and photography suffered as a result, the feature films that made it to the U.S. were of relatively high technical quality. One of the practices Soviet cinematographers developed to achieve crisper images was “white film”: filming white elements against white backgrounds using sunlight. This approach resulted in a strikingly bright look that distinguished Soviet films from those made in Hollywood, which was then developing a fashion for high-contrast cinematography that eventually resulted in film noir.
About the Speaker: Coming soon!