Russian cinema has had its share of luminaries, from Andrei
Tarkovsky (“Solaris”) and Sergei Eisenstein
(“Battleship Potemkin”).
Less known but just as important is Alexander Dovzhenko, whose
films are being screened at the James Bridges Theater tonight.
Sponsored by the Hollywood Trident Foundation and the UCLA Film and
Television Archive, the screenings are a part of a five-day
Dovzhenko retrospective including screenings of his more obscure
works and lectures by Dovzhenko experts across the globe.
Dovzhenko presents a special case in Soviet cinema since his
films balanced his Ukrainian heritage with the need to portray
pro-Soviet messages. These often conflicted because nationalistic
Soviet ideology demanded belief in a Soviet people, not in separate
ethnic groups.
“The films that we focused on were films where Dovzhenko
is drawing on Ukrainian history and folklore,” said David
Pendleton, programmer at the archive. “Dovzhenko’s
films are remarkable because they do evidence a Ukrainian identity
at the same time they promote the official ideology of the victory
of the proletariat and that sort of thing.”
The country of Ukraine sits between Russia, the Black Sea, and
Romania among others; and, until the fall of the Soviet Union, it
was not its own nation. The more well-known Eisenstein also came
from the Ukraine and attained fame through his films and
writings.
Dovzhenko, however, rarely wrote and his films are rarely
screened outside of film classes. Nevertheless his films, mostly
made in the Soviet silent era of the 1920s and ’30s, were
very influential on filmmakers such as Stanley Kubrick. Dovzhenko
innovated a lyricism in his use of nature and a focus on the lives
of peasants.
“One of his pieces, “˜Earth,’ is the Mona Lisa
of silent films,” said Andy Semotiuk, executive director of
the Hollywood Trident Foundation.
Formed only eight months ago, the Trident Foundation hopes to
bring Eastern European filmmaking to the foreground, especially
that of Ukraine. With honorary chairman Jack Palance (the
actor’s father was an immigrant from Ukraine), the foundation
was responsible for bringing the three Dovzhenko scholars to UCLA
for the event to lecture and introduce the film screenings.
The silent film screenings will be accompanied by musician
Michael Mortilla and will have English subtitles. While silent
films are rarely seen today, they continue to inform filmmakers and
their images still have the ability to be moving.
“The Soviet silent era produced a number of films which
are now considered classics,” Pendleton said.
“Dovzhenko is considered one of the masters of the Soviet
silent cinema.”
For more info please go to www.cinema.ucla.edu or call
310-206-8013.