The image of the Soviet man in Russian films: a sociological analysis

Abstract

Films are viewed as an instrument of historical policy and a means of interpreting and distributing certain views about various episodes in national history. The study sample consisted of the eight highest box-office non-military Russian films about Soviet society, which were released between 2008 and 2017. Based on the method of organizing the plot and the themes raised, the films were divided into two groups: “films about achievements” and “films about personal life.” The key methods were the following: 1. content analysis of screen time allocated to certain scenes and characters, to discussions of various topics; 2. discourse analysis of the speech of film characters. On the basis of analysis, three types of characters were described: “hero” (main positive character), “opponent” (main antagonist) and “helper.” The results of the analysis depict the main tendencies in the interpretations of the events of the Soviet era by contemporary Russian cinema. One of the key themes in all the films is the confrontation between a person and the state, manifested through the conflict of a “hero” and an “opponent” (a representative of the government department). Characters who uphold personal values, act independently and are not afraid to take risks, are marked positively. Moreover, behaviour of those characters is not always consistent with the interests of the state. At the same time, characters who support the values accepted in Soviet society and act strictly in accordance with the orders of the authorities are marked negatively. The films contrast the positive ideas about the Soviet people, the negative ideas about the state system. In this manner, the problem of the ambivalence of modern interpretations of Soviet history is being solved.

Keywords:

Contemporary Russia cinema, image of Soviet man, historical policy, content analysis, discourse analysis, narrative, sociology of film