The popularity of Volga-Volga’s fairy-tale plot and aesthetic among the masses during one of Russia’s darkest periods must be considered to gain a deeper understanding of cinema’s role in the early soviet society. 1920’s and 1930’s Russia is characterized by harsh famine due to failed collectivization; and those same starving peasants lived in fear of Stalin’s purges from 1936-1938. Censorship also prevailed, and most filmmakers faced jail or execution for including even the slightest reference to the struggles of the people in their films. Yet Grigori Aleksandrov’s Volga-Volga, released in 1938, succeeded as a musical comedy that ignored the realities of peasant life during such plight. The film subscribes to the musical comedy genre as well as the socialist realist genre, which proposes to present an ideal communist future (“what could be” rather than “what was”), and is responsible for the glaring contrast between the peasant life Volga-Volga presents and the starved, stifled reality of daily life at this time. Critics agree that Aleksandrov’s feature film embodies the socialist realist genre, with it’s happy songs about prosperity and wide-angle shots of livestock and thriving farms replacing the reality of starvation and famine. However, a closer analysis of Volga-Volga reveals that, even though the film appears to neglect the Purges and famines that plagued the lower classes, there are a few subtle ways in which it subverts the socialist realism genre and alludes to these realities.
Stalin’s Terror, also known as the Great Purge (1936-38) began with the extinguishing of Trotskyists who still remained in the central government. The hunt for old regime supporters quickly spread to the local level and developed into a total frenzy of denunciations. In his book, The First Socialist Society, Geoffrey Hosking describes: "All over the country party meetings were being held at which members were exhorted to both recall and confess their own earlier 'mistakes' (which now came to mean disagreeing with the official party in any way) and to denounce their colleagues" (Hosking 187). Mass denunciations led to a boom of show-trials all over the country, in which those accused of crimes against the government would confess, weather they were guilty of party betrayal or not, and proclaim their love of and loyalty to their leader and country. Many people were executed regardless of if they conformed during these trials; this is considered one of the most prominent examples of Stalin’s brutality against his people.
Aleksandrov subtly refers to the Purges during the final scenes of Volga, Volga, when the directors of the music olympiad are searching for the author of the song about Volga. The officials ask Byvalov, the bumbling bureaucrat, if it he is the author, to which he responds: "I confess to nothing! I confess to nothing!" The socialist realism genre is supposed to present the future prosperity of socialism, so this detail is an incredibly risky reminder of reality. In his book Cinema and Soviet Society, Peter Kenez quotes Mikhail Sholokhov’s description of Socialist Realism as "the art of the truth of life, comprehended and interpreted by the artist from the point of view of devotion to Leninist Principles" (Kenez 143). While purging all assumed Trotskyists from the government and country as a whole strongly coincides with Lenin’s ideals, one must wonder, if these trials and denunciations caused such distress in the audience’s lives, why Aleksandrov treats the show-trials and subsequent executions in such a humorous manner in this scene. Considering this movie passed censorship, we must assume the show trials were not a touchy subject and that this reference to them would make the audience laugh.
Aleksandrov breaks from his prescribed socialist realism fantasy again when he neglects the typical bildungsroman storyline of the genre. Katrina Clark describes the plot: "in the process of fulfilling a task, the hero, under the tutelage of a seasoned Party worker, acquires an increased understanding of himself, the world around him, the tasks of building communism, class struggle, and the need for vigilance" (Kenez 144). While we see this storyline in many other socialist realism movies and novels, it is completely absent from Volga-Volga. Strelka, played by Lyubov Orlova, does not fit the archetype of the bildungsroman protagonist in any form. There is no indication of Strelka’s increased understanding of herself at the end of the film, and never is she mentored by a Party member. In fact, the only politically involved character in the film is Byvalov, a bureaucrat who is portrayed as idiotic and serves as the comedic relief in the film. Hypothetically, the bildungsroman storyline inspires the viewer to be like the protagonist and work toward and protect communism. However in Volga-Volga, rather than presenting communism as something that need be built by overcoming struggle, the director presents a plot that celebrates a seemingly already achieved utopia.
Critics’ vary in their opinions as to why Aleksandrov sacrificed the genre in this film. In his article "Volga-Volga, the Story of a Song," Peter Kupfer states that "Aleksandrov and Dunayevsky [the songwriter for the film] convey all this in the most modern medium (cinema), in a genre (the film musical) that is unusually capable of blurring the line between real and ideal worlds and that was adapted from the most ‘'modern' nation (the United States)" (Kupfer, "Volga-Volga," 537). Including a more realistic storyline and references to real-life tragedies in an otherwise fairy-tale movie clearly allows Aleksandrov to blur the lines between fantasy and reality. If this blurred line makes the communist fantasy presented more believable for the audience, it would support the film’s propagandic goals. Kenez, however, comments on a much darker role of cinema during the 1930s: "Cinema both reflected the terror and also contributed to an atmosphere of hysteria. One needs no particularly sophisticated methods of analysis to recognize that Soviet films made in the 1930’s convey the message that the enemy was everywhere" (Kenez 162). 1930’s Russia was a two-sided coin: On one hand, people swelled with hope for a brighter future with communism. However, they also suffered greatly, and lived in fear as many innocent citizens were exiled and executed for crimes they did not commit. Maybe a fantastical image of the future mixed with references to the darkest realities of the time perfectly reflects the hysteria that ensued in this time. Regardless of why, it is clear that while many critics praise Volga-Volga as the socialist realism movie, Aleksandrov chose to subvert the subscribed characteristics of the genre in his film.
Stalin’s Terror, also known as the Great Purge (1936-38) began with the extinguishing of Trotskyists who still remained in the central government. The hunt for old regime supporters quickly spread to the local level and developed into a total frenzy of denunciations. In his book, The First Socialist Society, Geoffrey Hosking describes: "All over the country party meetings were being held at which members were exhorted to both recall and confess their own earlier 'mistakes' (which now came to mean disagreeing with the official party in any way) and to denounce their colleagues" (Hosking 187). Mass denunciations led to a boom of show-trials all over the country, in which those accused of crimes against the government would confess, weather they were guilty of party betrayal or not, and proclaim their love of and loyalty to their leader and country. Many people were executed regardless of if they conformed during these trials; this is considered one of the most prominent examples of Stalin’s brutality against his people.
Aleksandrov subtly refers to the Purges during the final scenes of Volga, Volga, when the directors of the music olympiad are searching for the author of the song about Volga. The officials ask Byvalov, the bumbling bureaucrat, if it he is the author, to which he responds: "I confess to nothing! I confess to nothing!" The socialist realism genre is supposed to present the future prosperity of socialism, so this detail is an incredibly risky reminder of reality. In his book Cinema and Soviet Society, Peter Kenez quotes Mikhail Sholokhov’s description of Socialist Realism as "the art of the truth of life, comprehended and interpreted by the artist from the point of view of devotion to Leninist Principles" (Kenez 143). While purging all assumed Trotskyists from the government and country as a whole strongly coincides with Lenin’s ideals, one must wonder, if these trials and denunciations caused such distress in the audience’s lives, why Aleksandrov treats the show-trials and subsequent executions in such a humorous manner in this scene. Considering this movie passed censorship, we must assume the show trials were not a touchy subject and that this reference to them would make the audience laugh.
Aleksandrov breaks from his prescribed socialist realism fantasy again when he neglects the typical bildungsroman storyline of the genre. Katrina Clark describes the plot: "in the process of fulfilling a task, the hero, under the tutelage of a seasoned Party worker, acquires an increased understanding of himself, the world around him, the tasks of building communism, class struggle, and the need for vigilance" (Kenez 144). While we see this storyline in many other socialist realism movies and novels, it is completely absent from Volga-Volga. Strelka, played by Lyubov Orlova, does not fit the archetype of the bildungsroman protagonist in any form. There is no indication of Strelka’s increased understanding of herself at the end of the film, and never is she mentored by a Party member. In fact, the only politically involved character in the film is Byvalov, a bureaucrat who is portrayed as idiotic and serves as the comedic relief in the film. Hypothetically, the bildungsroman storyline inspires the viewer to be like the protagonist and work toward and protect communism. However in Volga-Volga, rather than presenting communism as something that need be built by overcoming struggle, the director presents a plot that celebrates a seemingly already achieved utopia.
Critics’ vary in their opinions as to why Aleksandrov sacrificed the genre in this film. In his article "Volga-Volga, the Story of a Song," Peter Kupfer states that "Aleksandrov and Dunayevsky [the songwriter for the film] convey all this in the most modern medium (cinema), in a genre (the film musical) that is unusually capable of blurring the line between real and ideal worlds and that was adapted from the most ‘'modern' nation (the United States)" (Kupfer, "Volga-Volga," 537). Including a more realistic storyline and references to real-life tragedies in an otherwise fairy-tale movie clearly allows Aleksandrov to blur the lines between fantasy and reality. If this blurred line makes the communist fantasy presented more believable for the audience, it would support the film’s propagandic goals. Kenez, however, comments on a much darker role of cinema during the 1930s: "Cinema both reflected the terror and also contributed to an atmosphere of hysteria. One needs no particularly sophisticated methods of analysis to recognize that Soviet films made in the 1930’s convey the message that the enemy was everywhere" (Kenez 162). 1930’s Russia was a two-sided coin: On one hand, people swelled with hope for a brighter future with communism. However, they also suffered greatly, and lived in fear as many innocent citizens were exiled and executed for crimes they did not commit. Maybe a fantastical image of the future mixed with references to the darkest realities of the time perfectly reflects the hysteria that ensued in this time. Regardless of why, it is clear that while many critics praise Volga-Volga as the socialist realism movie, Aleksandrov chose to subvert the subscribed characteristics of the genre in his film.
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