In the city of the eccentrics: Glumov, Mr West and Oktiabrina

Abstract

ABSTRACT In its cinematographic dimension, Soviet Constructivism turns the city into a stage upon which amazing deeds, burlesque situations and acrobatics are performed. The circus, music-hall and variety shows are the new genres that are incorporated first into the theatre, advocated by the Left Front of the Arts (LEF), and shortly afterwards into the cinema. At the same time, the urban space becomes the epitome of the technology propelled by the Soviet state, which drove the industrialisation of the country: factories, machines and engines, road traffic, telecommunications and, of course, the cinema. The present paper addresses these questions – the ‘technification’ and the eccentric view of the city of the Soviet cinema-makers – through the analysis of three period-defining works. The first of these is Glumov's Diary (S. M. Eisenstein, 1923), a satirical short film integrated in the mise-en-scene of Enough Simplicity for Every Wise Man, a play by Aleksander Ostrovski; the second is The Extraordinary Adventures of Mr West in the Land of the Bolsheviks (Lev Kuleshov, 1924); and the third work studied is The Adventures of Oktiabrina (Grigori Kozintsev and Leonid Trauberg, 1924), the first film by the FEKS group.