1.Compare a film from (Yakov Protazanov’s Aelita (1924)) with (Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck’s The Lives of Others (2006)). What artistic techniques, characteristics, and themes are maintained? Which has disappeared, faded, or become irrelevant? What can we say about the artistic vision, mission, or success of the films’ directors?
2. Describe the impact of Nikita Khrushchev’s “On the Cult of Personality and its Consequences” speech of 1956 on the evolution of Eastern European cinema. Illustrate your answer with at least one film from the second half of the twentieth century. What can the themes, styles, genres, or modes tell us about the development of culture and society in the post-WWII or post-Stalin epoch? How might one identify the influence of official politics and/or counterculture in these works; are they films of an official ideology or of resistance?
3. Consider the career of Joseph Stalin (1928-1953) and Nikita Khrushchev (1953-1964): They are Communist, Fascist, or Resistor. How? does the director’s environment influence his/her art? How does the artist deal with issues? censorship and/or commercial concerns? How might we evaluate the “success” of individual? artists in the (post)communist and/or fascist environments? Be sure to illustrate your answer with examples from film.
4. Define Vladimir Chebotarev ideology: Communist, Fascist, or Resistor. How does the director’s ideology influence his/her art? How does the artist deal with? issues of censorship and/or commercial concerns?
5. Short Answer: How might we evaluate the “success” of individual artists in the communist, fascist, or post-communist environments? How important are commercial and political concerns to our evaluation of the film Sergei Eisenstein’s Battleship Potemkin (1925)? Are there other means by which to define the success of a director?
6. Describe Nikita Khrushchev’s “On the Cult of Personality and its Consequences” speech and its influence in Eastern Europe.
