Alexander Medvedkin (Filmmaker's Companion 2, The)

Description:
This first introduction to Medvedkin's film-making career traces his process of developing a unique brand of cinematic satire throughout the period of the Soviet revolutionary experiment. Using original archival material and Medvedkin's writings towards his unfinished autobiography, Widdis explores his films from the 1936 The Miracle Worker, through the unreleased New Moscow of 1938 and the experimental 'film train' - or kinopoezd - up to the rediscovery of his 1934 film Happiness in the 1960s.

Review:
Moscow Times: 'The renaissance in Russian and Soviet cinema studies continues with the appearance of two fine new books in IB Tauris's KINOfiles Filmmaker's Companions series.' 'these well-researched studies help to bring crucial dilemmas in Soviet cultural history into sharper focus.' 'analytic energy and wealth of anecdote' 'excellent and highly readable' Moscow Times: 'The renaissance in Russian and Soviet cinema studies continues with the appearance of two fine new books in IB Tauris's KINOfiles Filmmaker's Companions series.' 'these well-researched studies help to bring crucial dilemmas in Soviet cultural history into sharper focus.' 'Riley produces some wonderfully evocative descriptions of Shostakovich's work that show a sure grasp of musical logic and make us want to find the scores and recordings for ourselves' 'analytic energy and wealth of anecdote' 'excellent and highly readable' The Morning Star: 'These film scores are not just incidental music but form an integral part of the direction and production of the films.' 'It is hoped that John Riley's excellent book will not only popularise Shostakovich's film music but also bring about a revival of interest in the films themselves...' Professor David Fanning - University of Manchester: 'Thanks to John Riley we now have a much fuller picture of the tortuous fate of many of the films themselves, as well as a judicious weighing of their cinematic and musical merits. To all this the author brings not only his expertise as a film historian - drawing on Russian as well as Western sources - but also a wide-ranging musical knowledge and penetrating intelligence.' MLR 'the first general study of Medvedkin...establishes a convenient starting point...'

Author Biography:
Emma Widdis is Lecturer in Slavonic Studies and Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. She is the author of Visions of a New Land: Soviet Film from the Revolution to the Second World War.