Review of Historical film Devchata-Free-Samples-Myassignmenthelp

Question: Write a Review of Historical film Devchata. Answer: Devchata (1961, directed by Yuri Chulyukin) is Russian romantic comedy film. It was one of the most popular soviet films during the 60s. This is about a young girl named Tosya who just graduated from a culinary school and has come to start her new job at a Siberian village. She takes Ilyas flirt as true romance. Ilya made a bet to his friends to seduce her. At the big dance, her roommates tell her the truth. She comes to know from Filya that it was actually a bet and that too for a hat. Her heart breaks, she runs outside and starts crying. After few days Ilya tries to convince her that he actually loves her and he is sorry for the prank. However Tosya is not ready to accept his love and forgiveness. Later in an attic they reconcile and experience their first kiss. Director Yuri Chulyukin was graduated from The Russian State University of Cinematography (VGIK) in 1956, where he later became a professor. The film school experience helped him to master in the art of film language. Later he worked for Mosfilm and for television for brief period of time. 1950s and 1960s is better known as the era of Khrushchevs Thaw in the Russian history. Thaw literally means the warmer weather that defrosts the snow and brings a more alive weather. The social political connection is that after Stalins death in 1953, Nikita Khrushchevs de-Stalinization censorship thawed the Russian societys snow of suffocation and repression. Khrushchev released most political prisoners from Stalins era and relaxed the censorship and repression. Devchata represents that warm period in the cinematic universe of Russia. The film is light hearted romantic drama; the characters are warm and alive. The director wanted to represent a time and a Soviet society where people are more humanistic that before. They are free to choose their way of life and seek happiness in their own ways. The message is implicit because the representations are often symbolical and subtle. The director consciously avoided the direct political scenario of that time. His cinematic universe belongs to common everyday people, who seek happiness and peace in life. The political peaceful co existence reflected in the films community and characters as well, but in an indirect manner. The film is from a common mans perspective and it tells the story of ordinary human beings. This black and white film explored the beauty of snow covered Siberia. The forest, the village and the camp represented the life and its closeness. He director uses few metaphorical images in a very subtle manner, which signifies some simple truth of life. Amidst the coldness people are looking for bit warmth. Several shots of the piled up wood pieces bring the warmth in the environment and serves the metaphorical purpose. The characters are physically close; as we see they sleep or hand out together in small spaces. However, the characters or the spectators both do not feel any suffocation due to the limited space, rather the closeness, intimacy and limitation brings forward the coziness, the warmth of the bo dies and hearts. The film uses a very simple plot plays with the character of Tosya who brings life to the films world by her physical humor and facial expressions. In an early scene where the supervisor reacted after knowing that she doesnt have a pillow and she is a new cook, he said Pillows are in short supply, and a cook with no professional experience? Ugh! The old and authoritys perception about the new generation is also criticized, as Tosya soon proved him wrong by doing a great job and establishing her presence. The simple or complicated facts of life have been sewed with the films narrative. The humorous episodes are throughout the film and well connected, just like life. Nadya is does not want to end up as an old cook so she has compromised her love life by choosing someone not so good. However the man, who Tosya calls as Mangy, tries to love and care for her in his best possible way. Or the character of Anfisa, whose insecurities get expressed through her flirts to men. The film deals with humanistic characters, which has strength and weakness both. They make mistake, they accept sad truth of life yet all of them are struggling to find happiness. Their simple approach towards life of accepting and moving on helps them to reach their desires. Ilya had made a mistake; he confessed it and finally achieved the happiness with the help of Tosya. The film represented an optimistic view of Khrushchevs Russia (Strukov and Helena 2016, 246). The post world war, the Italian Neo Realism or French Nouvelle Vague marked significantly in the world of Cinema. After Stalins demise, the political changes in Khruschevs time the new soviet cinema saw possibility. In Devchata, the spectators experience the presence of nature in relationship with humans. The tradition of visual expression over sound or narrative is absent here. The film followed a different path than the contemporary tradition of multiple superimpositions, subjective camera angles and panoramic shots. Yuri was a new generation Russian filmmaker who was free from the studio-system of Stalin era. Devchata successfully portrays the peaceful existence of the community and the individual. The film shows the symptoms of Soviet new wave conventions of that period. Some of them are the seasons presence in the films narrative and two contradictory characters falling in love. The per iod of gave much importance to the value of that period which is to provide equal importance to the individual human being and his communal presence. Tosya or Ilya represents the new generation. Their individual presence and their relationship with the community, the community consists of his or her friends get much importance. This new generations self reflexivity is being represented through the characters of Tosya or Ilya. The return of revolutions idea as neoleninism can be interpreted here. The directors sensibility and consciousness towards the community and its relationship with the individual human beings gets expressed clearly. The neoleninism is nothing but bringing back the purity of ideas, which was betrayed in the Stalin era. The VGIK student Yuri was one of the Soviet liberal intelligentsia who believed and implemented the potential of human and socialism. The spontaneity of everyday life is being projected in the film most simple way. Khruschev was very aware and appr eciated the youths presence in the films. In one of the last scenes where the community is present then the narrative focused on the two characters can be interpreted as the communal presence acts as the tribute to the contemporary tradition. However reconciliation of Tosya and Ilya represents the Thaw. After the death of Stalin, Khrushchev brought a revolutionary era when people were liberated from preexisted extreme repression (Goff 2015, 27-44). The new young generation was free. However the idea of woman needs to get married in order to become socially accepted is presented in this film like any another Soviet film of that time (Sideri 2012, 496-497). Even in the wilderness of Serbia, Tosya is struggling to build up a conventional love and family life indicates that. Like when she expressed her shock by seeing Vera burning her husbands letter. This becomes more evident when Anfisa says When youre 28 years old and still unmarried, like Nadya, even a goat will do. Nadyas compromis e to get a happy family life is also evident of the matter. References Goff, Krista A. "Why not love our language and our culture? National rights and citizenship in Khrushchev's Soviet Union."Nationalities Papers43, no. 1 (2015): 27-44. Sideri, Eleni. "Nation, language, Islam: Tatarstan's sovereignty movementBy Helen M. Faller."Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute18, no. 2 (2012): 496-497. Strukov, Vlad, and Helena Goscilo, eds.Russian Aviation, Space Flight and Visual Culture. Vol. 70. Taylor Francis, 2016.