Practices of public debates during perestroika (discussing the film Emergency of the District Scale)

About the author:

Arseniy D. Moiseenko, Postgraduate Student, Department of History, European University at Saint-Petersburg, St. Petersburg, Russia, amoiseenko@eu.spb.ru

Abstract:

Perestroika became a time when the thematic spectrum of public discussions expanded. In addition to discussions about everyday life, the ideas of deconstructing the Soviet bureaucratic and ideological system became relevant. This dialogue has had an impact on specific institutions. This article analyzes an example of criticism of the Komsomol organization in the film Emergency of the District Scale (ChP raionnogo mashtaba). The main part of the study is devoted to the analysis of this movie’s discussions. The assessment was influenced by local bans that prevented the film from being released. The article describes various mechanisms of influence on cinematography institutions throughout the country. The question of how the context of prohibitions affected the condition of film criticism is also considered. Emergency was in a position where the fight against the abuses of local authorities became more significant than an authentic criticism of the art features of the motion picture. This formed two opposing forces. Representatives of the first considered themselves true fighters for the perestroika. Their opponents tried to refuse such a formulation of the question and tried to deconstruct the stylistics. In addition, an important aspect of perestroika cinema was the legal appearance of erotic scenes, which were also shown in Emergency. The article presents details of how this context was inosculated with the ideological debate around the film, as well as some of the arguments of different groups. The ironic mode also became a significant aspect of the discussion about the movie. This way of reflection was the only means of going beyond the boundaries of the dichotomy “for glasnost [publicity] and perestroika” or “against”, which was the basis of public debate.

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