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“He’s Russian. That Explains a Lot": Nikita Mikhalkov's Magnificent Flop (Russia's Alien Nations)
Had a foreigner made this movie, it would have been offensive.
Fall Reading Series: Sergei Gandlevsky's "Illegible," Part III
Krivorotov tried to cause a jealous scene, but Anya would have none of it. “I have one jailer, my aunt, and that’s enough,” the young woman said to him. “If...
All or Nothing: The Literary Significance of Proper Names
The philosopher Vladimir Soloviev (1853-1900) had a habit of naming each object he owned. According to émigré theologian Vladimir Lossky (1903-1958), Soloviev’s satchel was named "Grigory" and his pencil "Andrey."
Rich Sovok, Poor Sovok (Russia's Alien Nations)
Mamin’s own window to international stardom was closed off abruptly.
Workers Against the Workers’ State, Part II
"Dear Comrades!" won a special jury prize at the Venice film festival in September 2020. A one-hour promotional video follows Konchalovsky and Vysotskaya as they cavort through luxury locations in...
Rewriting Russian History Through Cinematic Representations of Revolutionary Terrorism
Russian revolutionary terrorism is a perennial subject for state-sanctioned historical reconstruction, receiving a wide variety of treatments in cinema from the early Soviet period to the present day.
Tsar Nicholas Putin: Continuity or Coincidence?
On a cold December morning in the capital city a crowd gathered to protest Russia’s new ruler. Slogans and cheers sounded through the winter air as the people awaited the...
Mr. Xi Goes to Moscow: Much Ado About Nothing?
A more nuanced appraisal of Russia’s relationship with China tells us a great deal about both how Russian elites define their country’s core interests and possible trajectories for Russian foreign...
By Misunderstanding Crimea, the West Is Pushing Russia Further Away
On the recent anniversary of the Russian annexation of Crimea, residents of the peninsula came out on the streets to celebrate waving flags, cheering and clapping. There was music and...
Why We Must Return to the US-Russian Parity Principle
We are in a new Cold War with Russia today, and specifically over the Ukrainian confrontation, largely because Washington nullified the parity principle. Indeed, we know when, why, and how...
Cold Snap (Part II): Russian Film after Leviathan
An auteurist orientation, therefore, is neither good nor bad, but it is certainly mismatched to an industry—especially during periods of robust growth—in which so-called “spectators’ cinema” [zritel'skoe kino] is in...
Thank You, Comrade Stalin, for Ben Carson
In Russia, the Dulles Plan was a pre-digital Internet meme, from back in the days when memes had to walk twenty miles in the freezing cold before finding a gullible...
Trump, Russia, and "Rigged" Elections
Trump helps Putin most by depicting the U.S. electoral system as “rigged.”
What the Soviet Story Teaches Us about Sincerity
The Soviet story is an instructive reminder of the risky dynamics that can unfold between claims to sincere expression, political pressure, and media manipulation.
The Opposite of Pragmatism: Nazarbayev’s Astana 20 Years Later
Under Nursultan Nazarbayev's leadership, Astana celebrates its twentieth year as Kazakhstan's capital. Festivities for Astana Day on July 6 will attract hundreds of thousands of people to the capital. Elaborate...
Philosophical Moving Pictures (Russia's Alien Nations)
Мikhalkov’s recreation of Russia is an exercise in sympathetic magic, meant to transform the derussified masses from de facto foreigners into the Russians they are meant to be.
The Very Long Nineteenth Century (Akunin WQ 2-3)
Iin the beginning of The Winter Queen we see all the ways in which witnesses tried *not* to see the suicide happen.
NYT: Let's Get Racist about Russia!
What’s black and white and red-baiting all over?
Epic Orientalist Smackdowns (Turkish Gambit 3)
Russia to Fandorin: “It’s not you, it’s me.”
Fall Reading Series: Sergei Gandlevsky's "Illegible," Part I
In contemporary Russian literary life, Gandlevsky’s stature as a poet is indisputably great; he is less well known as a prose writer, although his novels and essays have been critically...