Shooting the Joy of the Rus’ Alcohol Consumption and Alcoholism in Soviet Movies, 1953-1991 Merlin Kikas MASTER’S THESIS – EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN STUDIES FACULTY OF HUMANITIES Supervisor: Pål Kolstø UNIVERSITY OF OSLO Autumn 2012 © The Author 2012 Shooting the Joy of the Rus’: Alcohol Consumption and Alcoholism in Soviet Movies, 1953- 1991 Merlin Kikas http://www.duo.uio.no/ Print: Reprosentralen, University of Oslo ii Abstract The current thesis examines how alcohol consumption and alcoholism were interpreted in Soviet movies between 1953 and 1991, taking into consideration the shifting ideological constraints and anti-alcohol campaigns, as well as alcohol and film politics. With the help of 43 films, this research explores the socio-cultural aspects of drinking as represented in Soviet films, uncovers the beliefs about alcohol consumption and alcoholism, and observes how films as cultural texts reflect society back onto itself. Moreover, through film readings of four Soviet alcoholism movies, the research illustrates how the attitudes towards alcoholics and alcoholism developed during the 1970s and 1980s. The study shows that in a state where, in ideological principle, socialism and alcoholism were incompatible, alcohol consumption was portrayed frequently--although filmmakers were cautions with their cinematic interpretations. Drinking occasions were very often intertwined with humorous situations and sketches that satisfied the audiences’ yearnings for entertainment. The seriousness of certain scenes was hidden or brightened up with the help of catchy phrases or smoothed down through light musical compositions which gave the situation comical connotations. Similarly, it turns out that drinking location, the way alcohol is consumed and alcoholic beverages encompass various allusions both to the nature of the celebration and the social status of the drinker which, in turn, fed various societal clichés. Moreover, one might think that anti-alcohol campaigns that intended to utilize the movie industry in educational and explanatory work would have resulted in more rigorous censorship and thematic plans calling for production of movies with anti-alcohol character. Yet, before the mid-1970s such movies were impossible to find. It was only then when the Soviet audiences were shown the images of true-to-life sobering-up stations and alcoholism treatment, orphanage with handicapped children of alcoholic parents, and drinking binges that ended with death. Therefore, in a situation when official statistics about alcohol consumption and alcoholism was inadequate or missing, we can definitely say that in one way or another, cinema played a huge role in mediating the official views and public opinion about alcohol consumption habits and alcoholism to the Soviet audiences. iii iv Acknowledgments Many thanks to my supervisor, Pål Kolstø, for encouragement, good advice, patience and insight in course of this interesting project. v Note on Transliteration and Translation Transliteration from the Cyrillic to the Latin alphabet is a perennial problem for most writers on Russian subjects. I have opted for the Library of Congress System (without diacritics) in text, footnotes and Bibliography. However, I have broken from this system once and preferred name Asya to avoid confusion with the continent Asia. The Filmography includes films analyzed in Chapters 4 and 5 only; films that are occasionally mentioned in the other chapters are not listed. Soviet films are given in translation in the text, but in the Filmography they are listed both in English and in Russian for the reader’s convenience. All translations of Russian language material are mine if not stated otherwise. Sometimes, when using quotations or longer extracts from the films, I have chosen to give the original text in a footnote--especially when knowing that the English translation does not capture the proper definition or mood. If the flow or freshness of the original text does sometimes get lost in translation, this is a conscious sacrifice for the sake of text availability. vi List of Illustrations 1. Screenshot from Asya’s Happiness (1967) page 51 2. Screenshot from Destiny of a Man (1959) 53 3. Screenshot from Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears (1979) 55 4. Screenshot from Kinfolk (1983) 56 5. Screenshot from The Diamond Arm (1968) 57 6. Screenshot from Moscow Does not Believe in Tears (1979) 60 7. Screenshot from Kidnapping, Caucasian Style (1966) 62 8. Screenshot from Autumn Marathon (1979) 63 9. Screenshot from Intergirl (1989) 66 10. Screenshot from Give Me the Complaint Book (1964) 67 11. Screenshot from Heart of the Dog (1988) 68 12. Screenshot from The Diamond Arm (1968) 70 13. Screenshot from The Cranes are Flying (1957) 71 14. Screenshot from Afonia (1975) 76 15. Screenshot from Afonia (1975) 77 16. Screenshot from Trouble (1977) 79 17. Screenshot from Trouble (1977) 81 18. Screenshot from Friend (1987) 83 19. Screenshot from Friend (1987) 85 20. Screenshot from Grey Mouse (1988) 87 21. Screenshot from Grey Mouse (1988) 88 22. Screenshot from The Diamond Arm (1967) 92 vii Table of Contents ABSTRACT............................................................................................................. III ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................ V NOTE ON TRANSLITERATION AND TRANSLATION .................................................. VI LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ........................................................................................ VII CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................... 1 1.1 RESEARCH QUESTIONS ................................................................................................ 2 1.2 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK: ALCOHOL IN CINEMA............................................................ 3 1.3 METHOD .................................................................................................................. 5 1.4 OUTLINE .................................................................................................................. 7 CHAPTER 2 ALCOHOL AND RUSSIA ......................................................................... 8 2.1 ALCOHOL AND STATE .................................................................................................. 8 2.2 COMBATING “GREEN SERPENT” ................................................................................. 15 2.2.1 First Attacks against the Plague .................................................................. 16 2.2.2 The Bolsheviks and the Bottle ..................................................................... 18 2.2.3 Sobering the Nation ..................................................................................... 21 2.3 DRINKING CULTURE .................................................................................................. 24 2.3.1 Traditional Drinking Culture ........................................................................ 24 2.3.2 Modern Drinking Culture ............................................................................. 25 2.3.3 The Meanings and Rituals of Drink ............................................................. 26 2.3.4 Classifying Russian Alcohol Consumers ....................................................... 28 CHAPTER 3 STATE AND CINEMA ........................................................................... 31 3.1 FIRST STEPS OF THE MOST IMPORTANT ART .................................................................. 31 3.2 PROFIT MAKING A LA RUSSE ...................................................................................... 32 3.3 FROM WAR TO THAW .............................................................................................. 35 3.4 THE BYTOVOI BREZHNEV ERA ..................................................................................... 37 3.5 PESSIMISTIC PERESTROIKA ......................................................................................... 40 3.6 THE SOVIET CINEMATIC TROIKA: ENTERTAINMENT, IDEOLOGY, AND CENSORSHIP ................. 42 viii 3.6.1 Entertainment as Enlightenment ................................................................ 42 3.6.2 Ideology of Socialist Realism .................................................................... 43 3.6.3 Censorship and Its Impact ........................................................................... 45 CHAPTER 4 EXPLORING ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION IN SOVIET MOVIES .................. 48 4.1 DRINKING OCCASIONS .............................................................................................. 49 4.2 SUBSTANCE AND LOCATION ....................................................................................... 55 4.3 THE ART OF DRINKING .............................................................................................. 59 4.4 CINEMATIC PORTRAYAL OF A DRINKER ......................................................................... 64 4.4.1 Working Class ............................................................................................. 66 4.4.2 Middle Class................................................................................................. 70 CHAPTER 5 “ALCOHOLISM FILMS” IN SOVIET CINEMATOGRAPHY ......................... 73 5.1 AFONIA (1975) ...................................................................................................... 74 5.2 TROUBLE (1977) ...................................................................................................