1950s
1960s
A01=Viktoria Paranyuk
aesthetics
Author_Viktoria Paranyuk
Category=ATFA
Category=NHD
cinema
closeup
eq_art-fashion-photography
eq_bestseller
eq_history
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_new_release
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
film
history
interior monologue
Khrushchev
New Wave
ordinary characters
post-Stalin
Postwar
realism
realistic
Russia
sincerity
Socialist
Soviet Union
Product details
- ISBN 9780299354602
- Weight: 513g
- Dimensions: 152 x 229mm
- Publication Date: 16 Dec 2025
- Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Hardback
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Following Stalin’s death in 1953 and Khruschev’s acknowledgment of Stalin’s crimes in 1956, “sincerity” emerged as a cultural imperative in the Soviet Union. Unlike the fare of the Stalin era, the cinema of this period turned inward, insisting on ordinary characters and creating a sense of spontaneity through particular staging methods and cinematic techniques, such as the close-up and interior monologue. These changes shifted the understanding of what “realism” meant and allowed Soviet cinema to reestablish with its audiences the trust that had been corrupted by serving Stalin’s cult of personality.
Using both theory and close readings of specific films produced in various parts of the Soviet Union during the Thaw, a period known for its relative political and cultural liberalization, Cinema of Sincerity treats sincerity as both a concept and an aesthetic strategy. Viktoria Paranyuk argues that Soviet cinema’s use of sincerity was a reworking of a trend in global cinema that sought to bridge the gap between reality and the filmed image. This period saw increased accessibility to world cinematic traditions, new voices in criticism, and, above all, the multigenerational effort in filmmaking that developed and thrived in centers outside Moscow. Paranyuk demonstrates how these changes allowed Soviet cinema to renew its visual language and use film as a space for collective self-examination.
Using both theory and close readings of specific films produced in various parts of the Soviet Union during the Thaw, a period known for its relative political and cultural liberalization, Cinema of Sincerity treats sincerity as both a concept and an aesthetic strategy. Viktoria Paranyuk argues that Soviet cinema’s use of sincerity was a reworking of a trend in global cinema that sought to bridge the gap between reality and the filmed image. This period saw increased accessibility to world cinematic traditions, new voices in criticism, and, above all, the multigenerational effort in filmmaking that developed and thrived in centers outside Moscow. Paranyuk demonstrates how these changes allowed Soviet cinema to renew its visual language and use film as a space for collective self-examination.
Viktoria Paranyuk is a lecturer in the Department of Film and Screen Studies at Pace University. Her work has been published in Slavic Review, Film History, [in]Transition: Journal of Videographic Film & Moving Image Studies, and elsewhere.
