Socialism and film

Just a short thought on films during socialism: Whenever watching films from east-central Europe during made during socialism, I am always struck (though I should be used to this by now) how incredibly critical and challenging some of these films can be. It is challenging for westerners to deal with films that - on the face of it - were made during the 'dark period' of east-central Europe yet are often far more difficult than their western counterparts.

Hungarian and Czech films are particularly noteworthy. Miklós Jancsó's films deserve a mention, such as The Roundup or The Red and the White are at once anti-authoritarian and critical of the central narrative offered by propaganda organs as far as the genesis of established socialism in east-central and eastern Europe is concerned. Especially the latter film (The Red and the White) offers a bleak view of the Red's treatment of fellow Russian citizens during the Civil War (but still elevating 'Redness' above 'Whiteness'). Even his rather more postmodern film Electra My Love can indeed be read as a challenge to authority and is certainly utterly bleak in its outlook.

For me, Belá Tarr is the most remarkable film maker of this period. Though less impressive than Jancsó and others, he conveys and sense of reality and offers a level of criticism that many would consider inconceivable for what is commonly referred to as a state of totalitarianism. His debut trilogy, consisting of Family Nest, The Outsider, and The Prefab People, is - in short - a stinging criticism of society and, crucially, of the political structures of the country. Though never anti-socialist in his criticism, he does present a form of realism that is uncomfortable and 'unchallengable'.

Ivan Passer's Intimate Lighting is remarkable on several levels. Firstly, the story is simply good. Though seemingly a banal observation, it is also an important one. The cinematography is captivating, and whilst - at first glance - it appears to be less critical than either Tarr or Jancsó's films, it does ultimately deal with the issue of failure and disillusionment. Of course this film was made before 1968 (and this must always be borne in mind), but it is truly remarkable how progressive (for want of a much better word) film from east-central Europe was able to be, despite (varying) state constraints. Passer plays with sex (then still a radical thing to do; now it's merely banal) and thus perhaps follows very much a Czech quasi-tradition. The marvellous Marketa Lazarova directed by Frantisek Vlácil is even more radical in this respect, and also touches on the theme of anti-authoritarianism (though again, this was shot in 1967 - Passer's in 1966 - a year before the changes in 1968).

These four directors and their various films are just a glimpse of a diverse and fascinating cinematographic landscape of east-central and eastern Europe during the Cold War. Far from it being dominated by crude propaganda films or vague allusions, we often find ourselves being confronted with films that don't fit a simplistic picture of east-central European Cold War cinema.