Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Another star of the St Petersburg's film industry is Alexey German, who gained at-
tention with his 1998 film
Khrustalyov! My Car!
Based on a story by Joseph Brodsky,
the film tells the tale of a well-loved military doctor who was arrested during Stalin's
'Doctor's Plot'. The 2012 release of
A History of the Arkanar Massacre
, which has
been in production for over a decade now, is eagerly awaited.
Other Lenfilm successes include Alexey Balabanov's
Of Freaks and Men,
the joint
project of Boris Frumin and Yury Lebedev,
Undercover,
and Andrei Kravchuk's
The
Italian,
all of which enjoyed some critical acclaim in the West.
petitive film event in June. Partly sponsored by Lenfilm, the festival is an attempt to
draw film-makers to the city, as well as to draw attention to its films. A smaller but
ing documentaries, shorts and animated films.
For a comprehensive rundown of the history of drama from classical sta-
ging to the revolutionary works of Meyerhold and Mayakovsky, see Kon-
stantin Rudnitsky's excellent
Russian & Soviet Theatre: Tradition & the
Avant-Garde
.
THEATRE
While it may not be completely accessible to most travellers due to language barriers,
theatre plays a major role in St Petersburg performing arts. At least a dozen drama and
comedy theatres dot the city streets, not to mention puppet theatres and musical
theatres. As in all areas of the performing arts, contemporary playwrights do not re-
ceive as much attention as well-known greats and adaptations of famous literature.
Nonetheless, drama has a long history in Russia and St Petersburg, as the cultural cap-
ital, has always been at the forefront.
In the early days, theatre was an almost exclusive vehicle of the Orthodox Church,
used to spread its message and convert believers. In the 19th century, however,
vaudeville found its way to Russia. More often than not, these biting, satirical one-act
comedies poked fun at the rich and powerful. Playwrights such as Alexander Pushkin
and Mikhail Lermontov decried the use of their art as a tool of propaganda or evan-
gelism. Other writers - Nikolai Gogol, Alexander Griboyedov and Alexander
