“And I Was Born in Arcadia Too...”: The Myth of Russia in Nikita Mikhalkov’s “The Barber of Siberia”
Abstract
It took many years for Mikhalkov to prepare for the making of The Barber of Siberia. Demby sees in the film the mental quintessence of Mikhalkov’s whole creative activity, based on two myths, that of an idyllic past and the myth of the Russian tradition opposed to Western culture. The idea of a renewal of the myth of a tsarist Russia, which were to unite a politically tom and morally degraded contemporary Russia, received no expected response. The film was not well received by critics but the consequence with which Mikhalkov kept on idealising the national past was noteworthy. The Siberia of untamed, wild nature becomes an idyllic Arcadia in the film. Here finds expression Mikhalkov’s ecological myth, which is of more universal character.
Keywords:
Nikita Mikhalkov, Siberia, Russian mythReferences
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Authors
Łucja Dembykwartalnik.filmowy@ispan.pl
Jagiellonian University Poland
Pracownik naukowy w Instytucie Sztuk Audiowizualnych UJ. Autorka książki Poza rzeczywistością. Spór o wrażenie realności w historii francuskiej myśli filmowej (2003).
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