Sergei Eisenstein, Aleksandr Ptushko and Valentin Kadochnikov: on the history of the Soviet fantasy film

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article identifies the specific features of the original style of production designer and director Valentin Kadochnikov (1912–42) in his work on adapting fairy tales for the cinema in the 1930s–1940s. For this purpose, the article introduces previously unknown archival documents and evidence into the scholarly discourse, and adds new features to the creative portraits of Russian directors Sergei Eisenstein, Aleksandr Ptushko and Valentin Kadochnikov. The article provides an overview of archival sources, letters and director’s concepts. The analysis of the artistic structure of the films Ruslan and Ludmila (dir. Ptushko, 1972), New Moscow (Novaia Moskva, dir. Aleksandr Medvedkin, 1938), The Magic Seed (Volshebnoe zerno, dir. Kadochnikov, 1941) and the drafts for a film based on the Kazakh epic poem Kozy Korpesh are used to demonstrate how the poetics of Eisenstein and Ptushko influenced Kadochnikov’s films.