Sputnik
by Eric Hillis
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The Soviet Union used space
exploration as a means of keeping
its populace onboard with its
goals, and Russians embraced
their cosmonauts as folk-heroes,
a symbol of national pride,
something to aspire to. It’s no
surprise then that science-fiction,
both literary and cinematic, prospered
in the USSR. Many Soviet
sci-fi films were propagandistic,
while some filmmakers, notably
Tarkovsky, used the genre to
conceal their contempt for the
system. In recent years we’ve
seen the emergence of a generation
of Russian filmmakers
influenced by Hollywood sci-fi,
whose films are neither political
nor propagandistic but rather
vacuously glossy imitations of
American genre product.
NJ STAGE - ISSUE 74
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