Chapter 05: Soviet Silent Cinema and the Theory of Montage, 1917-1931
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. Dziga Vertov began his career as
a. a cinematographer filming the civil war.
b. an editor compiling footage into newsreels.
c. a writer primarily focusing on criticism and theory.
d. a director making popular dramas and comedies.
e. a producer interested in commercial cinema.
f. none of the above
2. Before the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917, the film industry in Russia was
a. large and vital, producing many significant films.
b. dominated by a single company, Mosfilm.
c. very popular with the aristocracy and middle class as well as the working-class audience.
d. mainly European in that it was primarily imported and not domestically produced.
e. very diverse with dozens of independent production companies in several major cities.
f. none of the above
3. The prerevolutionary Russian cinema
a. produced many distinguished works that have all been lost due to not being preserved by Soviet
archives.
b. featured an aesthetic of camera mobility and fast-paced editing.
c. developed a modern acting style featuring a subtlety of performance that eventually developed into
“method acting.”
d. featured the adaptation of classic Russian literature as a central genre.
e. produced very few indigenous films.
f. none of the above
4. The two great directors of the prerevolutionary Russian cinema were
a. Protazanov and Kuleshov. d. Bauer and Mozhukhin.
b. Pudovkin and Meyerhold. e. Starewicz and Kuleshov.
c. Protazanov and Bauer. f. none of the above
5. Evegeni Bauer
a. was the most famous actor in prerevolutionary Russia.
b. was a director influenced by the French film d’art style.
c. made films featuring bold lighting and design as well as deep space tracking shots.
d. was a pioneer in combining live action with animation through multiple exposure.
e. made over one hundred films before the revolution, none of them very distinguished aesthetically.
f. none of the above
6. During World War I, the tsarist Russian government attempted to stimulate film production by
a. funding the production of propaganda films.
b. financing independent production companies to make feature films.
c. starting a film school to train the next generation of Russian filmmakers.
d. centralizing distribution through a government-administered agency.
e. officially banning the importation of foreign films.
f. all of the above
7. The Kerenski government
a. produced pro-tsarist propaganda films.
b. produced several dozen films under its government-sponsored production program.
c. was ultimately successful in reinvigorating the Russian industry.
d. abolished film censorship in Russia.
e. none of the above
f. all of the above
8. The Soviet leader who said, “The cinema is for us the most important of the arts” was
a. Kerenski. d. Stalin.
b. Trotski. e. Lenin.
c. Tsar Nicholas. f. none of the above
9. The early Soviet film industry had myriad problems, the LEAST of which was
a. prerevolutionary producers were capitalists and immigrated to Europe, taking their equipment with
them.
b. foreign blockades made it impossible to import new equipment.
c. there being no organization in charge of the film industry under the new government.
d. chronic material and power shortages.
e. All of the above were serious problems.
f. Only a and b were not serious problems.
10. VGIK was
a. the Soviet government film agency.
b. the largest Soviet production company.
c. the joint German-Soviet production agreement.
d. the Soviet distribution agency that handled international markets.
e. Dziga Vertov’s newsreel film series.
f. none of the above
11. Agitki were
a. fictional action films with a political message.
b. comedies of social criticism.
c. family dramas with Socialist messages.
d. propaganda newsreels.
e. historical films.
f. none of the above
12. During the years of civil war (1918–1920), the Soviet film industry
a. produced virtually no films of any kind.
b. sent films around the country by train and boat.
c. experienced an explosion in creativity and production.
d. had no central organization and operated in a haphazard manner.
e. was under the control of Stalin.
f. none of the above
13. Vertov’s doctrine of a new cinema based on the “organization of camera recorded documentary
material” was called
a. kino-pravda. d. micro-photography.
b. kino-agitki. e. kino-kinema.
c. kino-glaz. f. none of the above
14. The “Leninist film proportion” was concerned with
a. balancing content within individual films so that entertainment and information could be contained
within a single movie.
b. the ratio between exposed negative and the finished film, which had to be small in the early Soviet
industry due to film stock shortages.
c. the length of individual films.
d. the ratio between the number of entertainment films produced and the number of informational
films produced in a given year.
e. the balance between entertainment films and propaganda films shown on a given night.
f. none of the above
15. Kino-pravda
a. was the first film magazine in the Soviet Union.
b. rejected experimental techniques like trick photography and multiple exposures.
c. was the film style associated with Eisenstein and Pudovkin combining melodrama and
propaganda.
d. was a theory that never resulted in any films being produced.
e. were experimental newsreel documentaries designed to test Vertov’s theories of cinema.
f. none of the above
16. Dziga Vertov
a. is now considered one of the founders of documentary film.
b. made films that were never seen by large audiences in the Soviet Union.
c. was one of Stalin’s favorite filmmakers in the 1930s.
d. turned to making light entertainment films later in his career.
e. was unknown internationally until the 1960s because his films were never exported.
f. none of the above
17. The Man with a Movie Camera
a. was directed by Sergei Eisenstein.
b. is a formally conservative propaganda film featuring few formal experiments.
c. seeks to mask the evidence of its own construction through continuity editing and a clear and
compelling narrative.
d. has no propaganda message at all.
e. seeks to create a portrait of “life caught unawares.”
f. none of the above
18. Lev Kuleshov
a. was one of the few prerevolutionary filmmakers to stay in the Soviet Union.
b. began his film career as a set designer for Bauer.
c. was one of the founders of the VGIK.
d. was a theorist and filmmaker as well as a teacher.
e. was only twenty years old when he began teaching at VGIK.
f. all of the above
19. The Kuleshov Workshop
a. was not connected to the VGIK.
b. was primarily interested in the study of photography.
c. included both Pudovkin and Eisenstein as students.
d. produced many short experimental films.
e. had nearly unlimited access to equipment and resources.
f. c, d, and e are all true.
20. The D. W. Griffith film that would become the first great popular success of the Soviet film industry
and a primary influence on a generation of filmmakers was
a. The Birth of a Nation. d. Broken Blossoms.
b. America. e. Judith of Bethulia.
c. Way Down East. f. none of the above
21. The fundamental technical concern of early Soviet filmmakers was
a. cinematography. d. acting and performance.
b. narrative construction. e. mise-en-scène.
c. production design. f. none of the above
22. The Kuleshov effect concluded that
a. meaning in cinema is primarily determined by the content of the individual shots.
b. meaning in cinema is impossible to determine conclusively through objective experimentation.
c. all viewers interpret meaning in a film differently.
d. meaning in cinema is determined primarily by the edit and not by the content of the shot alone.
e. meaning in cinema is a function of the construction of mise-en-scène.
f. none of the above
23. Kuleshov’s experiments in “creative geography” demonstrated that
a. audiences could tell very easily when real temporal or spatial relations were violated.
b. audiences relied on the pace of the editing to determine meaning.
c. audiences were easily confused by the spatial and temporal breaks created by the edit.
d. audiences derived cinematic meaning from the edit.
e. the integrity of the photographed reality could not be violated without losing the audience.
f. none of the above
24. The difference between Griffith’s approach to editing and Kuleshovian montage was that
a. Griffith was more interested in the metaphorical value of the cut.
b. the Soviets saw montage as primarily a narrative and representational technique.
c. Griffith’s approach was far more varied in its use of the edit.
d. the Soviets saw montage as being potentially more expressive and symbolic.
e. Griffith understood the narrative function of editing but not the emotional impact it could have on
an audience.
f. None of the above; both approaches were nearly identical.
25. The first feature film produced by the Kuleshov Workshop was
a. Strike.
b. The Death Ray.
c. The Extraordinary Adventures of Mr. West in the Land of the Bolsheviks.
d. Chess Fever.
e. Aelita, Queen of Mars.
f. There was no film stock available for the Kuleshov Workshop to make any films.
26. By the Law was
a. a project of the Kuleshov Workshop.
b. based on a work of classic Russian literature.
c. extremely well-received by the official Soviet critics.
d. produced on the lowest budget ever allotted to a Soviet feature film.
e. a film modeled on Griffith’s work, with multiple story lines and many locations.
f. all of the above
27. Which of the following directors NEVER studied with Kuleshov?
a. Eisenstein
b. Pudovkin
c. Barnet
d. Parajanov
e. Vertov
f. All of the above studied with Kuleshov.
28. Lev Kuleshov
a. ceased writing theory after he began directing feature films.
b. never directed a sound film.
c. was denounced for “formalist error” during the Stalin years.
d. believed that film art began with the actor’s performance.
e. stopped teaching when he began directing.
f. none of the above
29. Eisenstein and Griffith
a. made about the same number of films.
b. had very similar intellectual concerns.
c. both contributed a great deal of theoretical writing to the body of cinematic knowledge.
d. had very similar training and preparation for becoming directors.
e. both made epic historical films with strong ideological perspectives.
f. all of the above
30. Which of the following was NOT a factor in Eisenstein’s dramatic and cinematic development?
a. his study with the Moscow Proletkult Theater
b. an apprenticeship with Dziga Vertov making agit-kino
c. his exposure to and artistic friendship with The Factory of the Eccentric Actor (FEX) theatrical
troupe
d. his short time spent with the Kuleshov Workshop
e. biomechanics
f. All of the above were formative influences.
31. From Meyerhold, Eisenstein learned
a. how to get realistic performances from his actors.
b. typage.
c. Hindu philosophy and Yoga.
d. how to combine rigorous systematization and spontaneous improvisation.
e. all of the above
f. nothing, since Eisenstein never studied with Meyerhold.
32. Eisenstein’s first film
a. was made to be shown on a film train.
b. was made as agit-kino.
c. was made as a part of an avant-garde theater piece.
d. was made for FEX.
e. Both a and b are true.
f. all of the above
33. Typage
a. is an editing style that uses the audience’s preconceived ideas about a subject as the basis of the
cut.
b. is a directing style that minimizes the importance of the individual shot in favor of creating a
recognizable situation.
c. is an acting style that rejects individual performance for a mask-like, instantly recognizable public
stereotype.
d. is a photographic style that uses familiar objects and composition to trigger predictable responses.
e. is a production design style that emphasizes idealized spaces that have metaphorical significance.
f. none of the above
34. Eisenstein’s theater productions
a. were influenced by the circus.
b. included a great deal of satire.
c. were influenced by the ideas of Freud and Pavlov.
d. contained many cinematic elements.
e. were constructed around a “montage of attractions.”
f. all of the above
35. According to Eisenstein, “every element that can be verified and mathematically calculated to produce
certain emotional shocks” was called
a. a cell. d. typage.
b. dialectic montage. e. agit-Guignol.
c. an attraction. f. none of the above
36. Strike
a. was the first film Eisenstein ever directed.
b. was based on an actual historical event.
c. abandoned the traditional Soviet notion of a collective hero for an individual one, which was more
like Griffith.
d. was so effective that the government ordered eight more films to be produced as a series, all of
which were completed by 1926.
e. was envisioned by Eisenstein as being an assault on the tradition of the “bourgeois cinema” of
Europe and the United States.
f. all of the above
37. Which of the following best describes Strike?
a. It was made according to the model of the American cinema as practiced by Griffith.
b. All the action sequences were shot against studio-constructed backdrops.
c. The entire film is a montage of “attractions” or “shock stimuli.”
d. The “attractions” in the film are primarily cinematic tricks and not the metaphorical associations of
Eisenstein’s later films.
e. By the time of the film, Eisenstein had abandoned the grotesque and circuslike qualities of his
earlier work.
f. None of the above is true.
38. The film that can be considered the beginning of the classic period of the Soviet silent film was
a. The Amazing Adventures of Mr. West in the Land of the Bolsheviks.
b. Three Songs of Lenin.
c. Battleship Potemkin.
d. Strike.
e. Mother.
f. none of the above
39. Compared to the film industries of other Western countries, the Soviet cinema
a. never attained the level of industrial or aesthetic sophistication of most other countries.
b. was helped immeasurably by the socio-economic conditions of the post-revolutionary period.
c. was late in developing but ultimately equally artistically vital and sophisticated.
d. was unable to reopen the many theaters that closed after the revolution.
e. had little exposure to the films of the West.
f. none of the above
40. Battleship Potemkin
a. is above all a political propaganda film.
b. contains roughly the same number of shots as an American film of comparable length.
c. is an extremely accurate depiction of Russian history.
d. was never popular in the Soviet Union and did little to help Eisenstein’s reputation as a director.
e. originally ran over three hours.
f. none of the above
41. Battleship Potemkin
a. was initially conceived by the Jubilee committee who commissioned it as only covering the events
of the Odessa massacre.
b. was not widely appreciated outside the Soviet Union.
c. is so focused on editing that issues of image composition were largely ignored.
d. was largely shot on studio sets.
e. represents an entirely new editing technique based on psychological stimulation rather than
narrative logic.
f. all of the above
42. Eisenstein referred to his general theory of editing as
a. intellectual montage. d. synthetic montage.
b. dialectical montage. e. graphic montage.
c. ontological montage. f. none of the above
43. The Eisenstein film that features the famous three-shot montage of a stone lion statue appearing to rise
from sleep to a roaring position was
a. Battleship Potemkin. d. Old and New.
b. Strike. e. Alexander Nevsky.
c. October. f. none of the above
44. A collision of oppositional shots that produces a series of ideas or feelings not necessarily contained in
the images themselves describes
a. Vertov’s kino eye.
b. Dovzhenko’s poetic cinema.
c. Eisenstein’s dialectical montage.
d. Pudovkin’s approach to montage.
e. the basic constructive principle of Esther Schub.
f. none of the above
45. Which of the following is NOT an analogy for cinema and specifically for montage explicitly invoked
by Eisenstein?
a. the internal combustion engine
b. a Marxist view of history
c. Japanese pictograph writing
d. linguistics
e. a gestalt
f. All of the above are analogies used by Eisenstein.
46. The type of dialectical montage that is concerned with the temporal length of the individual shots is
a. rhythmic montage. d. tonal montage.
b. metric montage. e. overtonal montage.
c. graphic montage. f. none of the above
47. Dialectical rhythmic montage
a. is concerned with the temporal length of the shot.
b. was never utilized by Eisenstein in any of his films.
c. remains a vague concept even though Eisenstein wrote extensively about it.
d. is concerned with movement within the shots.
e. is about the abstract, conceptual relationships between the images.
f. none of the above
48. The type of dialectical montage concerned with the emotional quality of the shot is
a. metric. d. overtonal.
b. rhythmic. e. intellectual.
c. tonal. f. none of the above
49. Dialectical overtonal montage is
a. about the relative length of the individual shots.
b. not about the content of the shots but their texture.
c. when the tonal dominant of the shot becomes the basis for the edit.
d. not really a distinct category but another way of looking at montage based on the totality of
stimuli.
e. the type of montage that most fascinated Eisenstein, both in his theoretical writings and in the
films themselves.
f. none of the above
50. Eisenstein’s category of intellectual montage is concerned with
a. the emotional content of the shots.
b. the movement within the shots.
c. the metaphorical significance of the shots.
d. the connection between the tone, tempo, and movement of the shots.
e. the physical length of the shots.
f. none of the above
51. In October, both “the gods” sequence and Kerenski’s ascent of the Winter Palace staircase are
examples of
a. tonal montage. d. intellectual montage.
b. graphic montage. e. overtonal montage.
c. rhythmic montage. f. none of the above
52. Eisenstein’s concepts of montage
a. were never published in the English language.
b. were more viscerally effective than either psychological or emotional.
c. had very little influence on future filmmaking practice.
d. worked toward a heightened realism in the cinema.
e. worked toward the establishment of a uniquely cinematic language based more on affect than
narrative logic.
f. none of the above
53. The rejection of Eisenstein’s dialectical montage by critics like André Bazin was based on the idea that
a. it was too intellectual and so could not be understood by most audiences.
b. it did not work the way Eisenstein claimed it did.
c. it was not systematic enough and so could not be used by other filmmakers.
d. it was too manipulative and destroyed “the reality of space.”
e. it was too time consuming and expensive, so it was not a practical approach to production.
f. none of the above
54. Eisenstein’s October
a. was released in its original three-hour version before being cut down to ninety minutes for
commercial reasons.
b. was enthusiastically received by critics and the public but not by the Soviet government.
c. was provided nearly unlimited production resources including the use of the Soviet army and
navy.
d. was originally supposed to cover just a few months of the revolution in a single location but was
soon dramatically expanded in scope.
e. all of the above
f. none of the above
55. What was the effect of Stalin’s rise to power in 1927–1928 on Eisenstein’s October?
a. Stalin became a great champion of the film, ensuring its release in Eisenstein’s original three-hour
version.
b. Stalin completely suppressed the film so that it was never seen by Soviet audiences.
c. The Soviet government exported the film all around the world as an example of Soviet artistry.
d. The film had to be cut by several thousand feet to remove any reference to Leon Trotski.
e. More material was added to the film to bolster the importance of Stalin.
f. none of the above
56. In October, the monarchists’ vain hopes of returning to power are symbolized by
a. reverse projection that causes a previously demolished statue to appear to reassemble itself.
b. a drawbridge that is raised, but with a dead girl’s hair spanning the crevice of the separating bridge
halves.
c. rifles waving in the air showing their support for the monarchists.
d. a series of religious icons edited in such a way that they seem to come to life.
e. both a and b
f. none of the above
57. Eisenstein’s October
a. was his greatest success both artistically and commercially.
b. demonstrates that when intellectual montage is disconnected from narrative and drama it leads to
audience confusion.
c. is one of his few films to privilege content and message above formal experimentation.
d. continues to be considered his greatest film by critics and historians.
e. was destroyed by the Stalinist government and so no longer exists.
f. none of the above
58. The primary form of montage used by Eisenstein in Old and New was
a. tonal. d. graphic.
b. overtonal. e. intellectual.
c. rhythmic. f. none of the above
59. Old and New was a stylistic departure for Eisenstein in that
a. it did not deal directly with the history of the revolution.
b. it was more about the pathos of everyday existence than grand political themes.
c. it is constructed according to a symphonic musical model.
d. mise-en-scène is as important as montage.
e. all of the above
f. Old and New is not that much different from Eisenstein’s other films.
60. During the 1930s, Eisenstein
a. gave up filmmaking for teaching and writing.
b. showed no interest whatsoever in sound film.
c. worked prolifically in the Soviet Union.
d. worked in both the United States and Mexico.
e. made a documentary in China.
f. none of the above
61. In Pudovkin’s early career
a. he produced propaganda newsreels.
b. he worked with experimental theater groups.
c. he attended the Kuleshov Workshop.
d. he was a well-known political cartoonist and painter before becoming a director.
e. he was one of the most famous of all Soviet novelists.
f. none of the above
62. Like Battleship Potemkin, Pudovkin’s Mother
a. had a collective rather than an individual protagonist.
b. was an immediate international success.
c. enjoyed limited popular success in the Soviet Union.
d. is an action-packed epic film.
e. featured an acting style based entirely on typage.
f. none of the above
63. In comparison with Eisenstein, Pudovkin had a greater interest in
a. editing. d. mise-en-scène.
b. photography. e. character.
c. sound. f. none of the above
64. In comparison with those of Eisenstein, Pudovkin’s films
a. were less popular with Soviet audiences.
b. were less sophisticated in their use of montage.
c. used editing for primarily narrative rather than symbolic purposes.
d. emphasized the collision of oppositional shots rather than the linkage of related ones.
e. are more abstract and politically radical.
f. none of the above
65. Pudovkin, Eisenstein, and Alexandrov wrote in their joint manifesto that film sound
a. was detrimental to the progress of film as an art form.
b. should be contrapuntal rather than lip-synchronized.
c. should be limited to recording dialogue.
d. was something the best directors should attempt to avoid.
e. both a and d
f. none of the above
66. Pudovkin’s The End of St. Petersburg
a. minimizes individual character development in favor of epic action sequences.
b. is shot in a documentary style with no expressive camera angles or movements.
c. went way over budget and schedule and had to be cut down from a length of three hours.
d. was commissioned by the Central Committee of the Communist Party.
e. was not appreciated by foreign audiences.
f. all of the above
67. Pudovkin’s Heir to Genghis Khan
a. is yet again a story of the Russian revolution.
b. departs dramatically from the narrative pattern set in Mother and The End of St. Petersburg.
c. was shot in documentary realist style.
d. was set in Russia, mostly in Moscow.
e. was criticized in the Soviet Union for being unrealistic and too beautifully photographed.
f. none of the above
68. After the coming of sound, Pudovkin
a. continued working in the Soviet industry for several decades.
b. made several films equal to his work during the silent period.
c. retired from filmmaking due to government pressure.
d. made only a few more films before being denounced for formalist error.
e. immigrated to France.
f. none of the above
69. The nationality of Alexander Dovzhenko was
a. Russian. d. Kazakh.
b. Georgian. e. Latvian.
c. Ukranian. f. none of the above
70. Which of the following is true of Dovzhenko’s Arsenal?
a. It tells the story of the revolution from the Ukrainian perspective.
b. It combines history, politics, folklore, allegory, and myth.
c. In the end, the hero is shown to be bulletproof.
d. It creates an extended visual metaphor more than it tells a story.
e. It features a talking horse.
f. all of the above
71. The Dovzhenko film that tells an epic, poetic story of life, death, Ukrainian culture, and was widely
criticized as being “counterrevolutionary” is
a. Zvenigora. d. Arsenal.
b. Plain People. e. Storm Over Asia.
c. Earth. f. none of the above
72. After the coming of sound, Dovzhenko
a. stopped making films completely.
b. continued to work free from government pressure.
c. made many films equal in quality to his silent masterpieces.
d. adapted to making sound films but never reached the creative heights of his silent work.
e. saw his domestic reputation rise dramatically.
f. none of the above
73. After Stalin rose to power
a. the Soviet cinema went through its greatest period of experimentation.
b. the Soviet film industry continued to operate just as it had before.
c. the place of film in Soviet society was no longer considered as important as it was under Lenin.
d. the Soviet film industry underwent a reorganization that was more economic than creative or
ideological.
e. the Soviet cinema went into steep creative decline.
f. none of the above
74. Boris Shumyatsky
a. was a major Soviet director of the 1920s.
b. was appointed by Stalin as the head of the film industry.
c. ran the film industry under Lenin.
d. was the greatest star of the pre–Soviet Russian cinema.
e. was Pudovkin’s cinematographer.
f. none of the above
75. Stalin’s contribution to the Soviet cinema was
a. less emphasis on the production of propaganda films.
b. the creation of VGIK (Vsesoyuznyi gosudarstveni institut kinematografii).
c. the expansion of feature film production, particularly those films geared toward mass
entertainment.
d. the imposition of socialist realism as the only approved film style.
e. the encouragement of decentralized independent production.
f. none of the above
76. Socialist realism
a. was nonnarrative, relying instead on a true documentary representation.
b. emphasized the symbolic and psychological in order to sway viewers.
c. subordinated individual creativity to the goal of communist mass education.
d. was embraced by Soviet filmmakers as an aesthetic advancement.
e. produced many classic films during the 1930s.
f. all of the above
77. After the imposition of Socialist realism,
a. film production fell to its lowest level in a decade.
b. experimental, personal filmmaking was explicitly forbidden.
c. Eisenstein, Pudovkin, Vertov, Kuleshov, and Dovzhenko were all denounced.
d. films had to feature truthful, historically concrete depictions of reality in its revolutionary
development.
e. all of the above
f. none of the above