Apocalypse Now

The Culture of the 90s

The Culture of Apocalypse

• Yury Lotman: Semiotics of Russian Culture.• Binary nature of Russian history• Absence of purgatoryi in Orthodox

Christianity: heaven or hell• Culture and Explosion: Russia evolves through

a series of catastrophes between prolonged periods of calm.

Vasily Kandinsky: Portraits of Apocalypse

Vasily Kandinsky

Two Sources of Apocalyptical and Utopian Thinking

• 1. The last book of the Bible: the Revelation of John the Divine.

• 2. Peasant folk beliefs in a mystical city called Kitezh that sank into the waters of the Lake Svetloyar.

The Legendary City of Kitezh

Another vision by T. Zubkova

Boris Ryzhy (1974-2001)

• Born in Cheliabinsk• Parents moved to

Sverdlovsk (now Ekaterinburg)

• Graduated as geophysicist

• First poems published in 1994

• Committed suicide in 2001

Ryzhy’s poetry

• Gypsy woman

• In that flat lived ex-convicts

• Translations of poems

• Evgeny Mironov reading Boris Ryzhy

Liudmila Petrushevskaia (b.1938)

“The New Robinson Crusoes”

• From: There Once Lived a Woman who Tried to Kill Her Neighbor's Baby (Penguin Books, 2009)

• Questions• 1. What is the tone of the story?

2. How does it affect you, the reader?• 3. How does it end?

The New Saviour...

• Imagining a new Leader to bring Russia out of its suffering.

• Strong, cool, Robin hood type...

• Film: Brother (1997)

Sergei Bodrov Jr. (1971-2002),“hero of our time”

• Son of a film director• PhD in Art History• Iconic actor of late 1990s,

star of Balabanov’s films• Talk show host• Film director• Died Sept. 20, 2002:

buried by a glacier in the Caucasus, along with the whole crew, while directing a film.

Sergei Bodrov’s selected filmography:

Actor:• Prisoner of the Caucasus

(1996) (dir. Sergei Bodrov, snr)• Brother (1997) (dir. Aleksei Balabanov)• Est-Ouest (1999) (dir. Régis Wargnier)• Brother II (2000) (dir. Aleksei Balabanov)• War (2002)

Other:• Sisters (2001)Director• Morphine (2008)(dir. Aleksei Balabanov)Scriptwriter

Sergei Bodrov’s character Danila Bagrov:the new / old Russian hero, Brother

• Common man: ex-soldier, orphan, poor mother, friends with bums and street girls.

• Restores justice, stands up for the wronged, fights evil “others” (Chechens, black pimps in Chicago, Ukrainian mafia).

• “Ivan the fool” of Russian folktales– chains of fortunate chances, obstacles overcome.

• Cyber folk tale, like computer game – kills opponents to get to bag of money; gets help from unexpected quarters (allies include the long-distance truck driver). Random problems quickly solved.

Brothers (Brother, 1997)