Remembering the Space Age. - Black Vault Radio Network (BVRN)

FrOM the CradLe tO the GraVe:
COSMONaut NOStaLGIa IN SOVIet aNd pOSt-SOVIet FILM
pOSt-SOVIet reexaMINatIONS
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after the dissolution of the Soviet union in 1991, postmortem examination
of the Soviet experience became a national pastime. artists, writers, and
flmmakers joined with journalists and common citizens to assess what the
75-year Bolshevik experiment had meant. there have been two recent russian
theatrical flms, aleksei uchitel’s Kosmos kak predchuvstvie (Space as Premonition,
2005) 31 and aleksei Fëdorchenko’s Pervye na lune (First on the Moon, 2005), 32 that
address the legacy of the golden years of Soviet spacefight in their own unique
manner. each flm places spacefight into the context of a specifc period.
uchitel’s flm is set in the early 1960s and Fëdorchenko’s begins in the 1930s.
Both dissect the origins of the culture of real spacefight.
aleksei uchitel’s flm takes a nostalgic approach in which the early Soviet
space program provides the background for a story about the illusion of nostalgic
optimism. the flm takes place between the time of the launch of Sputnik and
Yuri Gagarin’s fight. the protagonist of the story is a hapless young man,
Konëk, whose naïveté has benefted him. unaware of the injustices around him,
he is able to wonder through life unafected by it. the main character is a cook
whose real name is Viktor, but he goes by the nickname “Konëk” (horsie).
the story focuses on Konëk’s relationship with a former sailor and dockworker,
German. German, who is also known as “Lefty,” is a former sailor who is
trying to defect to the West. his persona allures Konëk, a man who is haplessly
living with his mother and indecisive about committing to his girlfriend, Lara.
In contrast, German is worldly and sophisticated. the men form bonds: both
are war orphans and relish fghts with sailors. to Konëk’s mind, German is
exotic and mysterious, possessing superior skills and knowledge about the
world, as well as material possessions including an east German radio that
picks up BBC. In spite of his seeming sophistication, German cannot articulate
properly the english words to declare his intention to defect. Ironically, his
new hapless friend demonstrates the ability to mimic the voices on BBC radio
almost perfectly, although he has no ambitions for contact with the West and
understands little of what he is saying.
Over the course of their relationship, Konëk begins to dress and act like
German. he goes as so far as to practice swimming in the harbor. Konëk assumes
that this activity is to improve his athletic performance; he is clueless that his
31. aleksei uchitel,’ Kosmos kak predchuvstvie (Space as Premonition), Mironov, evgenii; pegova, Irina;
tsyganov, evgenii; Liadova, elena (rock Film Studio, 2005), 90 minutes. uchitel’ won the
“Golden St. George” award at the Moscow International Film Festival in 2005 for this movie.
32. aleksei Fedorchenko, Pervye na lune (First on the Moon),Vlasov, Boris; Slavnin, aleksei; Osipov,
andrei; Otradnov, anatolii; Ilinskaia, Viktoriia (Sverdlovsk Film Studio and Film Company
Strana, 2005), 75 minutes. Ironically, this flm won the “Best documentary” award at the Venice
Film Festival in 2005.the same year, it won “the Best debut” prize at the Kinotaur Festival in
Sochi, russia.