Телекинет (Dec 2022)
Not made film by Alexander Ptushko Defeat of the enemy squadron (Razgrom vrazheskoj eskadry). Its significance in the professional career of the director
Abstract
The article introduces valuable historical material about the little-known film of the director Alexander Ptushko “Defeat of the enemy squadron” (Razgrom vrazheskoj eskadry), which includes archival finds — articles, documents, script, unique, for the first time published, photos from the set from the Laboratory of National Film (Laboratoriya otechestvennogo kino, aka. Kabinet otechestvennogo kino), the Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography (VGIK) and much more. With the help of archival materials, the author was able to reconstruct, as far as possible, the history of the creation of the “Defeat of the enemy squadron” (Razgrom vrazheskoj eskadry) in chronological order and to reconstruct the concept and visual rhetoric of the film and understand what significance the film had in Ptushko’s professional career. The author also established what original technical ideas Ptushko planned to apply. The “Defeat of the enemy squadron” (Razgrom vrazheskoj eskadry) was originally conceived in the genre of «defense» film. Filming took place in 1940–1941, but it was not possible to complete the production for a number of reasons. Since then, sources related to the director’s creative activity, the “Defeat of the enemy squadron” (Razgrom vrazheskoj eskadry) existed in the form of a «blind spot». The author explores the history of the creation of the “Defeat of the enemy squadron” (Razgrom vrazheskoj eskadry) in the context of film production in the USSR before World War II and after, and pays special attention to the genre of «defense» film. Ptushko had never made a film in this genre before, and “Defeat of the enemy squadron” (Razgrom vrazheskoj eskadry) could be a turning point in his professional career. As we know, there have been several such turning points in Ptushko’s life. We can conclude that the director’s original professional ambitions were much broader than the director of fairy tale films. But, these films eventually became his only and main genre in cinema, where he was able to embody his innovative ideas.
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