Russia

The Cosmopolitans

gwen — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 20:00:00 +0000

The Cosmopolitans by Nadia Kalman is the story of a family of Russian immigrants reconciling their illusions of America with the reality of life in Stamford, Connecticut. Osip and Stalina are the patriarchs of the Molochnik clan, holding sway over a house of three daughters—Milla, Yana, and Katya—and Pratik, an exchange student from Bangladesh. The novel works almost like a series of short stories, revolving around vignettes wherein each character is given his or her turn to be featured as the centerpiece of the marriage. The reader is guided through the years, watching as the family expands and contracts in a halting, non-linear manner, almost as in a time lapse movie: there are marriages, births, departures, and reunions as the Molochniks struggle individually and collectively to align their real-life trajectories with their American dreams. Throughout, Kalman conjures comic and tragic scenes that are authentic and universal in their emotion but are simultaneously particular and novel in their portrayal.

For instance, Milla’s well-meaning but resoundingly immature husband, Malcom, awakes the day after his wedding and “felt around for his doubts, which he’d discussed at such length with his family, professor, this Buddhist guy who hung around New Haven selling stemless carnations, his dentist, and this girl from high school he’d run into at the drugstore. Miraculously, they’d disappeared... His love for Milla was a stable, growing love, a love like moss.”

The story is also shot through with surrealist, or perhaps magic-realist, qualities. Stalina is in possession of an heirloom handkerchief that speaks to her as the Russian Soul, chastising her when she strays too far from the ideals of Mother Russia. There is also the fact that Katya, the youngest Molochnik daughter, tends to involuntary quote the decidedly masculine voice of Leonid Brezhnev, much to her dismay. The family members’ reactions to her channeling of the Communist leader reveal much about their characters: Osip believes it is a habit of Katya’s that reveals her good mood; Stalina is sure it is a curse she brought upon her daughter because of a long buried secret; Katya herself tries to escape the voice in any way possible. It’s amazing how believable these fantastical turns are in the capable hands of Kalman, who admits that, “as I wrote, I heard the voices of my immigrant family, who spin happy stories out of sad histories and create cautionary tales out of seeming triumphs, and who taught me not to take anything at face value.”

In fact, reading The Cosmopolitans feels a bit like meeting a rambunctious group of strangers for the first time. First impressions may inspire skepticism, as their quirks stand out as oddities that are jarring and unfamiliar. However, with time and proximity, these characters become beloved, their quirks endearing and indulged. Indeed, they come to feel like family.

Written by: Jo Ristow, March 21st 2011

Salt

admin — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 08:00:00 +0000

Directed by Phillip Noyce

Columbia Pictures

The Cold War may be over (or not, given the recent New York City-based Russian spy scandal), but it’s alive and well in Salt, the new action adventure thriller directed by Phillip Noyce and starring Angelina Jolie. Originally intended to be a vehicle for Tom Cruise (until he bowed out, citing that the role would be too similar to his work in the Mission Impossible franchise), the film was then refashioned for Jolie. Here she plays Evelyn Salt, a CIA agent who is accused by a Russian defector of being a spy. In the wake of the news stories swirling around real-life Russian spy Anna Chapman, the release of this film couldn’t be more timely. Thankfully, it’s also tremendous fun, even if the plot is so outlandish that to truly enjoy it you’ll need to suspend all brain activity once you enter the theater.

One of my problems with Jolie is, unlike other actresses in her age range (e.g. Kate Winslet), she is not a particularly emotive actress; in fact, I often find both her onscreen and off-screen appearances to be utterly glacial, devoid of all warmth and vulnerability. That visceral frigidity works perfectly in Salt, and from a feminist point of view, it’s refreshing to see a woman (who does have a magnetic screen presence–coldness notwithstanding) headline an action adventure thriller.

Whether she’s creating a bomb out of office furniture or executing some insane stunt that has to be seen to be believed, Jolie acts with abandon and brio. She’s terrifically riveting as we follow Salt engaging in all sorts of high- and low-tech derring-do to elude capture. There doesn’t seem to be anything too preposterous for the character to do to get herself out of a bind. Watching Salt stage one mayhem after another is exciting in itself.

The screenplay by Kurt Wimmer is packed with action and dialogue that is equally absorbing and inane. But thanks to the velocity of the film’s direction, coupled with the the star’s investment and charisma, Salt emerges as this summer’s best popcorn film. Judging by the open-ended conclusion of the film, this could become another action franchise. Go see it, but remember to forget about logic when you buy your ticket.

Cross-posted at Films For Women

Written by: Iris Dorbian, July 27th 2010

I Just Lately Started Buying Wings: Missives From The Other Side of Silence

admin — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 16:01:00 +0000

By Kim Dana Kupperman

Graywolf Press

I Just Lately Started Buying Wings is a collection of memories and letters, speaking out from places of silence. Throughout the text, Kim Dana Kupperman conveys an enduring need to bring chosen tragedies to light and does so vigorously. She talks about her past in a cautious and gentle style, like cleaning a raw wound with salt water: painful yet cleansing.

The book unravels stories about difficult moments in life, describing the deaths of her mother and father, the after effects of radiation pollution in Chernobyl, and failed intimacy in her romantic relationships. She explores the many inner emotions that come along with these trying stages in life, and exposes her past bravely. One of her stories describes her trips to Russia and Ukraine, a private quest to learn more about her family's history. She constantly uses her imagination to investigate her ancestors, like fantasizing her grandmother walking the streets of Kiev. She is constantly searching for a connection between her identity and kin, but instead, she finds herself detached and is “reminded that the business of returning to a place that doesn't belong to me is impossible.”

This intimately detailed storytelling releases sweet sorrow that is rich and poetic. Each chapter is full of vivid imagery that fully traverses all the senses. She inspects small details in her memories: the smell of her lover's breath, or the texture of her mother's feet. The reader is brought daringly close to these personal realities. However, within the numerous events and settings, there is a pervading disconnectedness that distracts from the powerful writing. The loose themes of ancestry and “failed flight” ineffectively tie all these tales together.

Apart from the dispersed themes, Kupperman's “missives” are pungent; full of pain, resentment, and bitter love.

Written by: Cinthia Pacheco, June 8th 2010

Cradle Songs

admin — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0000

By Kitka

Diaphonica Recordings

Although happily childfree, I like kids and am intrigued by that idiosyncratic collective experience known as childhood. I am especially fascinated by the many ways we share the histories, humor, and ideologies of our cultures. I try to stay abreast of how these things are communicated. I pay close attention to what music is marketed to children (when, why, and by whom). I'm also a lover of a cappella and a Russophile to boot—all of which more than explain a desire to review Cradle Songs, the latest album from American all-women's vocal ensemble Kitka.

A quick glance at the band's bio would lead any listener to believe that there is simply nothing that Kitka cannot accomplish. Indeed, theirs is a truly inspiring career. The world-renowned ensemble—whose name means “bouquet” in both Bulgarian and Macedonian—has been standing tall as a shining example of musical integrity ever since their humble beginnings in 1979, performing as a group of enthusiastic amateurs. Since then they've transformed into a professional group with a revolving roster of singers, releasing nine albums on their own Diaphonica label, lending their talents to creative endeavors great and small, and wowing audiences around the world. They expend a tremendous amount of energy on research, carefully culling authentic songs and stories from Eastern Europe. The choral collective operates out of Oakland, California as a non-profit organization, sometimes selling songbooks to accompany their album releases and offering vocal workshops. If their primary mission is to share the beauty of traditional Eastern European music, then it would seem giving back to the community comes in as a close second.

Unless boasting big-name talent or universal appeal, it's rare for children's music to draw accolades from mainstream media outlets. Yet Kitka's Cradle Songs has garnered glowing praise from National Public Radio and The Los Angeles Times, and it's easy to understand why. Women of varying ages, races and backgrounds lend their voices to a stunning selection of international lullabies, mostly from countries in the Mediterranean and Eastern Europe. Much like their colleagues Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares Kitka is a group that excels at “exquisite harmonies.”

As would be expected, this is a predominantly vocal outing. Musical instruments are used sparingly and are often unique. For example, the CD opens with the Russian Jewish tune “Cradle Song,” which features both a toy piano and a toy glockenspiel. The result is eerily tranquil. Cradle creaks are a listed instrument on “Dzurk, Dzurk,” a song from the Russian Federation republic of Komi. Bulgaria's “Lale Li Si, Zjumbjul Li Si, Gjul Li Si” is awash in a warm keening wave of polyphony that leaves the listener spellbound. Kitka even manages to incorporate a hybrid bedtime story, featuring elements from Russian fairy tales and Hungarian stories, with the Ukrainian “Hajči, Meni, Hajči” sung over the top. One odd note worth mention: according to the translations provided, six of the seventeen lullabies specifically address male children. Could that be why the songs were saved for posterity? Could this be an indication of favoritism of male children in these cultures?

Written by: M. Brianna Stallings, March 19th 2010

Gender Violence in Russia: The Politics of Feminist Intervention

admin — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 09:05:00 +0000

By Janet Elise Johnson

Indiana University Press

In periods of rapid social change, the poets of one ideological system or another rush to find the cogent metaphor or, more recently, the winning soundbite, that will interpret the change to suit their own ends, to control meaning. To find and sell the right descriptive phrase is to raise the flag of possession over a historical event. For example, the collapse of the Soviet Union—or, even more stridently, the U.S. victory in the Cold War—spins the end of the 1980s, the end of history, as some proclaimed it, as a triumph of righteousness, rendered even more morally spectacular by the supposed “coldness” of the conflict, and the ushering in of a new world order. That’s why a book like Janet Johnson’s Gender Violence in Russia is so badly needed.

The book lacks the poetry of impassioned argument, and it is heavy with charts and appendices and social science-y apparatus, but it makes a couple of very painful and crucial observations. One is that the end of the “evil empire” actually made social conditions for Russian women considerably worse. The incidence of violence against women demonstrably worsened as official attitudes, in spite of increasing international pressure, actually resulted in changing criminal codes to the detriment of women’s rights. Trafficking in women, rape, sexual harassment, domestic violence all got worse in the 1990s, and the Russian government relied on age-old sexist lies to justify their apathy.

A different sort of ideological poetry, one also confronted painfully in this book, is the emergence of global feminism in the 1990s. The movement is inscribed in the U.N. Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women (1993) and in the Beijing Declaration on Women (1995) and in a new level of worldwide feminist activism aiming to confront injustice and make the world see that women’s rights are human rights. As if the pronouncement the other day by a Saudi judge justifying “slapping a spendthrift wife” weren’t warning enough, the very mixed picture of the women’s rights movement in Russia should warn us against triumphant rhetoric concerning the record of global feminist intervention. Clearly there has been a powerful “push-back,” not only from the old guardians of patriarchy but from those identifying global human rights movements as forms of neocolonialist western interference that must be resisted.

The conclusion Johnson’s study reaches is a rather dreary one: that what really works, in terms of feminist intervention, are “alliances between global feminists and large donors.” Money talks, apparently; or rather its use in creating organizations for women’s advocacy is the best agent for social change. What Johnson calls “flexible and responsive funding” is the key, targeting funds where they are most needed and can do the most good to protect women and to begin to change cultures of violence which have proven fearfully resistant to change.

Written by: Rick Taylor, July 2nd 2009

The Mark of Cain

admin — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 00:55:00 +0000

Directed by Alix Lambert

Pink Ghetto Productions

Although prison life is a dreary subject and Russian prison life even more so, The Mark of Cain is a film anyone interested in post-communist Russia must see. The documentary features interviews with Russian prison inmates. Director Alix Lambert examines the changes Russian prison tattoo art has undergone since the fall of communism and winds up vividly capturing both the changes in Russian prison life since the fall of communism, and the problems Russian society faces as it grapples with its communist past.

During one scene, a prison administrator proclaims, “To speak of the history of our correctional labor institution, it’s worth going back to the year 1930” as a statue of Lenin is shown. He goes on to give a brief history of the modern prison system. Then an elderly inmate complains that tattoos have no meaning anymore. He proudly shows off his tattoos of Joseph Stalin and Vladmir Lenin. A younger inmate then implies that prison tattoos do still have meaning when he says, “Certain questions just don’t have to be asked…If a person ends up in prison again then those tattoos will say a lot about them.”

The conditions of Russian prisons are actually worse now than they were during the communist era, as is the present economy. Lambert expresses just how dismal the conditions in Russian prisons are in a scene where a bowl of watery soup the color of vomit is shown as an inmate says, “And you live off of that.” Another inmate remarks that family and friends bring inmates extra food because if they only eat the prison food they will have a “lack of vitamins.”

In another scene, a Russian criminology expert says, “The first testimony of terrible torture came in 1989.” He goes on to describe the "cell-press,” a particular torture method used by communists where an inmate was placed in a small cell with other inmates who were allowed to do anything they wanted to him. The past becomes not so distant in the next shot when an inmate describes the torture methods currently used in prisons, and the ‘cell press’ is included in his list.

Despite the dark subject, this documentary captivates you. Alix Lambert is to be commended.

Written by: Gina-Marie Cheeseman, July 7th 2007