This master's thesis analyses the question of the female gaze in Russian cinema of the late thaw and the early era of stagnation, as set forth by the filmmaker auteurs Larisa Shepitko and Kira Muratova. Primarily, we rethink the role and image of Woman in the period of late ʼ60s and early ʼ70s based on the analysis of the films Wings (Krylʹja, 1966) by Shepitko and the tandem Brief Encounters (Korotkie vstreči, 1967) and Long Farewells (Dolgie provody, 1971) by Muratova. Woman tries to find the balance between the image required of her by the public and that required by the intimate discourse. In the period of late thaw and the early era of stagnation this culminates to a schizophrenic feeling: what does it mean, in the addressed cultural-historical-social situation, to be a Woman? We approach the question of femininity on several levels. First, on the level of image through a semiological analysis of the motifs and themes of the film texts discussed. Then, we pose the question of the role of Woman as the bearer of the look in the context of feminist film criticism and theory. In the discussed context it leads to the problematization of the term "woman's film". Furthermore, we problematize the transfer of the western concept of feminism (and with that of feminist film criticism and theory) into the soviet, i.e. Russian environment. By analysing the chosen films we try to prove that the gaze, as set forth by the auteurs, overthrows the male gaze which is implicit to the cinematographic apparatus, so Laura Mulvey. This is shown primarily on the levels of syntax of the discussed film texts (film punctuation) and of the use of other film means of expression which create the image of Woman in another way. The gaze is directed into the utterly subjective perception of the female subject. It shatters the image on the level of the symbolic (ideology) and defines a woman in her specific, unique individuality. Thus, Sheptiko and Muratova surpass the official ideology in relation to film, thereby solidifying their place in the context of counter-cinema.
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