“Empty Space” of the Civil War: Theatricalization of the theme on the Soviet Screen in 1960s

The article analyses three films: “Optimistic Tragedy” (1963) by Samson Samsonov, “The First Russians” (1967) by Evgeny Schiffers and Alexander Ivanov, and “Intervention” (1968) by Gennady Poloka. This combination is based not only on the special “picturesqueness” of the films and a certain type of eccentricity but also on an ample use of the conventional theatrical space that paradoxically leads to the reinterpretation of the very concept of the Civil War on the Soviet screen in the 1960s.