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ABSTRACT: Although the Kuleshov effect is often cited as fundamental to the cinematic vocabulary, our understanding of the genesis and evolution of its narrative is incomplete. This paper aims to shed light on the evolution and plasticity of Kuleshov's early accounts of the experiment as well as the interweaving and contradictory trails that shaped the cultural understanding of the Kuleshov effect in Europe, the US, and the USSR through Kuleshov's and Pudovkin's writings. Finally, it will examine how this has contributed to an ongoing narrative within film theory and history.
KEYWORDS: Kuleshov effect, Lev Kuleshov, Vsevolod Pudovkin, Ivor Montagu, Ivan Mozzhukhin, Alfred Hitchcock
"Myth deprives the object of which it speaks of all History. In it, history evaporates. It is a kind of ideal servant: it prepares all things, brings them, lays them out, the master arrives, it silently disappears: all that is left for one to do is to enjoy this beautiful object without wondering where it comes from [...]"
Roland Barthes (1957)
WHEN WE TALK ABOUT THE KULESHOV EFFECT
The Kuleshov effect is an essential pillar of cinematic vocabulary, and it is considered a tenet of both montage theory and practice. David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson define the effect as "cutting together portions of a space in a way that prompts the spectator to assume a spatial whole that isn't shown onscreen."1 According to Vsevolod Pudovkin (1893-1953), he and Lev Kuleshov (1899-1970) alternated a shot of the expressionless face of Ivan Mozzhukhin (1889-1939), a silent-film star and emigre of Imperial Russia, with various other shots (i.e., a plate of soup, a girl in a coffin, a woman on a divan). The audience believed that the expression on Mozzhukhins face differed each time, showing hunger, grief, or desire, but the actual shot was exactly the same.2
The history of the Kuleshov effect and the legacy of its namesake have been addressed in several major scholarly works starting in 1960. Jay Leyda, an eyewitness to the intellectual landscape of the Soviet avant-garde, provided key insight into Kuleshovs contributions as a theoretician, practitioner, and mentor.3 Steven Hill,4 who interviewed Kuleshov for a special edition of Film Culture, and Ronald Levaco,5 who translated Kuleshov's writings into English, further consolidated Kuleshov's standing in anglophone film studies. Yuri...