During ""the thaw"" from Stalin's death in 1953 to the late 1960s and Khrushchev's rule, Soviet society experienced major transformations. So did films. In this first comprehensive account of the relationship between politics and cinema in this period, Josephine Woll skillfully interweaves cultural history with film analysis to explore how movies at once responded to the changes around them and helped engender them. She considers dozens of individual films within the context of Khrushchev's policies and the artistic foment they inspired.

Josephine Woll is Professor of German and Russian at Howard University, Washington D.C.