Lev Kuleshov

Directing·Jan 13, 1899·Tambov, Russian Empire [now Russia]

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Lev Vladimirovich Kuleshov was a Russian and Soviet filmmaker and film theorist, one of the founders of the world's first film school, the Moscow Film School. People's Artist of the RSFSR (1969). Lev Kuleshov was born in 1899 into an intellectual Russian family. At the time he was born, the family became financially broke, lost their estate and moved to Tambov, living a modest life. In 1911 his father died; three years later Lev and his mother moved to Moscow where his elder brother was studying and working as an engineer. Lev Kuleshov decided to follow the steps of his father and entered the Moscow School of Painting, although he didn't finish it. In 1916 he applied to work at the film company led by Aleksandr Khanzhonkov. He produced scenery several pictures but with time he became more interested in film theory. He co-directed his first movie Twilight in 1917. His next film was released under the Soviet patronage. During the 1918-1920 he covered the Russian Civil War with a documentary crew. In 1919 he headed the first Soviet film courses at the National Film School. Kuleshov may well be the very first film theorist as he was a leader in the Soviet montage theory — developing his theories of editing before those of Sergei Eisenstein (briefly a student of Kuleshov). For Kuleshov, the essence of the cinema was editing, the juxtaposition of one shot with another. To illustrate this principle, he created what has come to be known as the Kuleshov Effect. In this now-famous editing exercise, shots of an actor were intercut with various meaningful images (a casket, a bowl of soup, etc.) in order to show how editing changes viewers' interpretations of images. In addition to his theoretical and teaching work, Kuleshov also directed a number of feature-length films. Among his most notable works is an action-comedy The Extraordinary Adventures of Mr. West in the Land of the Bolsheviks (1924), a psychological drama By the Law (1926) adapted from the short story by Jack London and a biographical drama The Great Consoler (1933) based on O. Henry's life and works. After directing his last film in 1943, Kuleshov served as an artistic director and an academic rector at VGIK where he worked for the next 25 years. Lev Kuleshov died in Moscow in 1970. He was buried at the Novodevichy Cemetery. He was survived by his wife Aleksandra Khokhlova (1897—1985) — an actress, film director and educator and her son from the first marriage.

Film	Credit
The Kuleshov Effect1969 · Self	Self
We from the Urals1943 · Director	Director
Timur's Oath1942 · Director	Director
Young Partisans1942 · Director	Director
Incident on a Volcano1941 · Producer	Producer
Siberians1940 · Director	Director
Our Cinema1940 · (archive footage)	(archive footage)
Dokhunda1934 · Director	Director
The Great Consoler1933 · Director, Writer	Director, Writer
Horizon1932 · Director, Writer	Director, Writer
Forty Hearts1931 · Director	Director
TThe Backlog!1930 · Director	Director
Sasha1930 · Screenplay	Screenplay
The Happy Canary1929 · Director	Director
Two-Buldi-Two1929 · Director	Director
Your Friend1927 · Director	Director
By the Law1926 · Director, Writer	Director, Writer
LLocomotive No. 10061926 · Director	Director
The Death Ray1925 · Actor, Director	Actor, Director
The Extraordinary Adventures of Mr. West in the Land of the Bolsheviks1924 · Director	Director
TThe Created Surface of the Earth1920 · Director	Director
AAt the Red Front1920 · Resident of war zone, Director, Writer	Resident of war zone, Director, Writer
Kuleshov Effect1919 · Director	Director
Unfinished Love Song1918 · Director	Director
Engineer Prite's Project1918 · Director	Director
For Happiness1917 · Enrico, painter	Enrico, painter
Black Love1917 · Actor	Actor