Director,
Writer,
Actor,
Production designer
Born 1899, Russia
 
Died 1970
Lev KULESHOV
▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪
Лев КУЛЕШОВ
Lev KOULECHOV
Filmography (extracts)
 
Director
1943 - We from the Urals (Мы с Урала) [fiction, 76 mn]
1942 - Timur's Oath (Клятва Тимура) [fiction, 54 mn]
1942 - Yunye partisany (Юные партизаны) [fiction]
1941 - Descent in a Volcano / Incident in a Volcano (Случай в Вулкане) [fiction]
1940 - Siberians (Сибиряки) [fiction, 90 mn]
1936 - Dokhunda (Дохунда) [fiction]
1934 - Krazha zreniya (Кража зрения)
1933 - The Great Consoler (Великий утешитель) [fiction, 95 mn]
1932 - Gorizont (Горизонт) [fiction, 103 mn]
1930 - The Breakthrough (Прорыв) [fiction, 11 mn]
1930 - Forty Hearts (Сорок сердец) [documentary]
1929 - Dva Buldi dva (Два-бульди-два) [fiction, 55 mn]
1929 - The Gay Canary (Веселая канарейка) [fiction, 73 mn]
1927 - An Acquaintance of Yours (The Journalist) (Журналистка) [fiction, 66 mn]
1926 - By the Law (По закону) [fiction, 61 mn]
1925 - The Death Ray (Луч смерти) [fiction, 105 mn]
1924 - Mr. West s Extraordinary Adventures in the Bolsheviks Land (Необычайные приключения мистера Веста в стране большевиков) [fiction, 95 mn]
1920 - On The Red Front (На красном фронте) [fiction, 18 mn]
1919 - Khronika (Хроника) [documentary]
1918 - Engineer Prait's Project / Engineer Prite's Project (Проект инженера Прайта) [fiction]
1918 - Pesn lyubvi nedopetnaya (Песнь любви недопетая)
 
Writer
1933 - The Great Consoler (Великий утешитель) from Lev KULESHOV [fiction, 95 mn]
1932 - Gorizont (Горизонт) from Lev KULESHOV [fiction, 103 mn]
1930 - Sasha (Саша) from Aleksandra KHOKHLOVA [fiction, 1691 m]
 
Actor
1920 - On The Red Front (На красном фронте) from Lev KULESHOV [fiction, 18 mn]
1917 - For happiness (За счастьем) from Yevgeni BAUER [fiction, 41 mn]
 
Production designer
1933 - The Great Consoler (Великий утешитель) from Lev KULESHOV [fiction, 95 mn]
1917 - The King of Paris (Король Парижа) from Yevgeni BAUER [fiction]
1917 - For happiness (За счастьем) from Yevgeni BAUER [fiction, 41 mn]
1917 - Nabat (Набат) from Yevgeni BAUER [fiction]
 
Sites : IMDb, Chapaev

Author :

Biography
Born: : 1 January 1899, Tambov, Russian Empire (now Russia)
Died: 30 March 1970, Moscow, Soviet Union (now Russia)

Lev Vladimirovich Kuleshov studied art at the Moscow School of Painting, Architecture and Sculpture as a 15 years old. Afterwards, he worked as an illustrator for a fashion magazine and later he was employed at a Moscow film studio as a set designer, occasionally acting in its productions. Inspired by the German Expressionism, he made his directorial debut with the Project of Engineer Prite (1918) when only 18 years old. The film was considered among Russia's most sophisticated early films.
During the Russian Revolution Kuleshov documented the war on the Eastern front in documentary On the Red Front (1920). Around that time, deeply impressed by the works of American directors Mack Sennett and D.W. Griffith, he started to devise his montage theory, later name Kuleshov effect. As an instructor at the First National Film School in Moscow, an institution Kuleshov helped found in 1919, he introduced his theories in editing and montage to his students and future soviet film greats as S. Eisenstein and V. Pudovkin. At the same school he collaborated with group of his students on several now generally regarded as seminal films in Russian Cinema. Among them also The Extraordinary Adventures of Mr. West in the Land of the Bolsheviks (1924), a clever satire on Russian politics, something that was not accepted very well by the authorities. His next film Death Ray (1925) met with authorities disapproval for not containing enough propaganda. Kuleshov’s problems with government empowered after his next film By the Law (1926), a psycho-drama based on a Jack London story. After this movie the government entirely withdrew the fundings for next Kuleshov’s film. Kuleshov decided to leave filmmaking in favor of becoming a full-time theorist and an instructor in the film school by 1933. One of his most important books remains Fundamentals of Film Direction.
During the World War II, soviet government allowed him to make films again and Kuleshov became the head of the Moscow Film Institute in 1944. His early work was only re-discovered in 1960s by Jay Leyda, founder of the film journal Kino and the rediscovery allowed Kuleshov to travel to the West as part of film festival juries and lecture during showing of his films.
Source : www.seagullfilms.com
 

Commentaries and bibliography
- Dix grands films soviétiques des années 1920 (Vidéos) Eleonora GOLDMAN, 2023, RUSSIA BEYOND
- Приход звука в Великий немой как тюремное заключение, или «звук веет, где хочет» [L'arrivée du son dans le Grand muet est comme un emprisonnement, ou bien "le son souffle où il veut"] Иван ДЕНИСОВ, 2023, Cinema Routine
- What Is The Kuleshov Effect? Samuel HARRIES, 2021, movementsinfilm.com
- « Contribution à l'histoire du concept de montage » Kouléchov, Poudovkine, Vertov et Eisenstein Dominique CHATEAU, 2019, L'HARMATTAN
- Comment les réalisateurs soviétiques ont bouleversé le septième art Arsenii MARKOV, 2019, RUSSIA BEYOND
- 10 of Harvard University’s favorite Soviet and Russian films Alexandra GUZEVA, 2017, RUSSIA BEYOND
- 1925: The Death Ray (Lev Kuleshov) Natalie RYABCHIKOVA, 2017, sensesofcinema.com
- DVD : Mr West au Pays des Bolchéviks de Lev Kouléchov ; Miss Mend, de Boris Barnet et Fedor Ozep , François ALBERA, 2016, 1895
- Women film pioneers: Aleksandra Khokhlova Ana OLENINA, 2014, wfpp.columbia.edu
- By the Law Review Juliet Jacques, 2011, Cineaste Magazine
- C'était quoi les Rouges au cinéma ? , Corentin PALANCHINI, 2011, allocine.fr
- The Socialist Avant-Garde at the 33rd Moscow International Film Festival , Julie DRASKOCZY, 2011, kinokultura.com
- Ретроспектива Кулешова на Болонском кинофестивале в июни 2008 г.
Интервью С  Е. С. Хохловой
, site kinoglaz.fr, 2008, kinoglaz.fr
- Rétrospective Lev Koulechov au festival de Bologne. Interview de Ekaterina Khokhlova , site kinoglaz.fr, 2008, kinoglaz.f
- Po zakonu (Dura Lex - Selon la loi) - La critique + Le test DVD , Claude RIEFFEL, 2001, avoir-alire.com
- Les origines du cinéma soviétique : un regard neuf , Myriam TSIKOUNAS, 1992, Cerf
- Koulechov et les siens , François ALBERA, , Yekaterina KHOKHLOVA, , Valérie POZNER, 1990, Ed. du Festival international du film de Locarno
- Лев Владимирович Кулешов , Yevgeni_2 GROMOV, 1984, Искусство
- Л. В. Кулешов: статьи, материалы , Aleksandra KHOKHLOVA, , Lev KULESHOV, , Vladimir_2 MIKHAYLOV, 1979, Искусство
- Lev Koulechov , Eric SCHMULEVITCH, 1974, Avant-scène. Anthologie du Cinéma, tome 8, Paris
 
 

Photos and videos
En 1922, Koulechov réalise une expérience : il juxtapose l’image d’un visage neutre (celui de l’acteur russe Ivan Mosjoukine) avec trois plans successifs, chacun faisant naitre un sentiment différent : l’appétit, la tristesse et le désir. Directeur de l’école de cinéma de Moscou dans les années 20, il montre, images à l’appui, que les plans cinématographiques ne sont pas étanches : dans son expérience, un même plan « face caméra » sera interprété différemment par le spectateur selon que le visage est suivi de l’image d’une assiette de soupe, d’un cadavre, ou d’une femme dévêtue.