Art cinema as a mean of moral and psychological mobilization of the people (on materials of films about the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945)

The article is devoted to the analysis of feature films 1941-1945, which was one of the instruments of propaganda of the Soviet state. The topic of a future war appeared in Soviet films in the second half of the 1930s. They are called defense films. Demonstration of the superiority of the socialist system and examples of heroic behavior were the main objectives of these films. However, many believe that this idea of war had a detrimental effect on the behavior of the Soviet people during the first period of the Great Patriotic war. Many film-makers went to the front. The loss of valuable equipment during the evacuation and the need to resume production in Central Asia were the reasons that the artistic and technical level of the first war films was very low. Therefore, the effectiveness of films of this period was determined not artistic expression, and their ideological content. The article covers in detail the main themes of «Martial kinosbornik» that were the first reaction of the Soviet art cinema on military events. At each stage of the war movies were designed to solve different tasks: to cause hatred of the enemy, destroy fear, explain the reasons for the defeat, to strengthen confidence in the unity of the anti-fascist front, etc. Particular attention is given to the characteristic image of the enemy allies, as well as major themes: retribution, self-sacrifice, the revival of national heroes and traditions. Appeal to the religious consciousness of the people, the worship of success of Russian arms contributed to the psychological mobilization of the Soviet people. Demonstration cruelty of the Nazis was to incite hatred of warriors to strengthen in them the desire for revenge. Enemies portrayed as stupid and cowardly in the first period of the war. This helped to eliminate fear. But very stupid enemy was also undesirable, especially after the Battle of Stalingrad.The enemy must be smart and strong to win over him was respected. Mention the help of the allies after the first period of the war in movies was not. The Soviet government understood the power of cinema and watched the ideological content of the films. Personal grief in films should not dominate the total national tragedy. But in the last years of the war there were movies in which the main characters were marginalized, individualized. Later this trend will manifest itself more clearly in the period of «thaw».