The image of the tank in modern Russian cinema: in search of a foundational symbol of cultural memory

The article analyzes the reasons for which a number of feature films have appeared on the Russian screen where tanks of the two opposing sides are the main participants. The authors examine the structure of the tank image in feature films and the manners in which they were represented as a foundational symbol of cultural memory in modern Russian cinema. The authors substantiate the conclusion that the Russian cinema, after its failed attempt to create the new esthetics of the tank image in the early 2010s, chose to revive the representational patterns of the Soviet period which, as it seemed, have gone for good. Looking back to the Soviet heritage is absolutely logical, argue the authors, because the Soviet cinema has created the whole complete mythological universe in whose gamut the image of military force combining technology and man occupied the key position. In the foundation of these revived patterns of representations lies the actualization of the cultural matrix inherited from the Soviet era as well as the rejection from historical authenticity for the sake of the mythologization of the tank image in order to escape the collision with historical reality and the necessity to follow it. As a result, the Russian “tank” cinema has sacrificed its historical authenticity for mythologization. At the same time, with a view to expand the audience, the film makers centered on the maximum virtualization of the tank image with the use of new computer technology, which attract millions of computer games fans.