--- Wojtek Sokolowski <sokol at jhu.edu> wrote: BTW, I was told a story (could be an urban legend) that in the 1950s and 1960s the Soviets used American western movies for propaganda purposes to show primitivism of the American life - suggesting that the films show the actual living conditions in the US.
Wojtek --
Maybe that is true, but there was also a whole series of "Easterns" inspired in part by Westerns, set in Asia and the Caucasus. "Beloe solntse pustinya" (White Sun of the Desert) is probably the most famous. It is set in the Civil War.
Also Sprach Amazon.com:
The White Sun of the Desert (1970)
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Description In this international cult favorite, a Central-Asian action film, the Red Army clashes with counter-revolutionary robber bands. Demobbed soldier Fyodor Sukhov is making his way through the desert to his home village, where the band of brutal Abdulla is raging. Sukhov is charged with escorting the chief's harem, because Abdulla intended to kill his women rather than let them go free. Sukhov"s mate, young soldier Petrukha, dies at the hand of Abdulla, but at a decisive moment, Sukhov gets help from the former customs officer Vereschchagin and a poor peasant.
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
A Russian Classic, May 26, 2004
Reviewer: W. D Shingleton (Kyrgyzstan) - See all my reviews
This is a classic Russian film that even today is ranked among the 10 most popular films in the country. The story of a Russian in a strange land (in this case, Central Asia) was the Russian answer to the popularity of spaghetti Westerns in the United States. Last I heard, it was actually a tradition for cosmonauts to watch White Sun of the Desert before they were launched into space.
The film is surprisinly sensitive to the cultural differences between Russia and Central Asia, although obviously all of these are seen through the rubric of the New Soviet Man. The story with Sukhov and Abdullah is compelling, as are a series of side plots. The main problem with the film for those who do not speak Russian as a first language is the poor sound quality, a legacy of 1969 technology and the age of the film. Can't say that I've listened to the English dubbing, but my guess is that the subtitles will suffice to get the point across.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000YEDM2/104-0160645-2063149?v=glance
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