Films of the forest, from Tarkovsky to Kurosawa

The forest is one of the prevailing symbols of Russia and its former imperial holdings: from the borderlands of Poland, Belarus, and Ukraine, to the mountains of the Caucasus and the expanse of the Siberian taiga, all the way to the Pacific Ocean. So, how has the forest informed Russia’s sense of itself and its place in the world? This is the question at the heart of Sophie Pinkham’s new book, The Oak and The Larch: A Forest History of Russia and its Empires. It’s a cultural and environmental history about the role of the forest in making and resisting the Russian and Soviet states, drawing on literature and art as well as religious and political thought and stretching from the Bronze Age to the war on Ukraine.

This week, Sam invites Sophie onto the pod to discuss the forest on film. How have filmmakers, Russian and otherwise, related to the forest? What do their films tell us about Russian and Soviet colonialism and environmentalism? And what about the ecocidal aspects of Russia’s current war on Ukraine? Sam and Sophie explore all this, as well as pagans, geologists, and partisans, with reference to cinematic classics including Andrei Tarkovsky, Akira Kurosawa, and Larisa Shepitko.

Make sure to check out Sophie Pinkham’s book The Oak and The Larch: A Forest History of Russia and its Empires.

Get in touch: podcast@klassiki.online.

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Intro music by Juliet Merchant.