{{Infobox film | name = The Russian Question | image = The_Russian_Question.jpg | caption = German film poster | director = Mikhail Romm | screenplay = Mikhail Romm | starring = Vsevolod Aksyonov<br>Yelena Kuzmina<br>Mikhail Astangov | cinematography = Boris Volchek | music = Aram Khachaturian | studio = Mosfilm | country = Soviet Union | language = Russian | runtime = 88 minutes | released = {{Film date|1947|03|08|df=y}} }}
'''''The Russian Question''''' (Russian: Русский вопрос, ''Russkiy vopros'') is a Soviet political drama by renowned filmmaker Mikhail Romm.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=i_lkfAD0oYUC&dq=Russkii+vopros+Romm&pg=PA731 David Caute, The Dancer Defects: The Struggle for Cultural Supremacy during the Cold War] OUP Oxford, 2003, {{ISBN|9780191554582}}, 731 p.</ref> Shot at the Mosfilm studio, the film is an adaptation of a play of the same name by Soviet poet and journalist Konstantin Simonov.<ref name="rollberg">[https://books.google.com/books?id=Cuw1vHuxITYC&dq=Russkii+vopros+Romm&pg=PA580 Peter Rollberg, Historical Dictionary of Russian and Soviet Cinema] Scarecrow Press, 2008, {{ISBN|9780810862685}}, 580 p.</ref><ref name="liehm">[https://books.google.com/books?id=eGi6ykWT6OkC&dq=Russkiy+vopros+Romm&pg=PA57 Mira Liehm, Antonín J. Liehm, The Most Important Art: : Soviet and Eastern European Film After 1945] University of California Press, 1980, {{ISBN|9780520041288}}, 57 p.</ref>
== Plot == thumb|thumbtime=16|left|''The Russian Question'' (full film) New York, 1946: a leading US newspaper company sends Harry Smith, a talented correspondent, to the Soviet Union. His task is to write a scaremongering report about the Soviet belligerent and expansionist intentions in order to further a widespread campaign of propaganda undertaken by the American media and the conservative elite. Harry, a former war correspondent, accepts the attractive deal and sets off to Soviet Russia only to fall in love with a country quite different from the picture shown by the "free press" in its Cold War adversary. Back in the United States, Harry finds himself torn by a dilemma between his consciousness as an honest journalist, and the menacing pressure of his superiors, forcing him to write a convenient untruth.<ref name="rollberg"/><ref name="liehm"/>
==Premise== Keeping its ideological design in mind, ''The Russian Question'' remains a sophisticated and objective, if somewhat critical portrayal of American Cold War political society. Unlike many other Soviet propaganda films, Romm's drama takes on an American perspective, only showing the Soviet Union discussed in the movie for a short combination of shots. The bulk of the film is centered on American culture, society, politics, history, economy and way of life.<ref name="rollberg"/><ref name="liehm"/>
== Cast == * Vsevolod Aksyonov — ''Harry Smith'' * Yelena Kuzmina — ''Jessie West'' * Mikhail Astangov — ''McPherson'' * Mikhail Nazvanov — ''Jack Gould'' *Boris Tenin — ''Bob Murphy'' * Mariya Barabanova — ''Meg'' *Arkady Tsinman — ''Bill Preston'' * Boris Poslavsky — ''Hardy'' *Gennady Yudin — ''Parker'' *Sergei Antimonov — ''Kessler'' * Mikhail Troyanovsky — ''Fred Williams'' * Viktor Dragunsky — ''Radio announcer'' *Georgy Georgiu — ''Hairdresser'' (uncredited) *Valentin Zubkov — ''Chauffeur'' (uncredited) *Vladimir Kirillin — ''Journalist'' (uncredited)
== Awards == * 1948 — Stalin Prize, 1st class (director Mikhail Romm, cinematographer Boris Volchek, actors Vsevolod Aksyonov, Mikhail Astangov, Yelena Kuzmina, Mikhail Nazvanov and Boris Tenin) *1991 — Berlin International Film Festival
== References == {{reflist}}
==External links== {{external media | float = right | video1 = [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ePawW0W-do ''The Russian Question''], released on official Mosfilm YouTube channel, without English subtitles }} * [http://cinema.mosfilm.ru/films/film/1940-1949/russkiy-vopros/ The Russian Question on mosfilm.ru] *{{IMDb title|tt0039790}} {{Mikhail Romm}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Russian Question, The}} Category:1947 drama films Category:1947 Soviet films Category:1947 Russian-language films Category:Cold War films Category:Cultural depictions of American people Category:Films about journalism Category:Films about media manipulation Category:Films directed by Mikhail Romm Category:Films scored by Aram Khachaturian Category:Films set in 1946 Category:Films set in New York City Category:Foreign films set in the United States Category:Mosfilm films Category:Soviet black-and-white films Category:Soviet drama films Category:Russian-language drama films
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