Expert: Jandy Stone - 12/10/2002

Question
how was the Mozhukin Experiment and importanat aspect in Soviet film making

Answer
Hi, Etaya,

The Mozhukhin Experiment was performed by Lev Kuleshov in the late 1910s.  He took existing footage of pre-Revolutionary actor Ivan Mozhukhin, cut it into three pieces, and spliced one piece before a shot of a bowl of hot soup, another before a shot of a child in a coffin, and the third before a shot of a little girl playing.  Viewers praised Mozhukhin's acting, as he was hungry when he saw the soup, sad at the child in the coffin (supposed by viewers to be his own child), and joyful at the child playing.  However, the shots of Mozhukhin were essentially the same, a very neutral expression on his face.

Kuleshov discovered that the meaning of the sequence was derived not from anything in each shot itself, but from the juxtaposing of shots together.  In other words, the shot of Mozhukhin alone meant nothing, being very neutral and unexpressive.  Only when Mozhukhin's face was followed by the soup did viewers feel that he was hungry.  He was only known to be sad when he was followed by the child in the coffin.  This is the basis of Soviet Montage--meaning is created through editing and the juxtaposition of different images rather than through what is contained in any individual shot.

Kuleshov made many other experiments that led to the formulation of Soviet Montage theory, but the Mozhukhin one is probably the most famous.

Does that answer your question?

There's a good description of the Mozhukhin experiment and Soviet filmmaking in general in Gerald Mast and Bruce F. Kawin's excellent introduction to film history, "A Short History of the Movies."  If you're interested, you should check it out (many libraries have it, if you're not willing to pay textbook prices!).  And if you have any more questions, please feel free to ask!

Jandy