CC BY
0THE EVOLUTION OF THE IMAGE OF THE CONTEMPORARIES CREATED BEFORE THE PERIOD OF
INDEPENDENCE IN THE CINEMATOGRAPHY OF
UZBEKISTAN
Niyazova H.
ACUzR Institute of Art Studies Department "Film and television", junior researcher on Arts
Studies, doctor of philosophy (PhD) https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13685001
Abstract. Cinema plays an important role in the spiritual development of a person. The place of this art is incomparable in influencing thinking. Screen art, which incorporates elements of literature, theater, visual art, and music, is one of the main means of conveying the idea of a certain period to the audience in an artistic and philosophical way.
Keywords: political-ideological, socio-cultural factors, cinematography, folklore.
The popularity of this type of art indicates that its scope is extremely wide. Especially important is the idea that is promoted through the hero of the film.
Uzbek art cinema has gone through various stages of development until today. This process developed mainly under the influence of political-ideological, socio-cultural factors that prevailed in its time. In the history of national film art, many artistic experiments were carried out, scientific and creative researches were carried out, cinematographic traditions and innovative findings were created. In the films made in different years, the priority of the ideological influence of their time, thematic and genre research was felt. In short, the image of contemporaries reflected on the screen served the ideology of their time.
It is known that embodying a contemporary image on the screen has always been one of the most urgent problems. Therefore, the playwright and director try to create a contemporary image with a unique individuality. In this way, the artist embodies the image of a different contemporary, combining the problems that he is thinking about and the issues that are waiting to be solved in the society.
The contemporary image created in the cinematography of Uzbekistan before the years of independence has its own historical evolution. It covers the period from the 20s of the 20th century to the 1990s. Due to socio-political changes in society, the increase in the number of creative personnel, and trends in the development of cinematography, the issue of creating a contemporary image in art cinema is researched in the periods 1924-1936, 1937-1959, and 1960-1990, and their differences are clearly felt. In 1924-1936, the films "Ravat Kashqyrlari" (dir. K. Hertel, 1927), "So'nggi bek" (dir. Ch. Sabinsky, 1930) and "Yigit" (dir. N. G'aniev, 1935) started the events of the recent past. Forgotten images appeared. The heroes of the films "Rising" (dir. N. G'aniev, 1931), "American Cotton of Baghdad" (dir. N. Klado, 1931), "His Right" (dir. N. Chernyak, 1931) were created under the influence of ideological stereotypes of their time. Also, the number of production-themed films has increased significantly.
About the creative process of the 1930s, Doctor of Arts, film critic Nigora Karimova writes: "A new plot model: a method of revealing the conflict of characters through the prism of the conflict of class enemies has emerged. The main typological models of screen characters became
known: historical-revolutionary film hero, production hero, "pest", historical-biographical film hero, hero loyal to folklore traditions. Silent films made in the 1930s, although oriented towards propaganda, still have a strong impact in terms of emotional impact" [4; 104].
It is worth mentioning that the images of Uzbek women in such films as "The Second Wife" (dir. M. Doronin, 1927), "Chodra" (dir. M. Averbakh, 1927), "The Leprous Girl" (dir. O. Frelich, 1928) was created. The life of the heroes of this film was in sync with the socio-political situation. For example, when seeing the picture "The Second Wife": "The film's wealth of everyday materials was one of the most important artistic features of Uzbek cinema in those years" [1; 124], the idea finds its proof. Khanjara Abulqasimova, candidate of arts science, film critic: "For the national cinema, the image of a person in a new form was shown with the means of psychological drama. Contemporaries of the 30s revealed the usual things: for him, work is a joy that awakens the ability of the inventor" [2; 60], she writes. At this point, it should be said that since cinema was still a new art form, there was natural problem of staff shortage. At this time, local artists who were evacuated from other state film studios worked together. Therefore, in the performance of some of the actors who were creating the image, a character that was not typical of Uzbek nation was noticeable. In addition, at that time, films were made without sound, so the possibility of fully revealing the inner experiences of the character was limited.
Since 1937, when sound films began to be created, there was an opportunity to clearly convey to the audience the inner world of the characters, their nature, and the problems that make them think and worry. In particular, through the heroes of "Qasam" - the first Uzbek sound film (dir. A.Usoltsev-Graf, 1937), the topic of land and water reform in Uzbekistan was addressed again. After that, the films "Azamat" (dir. A. Kordyum, 1939) and "Honey" (dir. M. Egorov, V. Kazachkov, 1940) were made.
In the 1940s, Uzbek cinematographers created "Friends at the Front" (edited by I.Sklyut, K.Yormatov, Z.Sobitov, directed by K.Yormatov, 1942) in order to help those who are fighting for the defense of the Motherland and those who sent their loved ones to war (std. author and director. K.Yormatov, 1943), "Concert of the Five Republics" (std. author. A. Speshnev, director. Z. Sobitov, 1944) created film-concerts. Although it passed a certain stage of improvement for that time, it could not create an important innovation in the creation of a contemporary image.
"Before the 1950s, the most difficult period of the development of Uzbek cinema was considered, during this period, even in the central - Moscow and Leningrad studios, two or three films were produced in a year, and censorship control was stronger than ever" [5; 84].
Therefore, in the middle of the 20th century, almost no major changes were observed in the search for a hero. Because "in the 50s, the lack of good scripts was clearly felt in the studio" [7; 12]. In these years, relying mainly on the acquired experience and existing traditions, "The Rahmonova Sisters" (st. editor. V. Shveitser, director. K. Yoromatov, 1954), "Let's meet at the stadium" (st. editor. Yu. Kalabin, directed by Z. Sobitov, 1956), "Maftuningman" (edited by T. Tola, M. Melkumov, directed by Y. A'zamov, 1958) embodied several contemporary characters. However, these films were far from the reality of life.
Happily, "by the second half of the 50s, the number of Uzbek filmmakers expanded due to a number of young creators. This created an opportunity to diversify the produced films in terms of form and genre, to gradually increase the number of works of "Uzbekfilm" studio... creative-organizational work gave especially great results in the 60s and 70s" [3; 32].
In the cinematography of Uzbekistan, like other countries, in the 1960s, new steps were taken to create a contemporary image. It cannot be denied that this process was influenced by "Italian neorealism" and "French new wave". By this time, the number of films of young artists with their own signatures increased, the number of characters with different characteristics increased in the work of directors, the contemporary appearance of young people, and the creation of films with a poetic spirit became a novelty in the cinematography of that period. In the interpretation of the image of contemporaries, there was a tendency to approach the common man.
About the 1960s Uzbek art cinema, Nigora Karimova, doctor of art studies, film critic, writes in her PhD thesis: "The early films of young cinematographers had important qualities: they consciously avoided luxury, grandioseness, fakeness in covering the themes of the period, moving away from heroes in the form of officials and simple characters. The choice of such a creative path by young artists has gained programmatic importance for the development of republican art cinema. They abandoned the illustrative, dry narrative, and ready-made models in creating the image of a modern man during the previous decades.
Screenwriters also tried to interpret the contemporary character in a single mold, to create colorful works in which the hero is shown with all his life and human complexities" [6; 21].
Manifestation of changes in society in the context of love, human interaction, emotional experiences was reflected in such films as "Mahallada duv-duv gap" (st. editors. A.Ramazonov, B.Rest, dir. Sh.Abbosov, 1960), "Yor-yor" " (st. editor. R. Fayziy, director. A. Hamroev, 1964), "White-white storks" (st. editors. O. Agishev, A. Hamroev, director. A. Hamroev, 1966), "Two languages saga" (st. author. K.Yormatov, V. Vitkovich, director. K.Yormatov, 1966), "Elegance" (st. author. O. Agishev, director. E. Eshmuhamedov, 1967), "Boy and Girl" (edited by O. Umarbekov, Yu. Avetikov, directed by U. Nazarov, 1968), "Lovers" (edited by O. Agishev, directed by E. Eshmuhamedov, 1969). Contemporary characters, mainly young people, were poetically interpreted in these screen works. The 1970s of Uzbek cinematography were distinguished not by their original novelty but by their fruitfulness in creating the image of contemporaries. In these years, the interest in bringing young heroes to the screen continued. "Integral" (edited by and directed by Kh. Akhmar, 1970), "Drama of Love" (edited by S. Ahmad, Sh. Abbasov, directed by Sh. Abbasov, 1971), "We are waiting for you, young man" (edited by A. Mikhalkov-Konchalovsky, E. Tropinin, directed by R. Botirov, 1972), "Meetings and Partings" (edited by O. Agishev, directed by E. Eshmuhamedov, 1973), "The Fan" (edited by A. Mikhalkov-Konchalovsky, A. Adabashyan, directed by A. Hamroev, 1973), "House under the Hot Sun" (edited by F. Musajonov, A. Feinberg, directed by G. Bzarov, Z .Roizman, 1977), "Duel under the plane tree" (edited by R.Muhammadjonov, directed by M.Abzalov, 1978), "The Orchard Woman" (edited by R.Husnutdinova, directed by A.Hamroev, 1979) went deeper into the world of the hero. The artistic interpretation of images in ideologically and thematically diverse films made the audience more fascinated by the art of cinema. "Thus, in the 1970s, when Uzbek film artists turned to the image of a young hero, they tried to analyze the world of young people who had more life experience and had time to form as individuals" [6; 71]. In this period, the increase in the number of professional creators, in turn, had an impact on the diversity of the screen interpretation of the image of the modern hero along with the image of contemporaries. Dzhora Teshaboev, doctor of art sciences, professor, film critic, writes about the filmmakers of that period: "In the late 70s and early 80s, the palette of many masters belonging to different generations of Uzbek cinema was enriched with new colors" [8; 235].
The fact that various contemporary images were created in the 80s of the development of art cinema confirms the above opinion. In this period, not only social issues, but also family problems, interest in embodying the image of a contemporary in the field of historical memories was noticeable. In particular, "Suyunchi" (edited by R.Muhammadjonov, directed by M.Abzalov, 1982), "Brides' Rebellion" (edited by E.Akopov, directed by M.Abzalov, 1984), dedicated to social and household problems, characteristic features of Uzbek families in the feature films "Vodillik Kelin" (st. author and director A. Hamroev, 1984), "Iron Wife" (st. editor Sh. Boshbekov, M. Toychiev, director I. Ergashev, 1990) , customs, traditions, values motivated the creation of a contemporary image based on artistic fabric and real events. Especially since the 80s of the 20th century, characters with conflicting nature began to appear.
In most of the films made in 1990, a gallery of characters of different contemporaries appeared on the theme of friendship. "First kiss" (std. editor. R. Muhammadjonov, Z. Musakov, director. B. Odilov), "Chantrimore" (std. editor. R. Muhammadjonov, director. F. Haydarov), "Poor people" (std. editor: Z.Musakov, R.Muhammadjonov, director: J.Qasimov) , U. Mehra) are among them. The friendly relations of certain types of contemporaries were reflected through the characters of those film.
It is known that a person's personality, his spiritual world, intellectual potential, and the scope of his thinking change and renew in different periods. Socio-political and cultural changes in the society cannot fail to affect the human mind, especially its spirituality. Therefore, it is natural that the image of the main character, let's say a teacher, is interpreted differently in different years. This, in turn, is a matter related to the emergence of existing problems, along with the reforms implemented in the state policy, along with the wide opportunities given to the holders of these professions.
From this point of view, the study of the image of contemporaries in connection with the era, the difference between its life and its reflection on the screen, more precisely, the aspect of originality in the interpretation, is of great importance.
To sum up, certain complexities and positive aspects of the period at all stages of social development were transferred to the screen through the medium of artistic images. In this sense, the image of the contemporary plays a very important role in accurately showing the problems of his time on the screen. That is why it is especially important to take a serious approach to the issue of a new hero and create a unique, contemporary image in the cinema.
Although the creation of a contemporary image on the screen has been given attention since the time when this art was being formed, the process was not smooth. On the contrary, it was necessary to conduct various researches in this regard. At the time when films were made without sound, it was somewhat difficult to penetrate deeply into the inner world of the hero and fully understand his emotional experiences. However, it must be admitted that during that period, an attempt to reveal the inner world of the hero was evident in the performance of the actors.
The addition of the sound component to cinematography was an important step in this regard. Now the opportunity to fully reveal the essence of the image has expanded. But in those years, mainly in order to encourage the participants of the Second World War, images were created that would provide spiritual support to the audience and have a positive effect on their courage.
By the 1960s, the creation of a contemporary image began. During this period, new contemporaries were discovered in screen art. The entry of new, young personnel into the field,
various experiences in the development of world cinematography made a radical change in the art of Uzbek cinema. Young heroes appeared on the screen who live in sync with the times.
In the 1960s and 1990s, the portrayal of young contemporaries was very common, and the characters on the screen were almost the same age as the authors of the New Wave generation. By the second half of the 1980s, the appeal to "parable-like" stories was noticeable. This ancient genre experiment allowed the screen to become more compact, more capacious, and to make an impressive transition from casual to broad generalization.
If in the middle of the 20th century in the work of Uzbek filmmakers, realistic trends and a positive assessment of reality are clearly visible, then in the late 1980s, due to the change in the socio-political structure of society, "Goodbye, Summer Greenness" about negative events in a number of spiritual and social layers of life (dir. E.Eshmuhamedov, 1985) and "Shock" (dir. E. Eshmuhamedov, 1988) films were created.
The change of the political situation in the society found its various expression in the evolution of the image of contemporaries on the screen. The hero of each era encouraged the viewer to instill his idea, to accept the ideas put forward. Also, updates in the stages of development of Uzbek art cinema significantly influenced the screen interpretation of contemporaries.
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