ABSTRACT
IN their essay Shlapentokh and Shlapentokh set out to show how narrative cinema in the Soviet Union provides a unique window into the “true reality” of Soviet life. The authors argue that because of the multifaceted nature of the film medium, films provide an important— and all too frequently ignored—source of information about the society that produced them. I too believe that a society’s film industry and its products are a valuable source of information about the sociocultural and political practices of that country. I differ from Shlapentokh and Shlapentokh, however, in my understanding of the theoretical relationship between film and culture.
