Lev Kuleshov was born in 1899 into an intellectual
Russian family. His father Vladimir Sergeyevich Kuleshov was of
noble heritage; he studied art in the
Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, despite his own father's disapproval. He then married a village schoolteacher Pelagia Aleksandrovna Shubina who was raised in an orphanage, which only led to more confrontation. They gave birth to two sons: Boris and Lev. At the time Lev Kuleshov was born, the family became financially broke, lost their estate and moved to
Tambov, living a modest life. In 1911 Vladimir Kuleshov died; three years later Lev and his mother moved to Moscow where his elder brother was studying and working as an engineer. Lev Kuleshov decided to follow the steps of his father and entered the Moscow School of Painting, although he didn't finish it. In 1916 he applied to work at the film company led by
Aleksandr Khanzhonkov. He produced scenery for
Yevgeni Bauer's pictures, such as
The King of Paris,
For Happiness and others. With time Kuleshov became more interested in film theory. He co-directed his first movie
Twilight in 1917. His next film was released under the Soviet patronage. Although many Russian filmmakers left the country after 1917, Kuleshov stayed, hoping to create a new Soviet cinema. He worked for the state, editing pre-revolutionary "bourgeois" footage to align with Boleshevik ideology. Inspired by American films such as
The Birth of a Nation and lectures by
Vladimir Gardin, He famously demonstrated the eponymous
Kuleshov Effect by juxtaposing the same footage of
Ivan Mozzhukhin against different images, including a meal and a corpse. Although the footage was unchanged, viewers interpreted Mozzhukhin's expression differently based on its context. During 1918–1920 he covered the
Russian Civil War with a documentary crew. In 1919 he headed the first Soviet film courses at the
National Film School. He contributed the article "Kinematografichesky naturshchik" to the first issue of
Zrelishcha in 1922. Among his other notable students were
Vsevolod Pudovkin,
Boris Barnet,
Mikhail Romm,
Sergey Komarov,
Porfiri Podobed,
Vladimir Fogel and
Aleksandra Khokhlova who became his wife. Another one of his famous inventions was
creative geography, also known as artificial landscape. Those techniques were described in his book
The Basics of Film Direction (1941) which was later translated into many languages. In addition to his theoretical and teaching work, Kuleshov directed a number of feature-length films. Among his most notable works are an action-comedy
The Extraordinary Adventures of Mr. West in the Land of the Bolsheviks (1924), a psychological drama
By the Law (1926) adapted from the short story by
Jack London and a biographical drama
The Great Consoler (1933) based on
O. Henry's life and works. In 1934 and 1935 Kuleshov went to
Tajikistan to direct there
Dokhunda, a movie based on the novel by Tajik national poet
Sadriddin Ayni, but the project was regarded with suspicion by the authorities as possibly exciting Tajik nationalism, and stopped. No footage survives. at the
Bolshevo House of Creativity. May 1941 After directing his last film in 1943, Kuleshov served as an artistic director and an
academic rector at
VGIK where he worked for the next 25 years. He was a member of the jury at the
27th Venice International Film Festival, as well as a special guest during other international film festivals. Kuleshov was awarded the Order of Lenin shortly before his death. He died in Moscow in 1970. He was buried at the
Novodevichy Cemetery. He was survived by his wife
Aleksandra Khokhlova (1897–1985) – an actress, film director and educator, granddaughter of
Pavel Tretyakov and
Sergey Botkin – and Aleksandra's son Sergei from her first marriage. ==Filmography==