Melodia!: Screening “Cheryomushki” by Herbert Rappaport

Kino Klassika is delighted to take part in the British Film Institute’s Musicals! season, and present an adaptation of Dmitri Shostakovich operetta, which subtly criticises Soviet life, raising intriguing questions about whether Shostakovich was a dissident or an ideologue.

Directed by Herbert Rappaport and based on Dmitri Shostakovich’s operetta Cheryomushki, is a satirical take on the now infamous housing projects built under Nikita Krushchev. Aesthetically, the film is shot in a bright colour scale, exemplifying the hopes of those who are to be rehomed in the Cheryomushki district yet the musical numbers accentuate the film’s inherent satire. Shostakovich pens a satirical work, from his position as a Soviet favourite, furthers the debate around his status as either a genuine ideologue or a secret dissident.