Amid the instability and violence of turn-of-the-century
industrialization and urbanization Russians embraced a revolutionary art
form to reflect the aspirations and motivations of a new class. In The
Magic Mirror Denise Youngblood portrays a newly urbanized
entrepreneurial middle class not the revolutionaries or imperialists of
historians and the movies they made and paid to see. Upon those screens
they saw their lives depicted in all their variety and uncertainty.
Youngblood provides a cultural angle into an era most often viewed
through a revolutionary lens. Film and the film industry illuminates and
reflects the popular attitudes of the time.
The Magic Mirror is a study of the ten years of native film production
through the Revolutions of 1917, based almost exclusively on Russian
language primary sources. Topics examined include the organization and
evolution of the industry followed by description and analysis of
genres, motifs, and themes as exemplified in 65 of the most important
surviving films."