Window to Tianducheng: The Portal Motif of 1990s Post-Soviet Cinema and 'World-Systems-Theory'

• In Event: Left Perspectives on Cultures of Decline IV: Economic Downturn and Second World Cultural Production II

Abstract

An article noting the intellectual contributions of the late political economist Immanuel Wallerstein describes his concept of “world-systems-theory” as one “recognizing that we are connected across time and space—that we can’t understand what’s happening in one place in the world without situating that place within a global frame.” The literary device of a portal, a kind of impossible frame through which one can pass into another world, may connect world-systems-theory to aesthetic concerns. Known as the “magic door motif” in literary scholarship, the portal motif has a long history (the imperial project of St. Petersburg is a historical example worth considering), appearing in philosophy, folklore, religious treatises, poetry, etc. I would like to argue that this device appeared especially prominently in 1990s films following the break-up of the Soviet Union, such as the French-Russian co-production Salades Russe / Окно в Париж / Window to Paris (1994). The plot follows a down-and-out music teacher who discovers a portal in his communal flat to Paris, the old cultural capital of the world, exploited for quick material gain by the denizens of post-Leningrad. I would like to posit that beneath its surface-level critique of Soviet society and use of a magical portal, WtP does not actually reject a Marxist materialist position. By comparing it to other portal films of the period (like Being John Malkovich [1999]), a case will be made for a “global frame,” one that reconciles what appear to be, on first look, mutually-exclusive ideological fantasies.

Author

• Nikita Allgire, U of Southern California