Racism as Social Pathology: Kira Muratova’s 'Change of Fate' (1987)

• In Event: Cinematic Decadence

Abstract

This paper examines Kira Muratova's Change of Fate (1987) as a critical cinematic exploration
of deception's social dimensions. Drawing on philosophical frameworks of deceit, the analysis
reveals how Muratova employs three distinct cinematic strategies—verbal lies, visual halftruths, and fantasy images—to interrogate the intersection of gender, race, and class in
enabling successful collective deception. Through a Hitchcockean “false bottom” narrative
structure that creates an epistemological rift between first and subsequent viewings,
Muratova exposes how the protagonist Maria manipulates societal prejudices to avoid
punishment for a crime of passion.

Author

• David Gomiero Molina, U of Chicago