“A Great Statesman”: The Image of N. S. Khrushchev as a Soviet Leader in the Documentary “Our Nikita Sergeevich” (1961)

Abstract

The article analyzes the process of creating the documentary film "Our Nikita Sergeevich" (1961) and the main positions of the image of N. S. Khrushchev as the Soviet leader in it. It was the first documentary film about the head of the USSR, filmed and released during the period of leadership of the country. Based on the documents of the Russian State Archive of Literature and Art (RGALI), the process of making a film is reconstructed. The author proves the point about the release of a documentary tape in the period before the XXII Congress of the CPSU in order to strengthen Khrushchev's political authority and his personalized image of power in society. At the same time, two main themes of the representation of the First Secretary in the film are revealed – the "people's" leader and the peacemaker, their contents are revealed. The position of the "people's" leader was formed by selecting personal information about Khrushchev (origin, marital status), focusing on the "simplicity" of his public speeches, democratic style of dress. As a peacemaker, Khrushchev was represented by information about his visits abroad and meetings with foreigners: politicians, cultural figures and ordinary citizens. Just as in the case of the image of "people's" leader, special emphasis was placed on the manner of behavior of the Soviet leader, his style of dress. Most of the Soviet citizens took the film sharply negatively. The main reason for this was the extolling of the personal qualities and political activities of the First Secretary throughout the entire screen time. According to the audience, this indicated the emergence of a new personality cult in the USSR, which went against Khrushchev's own anti-cult statements.