Filming everyday life near the end of the Soviet Union
May 29, 2015 12:32 PM Subscribe
Former TV cameraman Rick Suddeth has posted numerous videos of everyday life in the former Soviet Union in the 1980s and early 1990s. These are mostly raw footage or lightly edited, some are silent. Moscow traffic ca. 1986. Moscow grocery store ca. 1990. Universam Department Store, Moscow, 1990. Queuing for wine at a state liquor store. In the Cosmos Night Club.
Life in a multi-family apartment, 1990. Ride along with Moscow Police, 1987. Rural small farm family life. Street Market, ca. 1990. Moscow Subway, 1990. Moscow City Streets. Gas Station 1990/1991. Leningrad News Corner, early 1991. Scenes at a Park. Red Square. Aeroflot. Apartment Living. The state of the Soviet Union, Part 1; Part 2.
Life in a multi-family apartment, 1990. Ride along with Moscow Police, 1987. Rural small farm family life. Street Market, ca. 1990. Moscow Subway, 1990. Moscow City Streets. Gas Station 1990/1991. Leningrad News Corner, early 1991. Scenes at a Park. Red Square. Aeroflot. Apartment Living. The state of the Soviet Union, Part 1; Part 2.
Oh my God. Thank you, a thousand times thank you, for this.
posted by staggering termagant at 1:05 PM on May 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by staggering termagant at 1:05 PM on May 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
That's a pretty rockin' multi-family apartment.
posted by Kabanos at 1:35 PM on May 29, 2015 [6 favorites]
posted by Kabanos at 1:35 PM on May 29, 2015 [6 favorites]
Trabbies!! Trabbies everywhere!!
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 1:36 PM on May 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 1:36 PM on May 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
That State of The Soviet Union report is pretty awful. Apparently, homosexuality & heavy metal music are signs of a society in decay and those poor Soviet women have to resort to prostitution, unlike the United States where such things never happen.
posted by snottydick at 2:49 PM on May 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by snottydick at 2:49 PM on May 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
Moscow buskers preform "That's All Right Mama" at 6:26 of subway segment.
posted by telstar at 4:38 PM on May 29, 2015
posted by telstar at 4:38 PM on May 29, 2015
I like the way that the sign above the wine store just says "Wine." Although, come to think of it, since I live in one of the many U.S. states where liquor is a state monopoly, that's basically what the sign above the place where I buy my wine looks like too.
posted by sy at 6:19 PM on May 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by sy at 6:19 PM on May 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
Yeah, it made me very faintly nostalgic about Seattle's old state-run liquor stores.
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 7:02 PM on May 29, 2015
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 7:02 PM on May 29, 2015
For a rather extreme contrast: "2:30am at a 7-11 near Disney World - 1987" (previously on MeFi)
posted by One Second Before Awakening at 10:42 PM on May 29, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by One Second Before Awakening at 10:42 PM on May 29, 2015 [4 favorites]
My Dog, the Soviet Union was one huge shit hole.
posted by InsertNiftyNameHere at 5:06 PM on May 30, 2015
posted by InsertNiftyNameHere at 5:06 PM on May 30, 2015
How was he able to film this?
By this time, Gorbachev's Glasnost was in full swing and the USSR was basically open to visitors from outside. Freedom of speech & the press were slowly becoming established and cultural & business exchanges with the outside world were encouraged.
posted by snottydick at 8:50 AM on June 1, 2015
By this time, Gorbachev's Glasnost was in full swing and the USSR was basically open to visitors from outside. Freedom of speech & the press were slowly becoming established and cultural & business exchanges with the outside world were encouraged.
posted by snottydick at 8:50 AM on June 1, 2015
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