Alexandra Khokhlova - Soviet actress, filmmaker, professor. Merited Artist of Russian Federation (1935). A. Khokhlova is one of the first Soviet actresses.
She started in film in 1916 with short appearances, in 1919 she enters the acting class of the State School of Cinematography (today VGIK). The academic disciplines of the young art were taught on half-experimental grounds. The film acting class consisted of learning the principles of rhythmical movement and dancing, in which A. Khokhlova particularly excelled.
She studied in the workshop of Lev Kuleshov together with V. Pudovkin, B. Barnet, V. Fogel and others, who formed what became known as Kuleshov Collective.
L. Kuleshov in his search of cinematic expressivity, also required from actors an exceptional mastery of their body and precision in movements.
In the brochure dedicated to A. Khokhlova, written by V. Shklovsky and S. Eisenstein, edited in 1926 by Teakinopetchat we read:
«There are few dozens of film actors in the world, whom scripts are written for, because their movement, their way to convey feelings is art. A. Khokhlova is one of those people»
Her first significant creative work is the role of Countess in L. Kuleshov film “The Extraordinary Adventures of Mr. West in the Land of the Bolsheviks” (1924).
The acting of A. Khokhlova was remarkable for honed outer expressiveness of gesture and facial expression. Developing in her work the principles of L. Kuleshov’s acting school, the actress created singular female characters.
In the film “By the Law” (1926), the adaptation of the J. London novel “The Unexpected”, she played Edith; of a great interest is her performance in the film “The Great Consoler” (1933), where she played the role of Dulcie.
Despite the support from critics and public acclaim of the films, A. Khokhlova fell out of favor with the authorities of Soviet film industry, and as her grand-daughter E. Khokhlova remembers, Sovkino wouldn’t allow for production films with A. Khokhlova in the cast.
Nevertheless, from 1923 A. Khokhlova starts to work as film director, and thereafter as professor. Her first independent work is “An Affair of the Clasps” (1929) adapted from the novel by M. Gorky, then she directed the film “Sacha” (1930), and “Toys” (1931), a documentary about Russian wooden toys. Besides her projects in cinema A. Khokhlova taught film directing at VGIK. She is the author of books and monographies about cinema « Printsipy kinorezhissury L.Kuleshova » (The Principles of Filmmaking of L. Kuleshov) and together with L. Kuleshov of « 50 Years in Films: : Selected Works ».