The style of art and American film and their influence on political propaganda in Yugoslavia in 1960s and 1970s

Art becomes closer to people and everyday life as a consequence of the
suffering of people and material goods after the Second World War.
After 1950. there is a crash of the socialist realism and an unsuccessful
attempt of establishing a false aesthetics. The 1960s bring a new di-
mension into art as a reflection of the zeitgeist- the appearance of the
black wave, abstraction. Mediala and other.
“The subversiveness of contemporary Serbian art took place on two
parallel plains after the epoch of socialist realism. One of which
was in the domain of pictorial language that developed in more
or less abstract — geometric and lyric syntaxes — all the way to
the structural painting and informal as the most radical expres-
sion of this intangible art. This aesthetically engaged art implied a
kind of ideological criticism which was concerned with connecting
the Yugoslav society with the democratic world, its institutions
and culture, the society itself yearning for the change in the style
of living and political rule. So, it did not take long for this art to
provoke the reaction of the authorities from the highest position.”
(Despotovic,)

Josip Broz Tito called this art, quasi art in Split in 1963. The changes in
art affected propaganda as well. Art after the war up until the 1960s
showed cheerful and diligent workers and happy peasant families
eating in the fields on the propaganda posters. Progress was outlined
in all forms of expression. However, the 1960s brought about abstract
forms into the artistic expression on the posters as well as symbols pre-
vailing with the color red, the figure of Josip Broz, five-pointed star,
sickle and hammer and other symbols characteristic for this period
of time.
Painting scenes of Mica Popovic showed a disagreement between
Tito's politics and the life of an ordinary man. Propagandists were the
first to realize this, says Despotovic (2016). However, the warnings of
Mica Popovic and other artists, philosophers and intellectuals were
unclear to the common folk. The propaganda machine did everything
in its power to keep the ordinary man from finding out the truth. The
artistic activity of Balint Sombati had an ideological discourse at first
but later on it had an openly political one. He showed it through dif-
ferent actions, by using the symbols such as the flag of Yugoslavia with
the five-pointed star, the portrait of Josip Broz Tito, uniforms, symbols
on the border of the rural etc.

American film as a means of propaganda in the 1960s and the 1970s
The 1960s in Yugoslavia were prosperous while the 1970s brought about
more radicalism in everything especially in art. There were divisions
in music, film and life style but first and foremost there was a division
between those who were loyal to the regime and those who were not.
The flourishing of the Yugoslav film happened between 1962 and 1972.
“The main energy of the Yugoslav cinematography was focused on inter-
national co-productions at that period. Those were grand spectacles,
almost like the ones in Hollywood. The Nibelung was filmed in Avala
and the whole series Vinetu done according to the texts by Karl May
was filmed in Jadran film. The second priority in the studios were films
about the stories and mythology surrounding the partisan warfare.
The new Yugoslav film was given attention as the third priority. About
half the titles were made as populist and entertainment films. The
other half were author's films” (Zilnik, 2013).
America had a great influence on the Yugoslav film. Vucetic noted
that the popularity and domination of the American film and produc-
tion were present in the period of the kingdom of Yugoslavia. At the
time a film magazine circulated called the Hollywood “a contempor-
ary magazine for film life, modern art, sport and world sensations”
(Vucetic, 2010).
America showed an anti-communist attitude with the film Nino-
tchka (1939). This attitude changed during the Second World War as
evidenced by the films the North Star (1943), Mission to Moscow (1943)
and Song of Russia (1943). After the war anti-communist films were
made again in America and there were two currents: films that directly
provoked fear from ideological enemy the so-called the cold war films,
and on the other hand there were Hollywood films that were more
sophisticated and spread propaganda indirectly. The director of the
Motion Picture Association realized in 1947. that the American films
were spreading economic propaganda. “The whole system worked on
the American film propaganda, and it was most often controlled by the
State Department because it had a clear goal – the entire way of think-
ing of the audience had to be changed and the main idea that should be
acquired was of the American dream and all the advantages of life in
America. (Vucetic, 2010:43).
The film repertoire in the 1960s was 85% made up of foreign films.
In 1960 45 films were imported from America, 49 were from West-
ern Europe and 41 were from Eastern Europe (Vucetic, 2010:47). In
the period from 1961 to 1965 American, Italian, French and English
cinematography was present in the cinemas in Yugoslavia. The ratings
of American films constantly grew. In 1968 among the five best rated
films four were American (Colic Milutin, the audience returns to the
film, Politika, 22. January 1968 p8).
How come did the American film have that much presence in
Yugoslavia? First of all it suited the authorities. An image was creat-
ed of a socialist country submitting to democratic ideology and cap-
italistic criteria. It does so by meeting the desires of the audience and
expanding the market. American films made great profit for domes-
tic distributors. For example the films about Tarzan, or Mogambo
or Bathing Beauty made between 20 and 40 million dinars of profits
(2010: 51). Western was a favourite genre. This model was used by the
authorities to present Partisan ideology to the public. Western films
came to Belgrade between the two wars. The popularity continued
after 1945 with the film The Fugitive. The favourite films in the 1950s
were High Noon, Rio Grande, Shane etc. The importance of Westerns
in Yugoslavia can be seen in the translation of the book by Jean Louis
Rieupeyrout and Andre Bazin Western or the American film par ex-
cellence. (Vucetic, 2010) Numerous co-productions were made with
the actors from Yugoslavia. The Yugoslav stars gained popularity and
the society was even more Americanized.
The experience of the American dream through the films from
the American production was so intense that great directors such as
Andrej Tarkovski, Jirzi Mencl and others were not interesting to the
broader audience. The audience identified themselves with the main
actors and their lives and worshipped the Hollywood stars. The Holly-
wood stars affected the youth, their life style, their behaviour: James
Dean, Marlon Brando, Audrey Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor, Marilyn
Monroe and others. These stars were not only in films but the audience
in Yugoslavia could also see them in magazines, candy wraps, bubbl-
egum wraps, on liquor bottles. Many actors loved coming to Yugoslav-
ia and many of them were Tito,s guests in the Brioni.
In 1964 the Fulbright Agreement was signed and many actors and
directors marched through Yugoslavia. Anthony Quinn made the film
Marco Polo, a French-Italian-Yugoslav co-production. Alfred Hitch-
cock, Fred Cineman, Kirk Douglas and other stars stayed or filmed in
Yugoslavia. Tito was impressed with Hollywood and in 1970 there was
a ceremonial reception for him in America where he met numerous
Hollywood stars.

Final remarks
Propaganda had a very important role in establishing the image of
Yugoslavia in very sensitive time of sixties and seventies of last cen-
tury. A newly formed State after the Second World War was under the
influence of many different fractions, inside and outside. Beside the
oppressive methods that the regime was using against the enemies of
the State, there was another very successful weapon: Propaganda and
the puppets of the leading class, the Communist party, founded the
way to show positive side of the system comparing to the old one. The
foundation of new propaganda was found in new media-television.
Throw that media it was much easier to reach a very broad population
at the same time. Art and American movies, as we have shown, did a
very important influence on public in general