In the last decade, the Arctic, being a region of intersection of geopolitical interests of the leading countries of the world, has attracted increasing attention from the international community. For the Russian Federation, the Arctic is not only a resource base, a unique ecosystem, but also a storehouse of distinctive culture of many peoples. In connection with the increasing role of the Arctic region, it is important to study the image of the Arctic in modern Russian society, the ways of its formation. In revealing the image of the modern Arctic, the author refers to fiction and cinema, as a huge contribution to the formation of the image of the place makes the book and the products of cinema. The article presents a comparative analysis of the image of the Arctic, created during the Soviet Union and modern Russia, two concepts of the Arctic, which have consistently developed both in the USSR and in Russia.