95th anniversary of the birth of Sergei Bondarchuk
Today the great Soviet actor, director and screenwriter Sergey Fedorovich Bondarchuk would have turned 95 years old. He lived for 74 years, and it was an extremely busy time. Bondarchuk went through the Great Patriotic War, entered his name into the golden fund of both domestic and world cinema and was awarded many awards.Sergey Fedorovich was born in a simple peasant family, in the small village of Belozerka, Kherson region. Young Seryozha became interested in theater when his family moved to Taganrog. And he started his career in Taganrog Drama Theater , but then the ambitious young man set out to conquer Moscow. For the first time, Bondarchuk failed the exams and was forced to enter the Rostov Theater School , but the future talented director did not manage to finish it - the war began. From 1941 to 1943 he played in the Grozny Theater of the Red Army , and then went to the front, where he served until 1946.  After the end of World War II, Bondarchuk was still able to realize his old dream - he entered VGIK , at the acting department. The role of Andrei Valko in the film "Young Guard" instantly prescribed the young talent in Soviet cinema. In general, Sergei was obviously kissed by God. And it's not just his undoubted talent as an actor and director - he was a man of art in character. There was always that fire of dissatisfaction and thirst for creativity in him, which turns just a good master into a real genius.  Contemporaries and colleagues more than once remembered with admiration the dedication with which he always worked. It can be said, and not too exaggerated, that Bondarchuk the elder could not live outside the constant creation.Interestingly, members of the state apparatus also appreciated his work. No joke, the title of Honored Artist of the RSFSR he received at the age of thirty, and two years later, for the role of Taras Shevchenko in the film of the same name, according to Stalin's personal decree, he was awarded the title People's Artist of the USSR and Stalin Prize . But Sergey did not work for regalia at all. Despite his success, he was overwhelmed by real depression. The role of the positive hero seemed to him the clothes from which he hopelessly grew. For inspiration, the actor turned to the classics. In 1955, films were released in which Bondarchuk played complex, tragic characters. This is doctor Dymov from "Prygunya", the husband of a frivolous person, all her life she was looking for interesting people in her surroundings and did not notice a truly great person next to her. The movie was shot based on the story of the same name by the master of deep psychology Anton Chekhov, and the performance of Sergei Fedorovich amazed the audience with its subtlety. Also this year, the actor flashed in the textbook role of Othello , impressed everyone with his dramatic talent.  On account of Bondarchuk - many strong roles, performed by him, including in his own films. His directorial debut was the adaptation of Mikhail Sholokhov's story "The Fate of a Man", which was a resounding success. Sergei received two Lenin Prizes for this film as a director and performer of the main role, and the drama has earned recognition of the audience and critics in the Soviet Union and abroad. Such venerable directors of the time as Federico Fellini and Roberto Rossellini spoke with respect about the picture and its creator.  But, of course, the work of life Bondarchuk became the world famous film adaptation of Leo Tolstoy's immortal novel "War and Peace". What a high opinion the authorities had about the aspiring director, since they entrusted him with one of the most ambitious projects not only in Soviet, but also in world cinema, despite the fact that Sergei was the director at that time in his filmography there was only one movie.Bondarchuk spent about six years creating an epic war drama. He approached the matter with his characteristic creative passion. Not all of the crew members shared his incredible dedication and understanding of perfectionism. The second director could not resist and left the project, the first group of cameramen in full force, even some of the actors. Sometimes, and vice versa - many performers of the main roles had to persistently convince the fastidious filmmaker to allow them to participate in the work. This happened, for example, with Vyacheslav Tikhonov. And Pierre Bezukhov , desperate to find someone matching his vision, Sergei played himself. However, the exorbitant work left behind the scenes is worthy of a separate article (or rather a thick book). The elaboration of all the details, many technical innovations, the number of people employed in production - all this is still amazing. The painting looks impressive to this day, and in the year of its appearance it produced the effect of an exploding bomb. For " War and Peace " Sergei Bondarchuk received an " Oscar ", beating his more than worthy rivals in the category "Best Foreign Language Film". In addition, directors around the world still study this film as an example of great art.  Bondarchuk his brainchild was not easy, he worked for wear and even almost died of cardiac arrest in 1965, in the midst of filming. And yet, without creativity, he could not imagine his life. After the completion of " War and Peace ", Sergei , together with Italian Vittorio Bonicelli, wrote the script for the war drama "Waterloo", which also later received its way to the big screens. Then there were the cult "They fought for their homeland", "Steppe" and "Boris Godunov. During perestroika, the Union of Cinematographers Bondarchuk disliked and practically removed the director from business. The only thing that supported him at that time was his family and the dream of filming "Quiet Don" based on Sholokhov . The work on the epic breathed new life into Sergei Bondarchuk ... But something constantly interfered - either American partners getting into the creative process, or lack of funding. This completely undermined his nervous system.  On October 20, 1994, an outstanding, powerful actor and director died of myocardial infarction. He never saw his last job. The Topic of Article: 95th anniversary of the birth of Sergei Bondarchuk. |
