Tomorrow, Moscow will open the city's tenth Film Festival “Moscow Premiere.” The program was defined long ago. “We protect movies which have no general release. Even though it is strange, art-house is presented to a wide audience more often than movies which are shot in Soviet and Russian traditions – traditions of turning to mentality, social problems, serious literature and working with serious and interesting actors,” Vyacheslav Shmyrov, the art director and producer of thee festival explains. “The niche of this cinema is much more problematic than art-house. I don’t even mention comedies which are shot for teenagers. The narrow audience of our cinema is its biggest problem, because the pop-corn culture of modern movies is not appreciated by everybody, and when cinema theaters are directed at teenagers with their unformed tastes, views, a movie screening Friedrich Gorenstein will take a very small place… Our formula is “The festival of festivals.” We show movies which were selected by professional juries.”
For the first time in 10 years the festival will present a big program of acute documentaries. “We reject portrait-documentaries, as there are too many of them today. We decided to work with those who came on the streets, who shoot acute political reports and investigations. The program is called “Occupy.doc.” It will be shown at nights in the summer cinema in Museon, the arts park, during three nights. Many authors – Marina Razbezhkina, Andrey Gryazev – are ready to meet the audience, discuss movies and touched problems,” Shmyrov says. Moreover, this year the organization group of the festival has extended the sphere of children cinema, as this category of the audience is not welcomed by modern cinema as well. Along with the cinema club Eldar which will be the main platform, five cinema theatres for children and young people will show the movies.
Shmyrov reminded that “due to Eldar Ryazanov this year we will organize Russian Cinema Days in Georgia from November 1. And we are glad that we are supported by directors, actors who want to go to Georgia. We receive absolute understanding.”
Eldar Ryazanov is happy that “people are still devoted to this kind of art,” but he fears cinema’s future: “I don’t understand where it will go, turn, and how we will live. It might become absolutely alien. Means of expression and visions are changing; they are different. The only thing we have to do is to consolidate, watch movies and support each other. There are talented people among young directors. I watched Georgy Paradzhanov. I haven’t seen him for several years. I haven’t recognized him. He used to be a boy, young, excited nephew of the great director, my friend. And now it is an experienced person. We appreciate and love the festival Moscow Premiere very much. It is important, because people come to watch. We [the cinema club Eldar] are at a periphery. It was difficult for us to attract the audience, but we managed to do it. Now we have full halls, notwithstanding a genre of a movie we show. The audience believes us, and we appreciated it. I should say it has happened thanks to Moscow Premiere: previously we presented movies only in two nominations – Our Children Cinema and Art-line – but now we participate in the main contest…”
Speaking about the movie The Hussar Ballad – it’s first night took place 50 years ago on September 7 – Ryazanov said: “The movie was shot in honor of the Borodino Battle. It is a very important date for me, because I made this picture with pleasure. I love the story, I know the Patriotic War of 1812. And when I shot the movie, I knew the history very well. My favorite actors played there – Igor Ilinsky who played Kutuzov, and I had to convince him to do it. He told me that he wasn’t old enough for Kutuzov and the role was too small. I got stupid arguments: “Is it small? We speak about the Field-Marshal who exiled Napoleon!” I tried to touch his ambition, told him it was the leading role in the movie. He agreed, but the administration of the studio was against him. And I decided to act as Denis Davydov – I began to shoot without coordination. Ilinsky was unapproved. He didn’t know it. Then a tragic story happened: the movie was forbidden, because it appeared I insulted memory of the great Russian commander by taking Ilinsky. I was told it by Yekaterina Furtseva herself. At the end we won, and on September 7, as it was planned, the first night took place. It was very ceremonial, in the best cinema of Russia. Ilinsky was at the presidium near Larisa Golubkina and Yuri Yakovlev. He had no idea that his existence insulted memory of the great Russian national hero, because I didn’t tell him about it.
These are our interesting, battle memories. We had a splendid team which worked eagerly. We all rode horses. We were at risk literally. The second group shot near Moscow, while we shot in a pavilion in Moscow. Two young men – Vladimir Dostal, a deputy assistant of director, who headed the group and the second photographer, Vladimir Zakhartsev – say: “We have chosen the place where to shot, but one can get there only by horse.” Horses were given to us – me and the photographer. And these two young outstanding bastards whom I do love rushed without a peep. I spurred for them as a bag with shit and shouted: “I’ll kill you! Dismiss! Destroy!” But everything ended well, we stayed alive, the place was nice, and guys were great. Everything passed. We had many interesting adventures there.
I love this picture so much as a person, not mentioning that the great versus play was the basis of it. And actors were great. There was an outstanding performance in the Soviet Army Theatre where Shurochka Azarova was played by Dovzhanskaya and Kutuzov was played by Khokhlov. I saw it when I was a boy, when the Soviet Army Theater was evacuated from Sverdlovsk where the play was staged. It inspired me and 20 years later I remembered it and realized: this is a movie I have to do. And then I found out an anniversary of the Patriotic War was coming, the 150 anniversary in 1962. Of course it is a unique situation that in 50 years the actors Larisa Golubkina and Yuri Yakovlev and the director who shot the movie are alive. And we all feel well and I wish we will be well further, because it is a big date for me.”
