Жестокая травля, унижения, измены, клиническая смерть и онкология великого Бондарчука

It's hard to imagine how many times Sergei Fedorovich climbed this ladder. Mosfilm was his life's work. Here was Sergei Fedorovich's office. For director Sergei Bondarchuk, it was not just his office at Mosfilm. Rather, it was a battle headquarters where great plans were born and realized. This is where his conquest of the world began. It was a medieval, mighty-sounding man. He had to lead 12,000 massacres, 1,000 horsemen. He had some kind of stature, some kind of inner strength. Bondarchuk remained a vulnerable and vulnerable man. He was so handsome. His hair was gray. His eyes were so huge and piercing. You could see it in his eyes. His soul was so fragile and vulnerable. World success, fame in his homeland and the reputation of the first director of the country did not give peace to many of his opponents. He got used to the fact that he lived in the world of enemies. The main mass of people he knew were his enemies. But one of his talents was the ability to create a reliable support. To love and to be loved. Sergei Fyodorovich was such a good father. On May 13, 1986, the 5th Congress of Cinematographers was held in the Grand Kremlin Palace. For the first time, Sergei Bondarchuk, a popular artist of the USSR, a laureate of the State Prize, and a fast-paced director, was not even chosen as a delegate of the Congress. Many of his colleagues passed by, taking a look. After all, one thing is to criticize from the tribune, and something else is to talk to Bondarchuk face to face. He was able to subjugate anyone he talked to. How he was independent on the one hand, and on the other hand, how he was able to prove his right or protect the right of others. But this time he was not given the opportunity to protect himself. He came to the Congress, although he was not invited. But he was not allowed on the tribune. He was not given a word. Sitting in the hall, Bondarchuk listened not only to the offensive remarks to his address. He watched with horror how he was fiercely mocked at everything that was dear to him. Everything he devoted his life to. The toad choked with envy. That he is doing everything right, and they are not. I was at this Congress. I was sitting with Natasha Belokhvostikova, and we were shaking hands, shouting, and stomping our feet. My father became a bandit. Those who judged him, or just were not delicate, criticizing the merits of the aging maitre, had no idea what cinema was in the life of Sergei Bondarchuk. He wore a white shirt and a tie to the set. One thing is the Mosfilm pavilions, and the other is 30 degrees of cold somewhere on the military training ground in Alabino. And you see him in a hat, in military boots. You know, the other civilian ones are not prepared. You know, like for polar pilots. He had some cotton suits. From there, a white shirt was peeking out, black, and a tie. He is a man of cinema. Sergei Bondarchuk had nothing else in his life. In 1948, Sergei Bondarchuk made his debut in the film of his teacher, director Sergei Gerasimov, The Young Guard. How do you think he is good in Paris? At the course, Bondarchuk was the oldest. He entered when he was 27 years old. Gerasimov and Makarov were so impressed by the Young Guard that they accepted him right away for the third year. And Sergei Bondarchuk said, Well, what can I teach you, you are a real artist. When he read Gogol's Troika, everyone stood up and applauded him. That is, he immediately showed his brilliant talent. The fact is that before joining VGIK, Bondarchuk already had a serious acting experience, and his attempt to conquer Moscow was not the first. Finishing school in 1937, Bondarchuk already loved the stage. He played in a school theater in Taganrog, and then in Eiska, where he moved with his parents. Immediately after graduation, together with his comrade Kruzhko, they went to the capital to enroll in a theater school. Sergei's father dreamed that his son would become an engineer, but he let him go to Moscow. So, two teenagers with a southern accent were in the capital for the first time. She crushed them, literally, crushed them morally. Some giant portraits of Stalin, some fuss. They didn't even make it to that exam. And when they saw the crowds of these examinees, these well-dressed children, where were we? Well, where? But it was impossible to return to Eiska after my father said, I want to be an artist. And he, saying goodbye to his friend, went to the bus stop in Rostov, because he knew that there was a theater in Rostov. In those years, Yuri Zavadsky was the head of the Rostov Theater, the future legendary director of the Moscow City Council Theater. And in the plays, Rostislav Plyat, Vera Moretskaya, and Nikolai Mordvinov were busy. Zavadsky was involved with the students of the local theater school, where Sergei Bondarchuk went. My father played, probably, 40 roles there, if not 50. But Sergei Bondarchuk not only played his first roles in Rostov. In the theater school, he met his first great love. And this is Vitya Khorov, she is the conductor. And she just played. She played in the wedding of Malina. These photos are published for the first time. All these years, they were kept by Sergei Bondarchuk's wife, Alexei, who now lives in Rostov-on-Don. The 73-year-old Alexei Sergeevich decided to show them only on the condition that he himself would not take part in the film. His parents met in the theater school. Sergei Bondarchuk's first wife, Evgenia Belousova, studied at the conductor's dance department. She was a beautiful woman. She was a wonderful musician. She sang very well. Zhenya's father was a prominent person, deputy prosecutor of Rostov. Bondarchuk and his young wife lived in their father-in-law's apartment. During the war, the family moved to Grozny, where Sergei and Evgenia served in the front theater. When they returned to Rostov after the victory, they found out that the theater was bombed by the Germans. Evgenia began to work in self-employment, because she wanted to be an actor. He was a very good man. He said that when he got a job, he would take her. Alexei, the son of Sergei Bondarchuk and Evgenia Belousova, together with the photos of his parents, keeps their letters of that time. Sergei writes, My wife, do I really think that all my efforts, all my efforts will be in vain? Understand that I do all this for our common well-being and happiness. I beg you, if you can, come, calm your dreamer. She went there for a visit, and immediately returned, because he was already with Makarova. She almost lost her mind. Will you work together? Inna Makarova, the partner of the young guard, had to tell him what Evgenia had come to tell him. And she, in turn, having learned about her husband's betrayal, kept silent that she was pregnant and left. And a few months later, in January 1947, she gave birth to her son, Alexei. The boy grew up sick, and she was worried. They took him to the doctor. He had some kind of nervous disease. The piquant situation was that with Makarova, Bondarchuk had an official relationship. But with Belousova, he was also married. But during the war, the archive burned down, and the marriage certificate was lost. There was a question of alimony for the son. According to the Soviet laws of that time, only the legal father could officially pay alimony. And for this, it was necessary to restore the marriage, which was surprisingly good for Alexei. He looked like his father, like two drops. There was no doubt that it was Alyosha Bondarchuk. And she asked her father to do everything to fix this marriage, so that Alyosha had the surname Bondarchuk. But for this, it was necessary to divorce her, with my mother. And they divorced. So, Zhenya Belousova was registered again. Alyosha had the surname Bondarchuk. Zhenya did not divorce her father for a long time. And they divorced only in 1955, when I was already 5 years old. And they registered again. In 1951, Bondarchuk gained all-Union fame. The film Taras Shevchenko was screened, in which the actor played the main role. After watching the film, Iosif Stalin said about Bondarchuk, that he was a true folk artist. And, bypassing all the existing rules of those years, Bondarchuk was awarded the title, so to speak, out of turn. There was a premiere of this film in Kiev. He says, after we celebrated it very well with our colleagues, I lay down and felt bad. I had a headache and fell asleep. And phone calls began from different cities, but most often from Moscow. And most of all, everyone said, congratulations, you are a folk artist. And before that, he was an honored artist of Ukraine. I tell the truth from his words. I, of course, did not believe this, that he was an honored artist of the USSR. And when he had already given out 5 phone calls, he just hung up the phone, because he couldn't sleep. His head was splitting. And then I went to Kiosk and bought the newspaper Pravda. And there it was reported. Indeed, he was awarded the title of People's Artist of the USSR. The title was received at least in the 50s. And who received it? Grybov, Masalsky, Yanshin, they received it in the 50s. What did it give birth to? Envy. The fact that he was awarded the title of People's Artist of the USSR. One actress told me, she had tears in her eyes. Because of this, I was not happy, I was scared. What kind of negative reaction did she have? Envy. She was envious. She pursued him. But no titles or awards guaranteed the actor a happy fate in the cinema. After all, it is impossible to order the viewer to love the artist. And Bandarchuk was really loved. He was trusted. He was an outstanding actor, a master of deep Russian psychology. He played the role of Dymov in the Czech film Poprygunia. It was a very deep psychological role. They fought for their Motherland. He was a very versatile actor. He had the ability to immerse himself deeply in the relationships, in the most subtle psychological nuances of human life. Are you happy, doctor? There are actors who let their emotions through. Through their nerves. I think Sergei Fedorovich was one of those actors. It was his 9th day. The 9th day was all he did. What can you say about him? He was an actor. A great Russian actor. In 1955, the director Sergei Yudkevich approved Bandarchuk for the main role in the film Othello. The actor dreamed of this role since he worked in the Rostov Theatre. But he did not think that working on this film would change his life. In 1985, Sergei Bandarchuk and actress Irina Skobtseva celebrated their 30th anniversary. Over the years, they had two children. They were in several films together and taught at VGIK. On this day, the students gave them a bouquet of roses. Among those who congratulated Skobtseva and Bandarchuk was Olga Kabo, a freshman. This couple always amazed me with their beauty. They came to VGIK and everything changed. They talked to each other in a different way. The students of VGIK, you know what kind of educational institution it is, all of a sudden froze. When our masters came to VGIK, the fragrance of French perfumery even reached the buffet. We realized that Irina Konstantinovna was already in VGIK. Because they went to festivals a lot. Irina Konstantinovna introduced us to the pictures and to fashion. Naturally, she always smiled at us. Their joint work on the film united them forever. Irina literally mesmerized him. A beautiful actress, she turned out to be his only thought. He had this gift to be mesmerized by what he liked. Natasha's daughter was 7 years old. Her mother, Inna Makarova, raised her. Because her parents were always on set. Until we started shooting, we lived wonderfully. As soon as we started moving to different places, everything worked out naturally. Having learned about her husband's affair with another woman, Makarova herself put him at the door. This loud divorce was discussed not only in the corridors of Mosfilm, but also in the studio. How come? A popular artist of the USSR, a laureate of all sorts of awards, and suddenly he cheated on his wife? I was called to the Central Committee and asked to take him back. Why did they break up? Because his father wanted his mother to be with him. He knew his manly nature. He took her on an expedition. Even when I was born, he said, Inna, come immediately. How can I come? Natasha needs to be fed. Come immediately. I need you. Of course, he was a difficult man. Could an artist of this scale be easy? He understood that being with him was not an easy task. We began to live together. He warned me, We should never part. I can be silent for three days. Don't be offended. We didn't have a family motto. You must. And so on and so forth. He always did a lot by hand. I had a sacred place where I dreamed of living. It was my grandfather's shed. There were a lot of things there. Machines, chisels. He carved busts and statues out of wood. He painted, sculpted, carved. He thought a lot. From a child's point of view, it is very difficult to get to him. He was always busy in his head. He was very funny. I was absolutely amazed. I told him a joke on the set. It was so funny that everyone around who did not hear this joke began to laugh. He did it so contagiously, so naively, that everyone laughed. It was not enough for him to be an actor to be able to express himself completely. He was looking for material in which he could realize himself as a director. He suffered, did not find a place for himself. On December 31, 1956 and then on January 57, the story of Mikhail Sholokhov and Mikhail Tereshchenko were filmed. Some scenes were shot as a game. The film did not appear on the screen. It was kept in the State Film Fund for many years. Now viewers can see its fragments for the first time. At that time, I met my new son. I looked out the window and shouted to him, Hey, Vanya, get in the car, I'll take you to the elevator. Bandarchuk was inspired by the idea to screen the fate of a person himself. He wrote a script and spent more than a year working on it on the State Film Fund. Sholokhov helped him. When Bandarchuk shared with the author how he sees the future of the film, the writer said to the State Film Fund, The key scene was shot in Tambov. The crowds were the inhabitants of the city. It was not necessary to explain how wives said goodbye to their husbands, children to their fathers. Bandarchuk clearly imagined what emotion he was trying to achieve. He acted confidently, without fuss. After all, it was his first film. People say goodbye to each other and see off to the front. I burst into tears, there was still dust, steam locomotive soot. The whole day was full of it. It was not a minute, it was very hard. Then for three days I had no voice. I went to see the material. Sergei Fedorovich was sitting there. He was crying. The success of the film was stunning. In Europe they said, if you want to see who strangled fascism, watch the film about the soldier Sokolov. The whole of Europe. This is the film that shows why the Russians defeated Hitler. The success was the main proof that the Soviet Union could become one of the most recognized directors of the country. Therefore, when it was decided to launch the film War and Peace, the candidacy of Bandarchuk was proposed by the Minister of Culture of Furtsevo. Most of all, Ivan Pyriev was outraged by this decision. After all, for several years he had been bringing up the idea of ​​war and peace, he said, do you want him to break his neck? He has only one picture, the fate of man, and you give him war and peace. Yes, one, said the woman, the Minister of Culture. But which one? Furtsevo became the curator of this picture. It was the first production of such a scale in Soviet cinema. Twelve thousand mass production, tons of pyrotechnics. Everyone had to be dressed in suits, fed, organized. They said that the whole country worked for Bandarchuk. But another question, you have to take advantage of this. They can give it to you, they gave it to you, but you take it off, go and do it. For this you need to have such a global self-awareness, global ability to run all the screws, all the wheels in the direction in which they should work. When Sholokhov was told that his father would shoot, he confessed to war and peace, he said, Seryozha, what are you doing? To carry out such grandiose plans, they required appropriate technical capabilities. And there were none. A lot was invented during the filming. In order to raise a synchronous camera, it was necessary to have four people. It weighed more than 100 kilograms. The camera on the rollers flies, the fire is burning, or it flies through a burning house, there is all this. But the technical equipment and innovative filming were only a background for an outstanding acting game. And the scale of the battle scenes did not cover for Bandarchuk the main thing, the truth of life in the frame. Before shooting, he got ready, and he burst into tears. He helped me in this episode to turn to Slavochka Tikhonov, so that he would not suffer, and so that he would insert me into this. I could not stop for a long time, because it was some kind of shock in my life. What is this? How could he do this for each character? The work in such tension could not but affect the health of the director. And once his heart could not stand it. They shot the fire in Moscow, this is a crazy scene. And all this was in marriage, film marriage. Well, he felt bad with his heart, they stopped watching, opened the hall, and watched him while the ambulance was coming. They were looking for him. And he also managed to say, if I die, ask Sergei Apollinarich to finish the picture. He had a clinical death. That's what kind of soul he had inside, and how much strength he put in his soul and physically. Bandarchuk spent a month and a half in the hospital. Irina Skoptseva was his wife. During the work on the picture, Bandarchuk and Skoptseva had a daughter Alyona at the very beginning of the work. And when they shot the last series in 1967, her son Fyodor. I remember that she was pregnant when the episode of her breakup with Pierre was shot. And I had problems there. That's how it is with pregnant women. Secondly, she had a pretty big belly. They tried to hide it somehow. Fyodor and Alyona called themselves Children of War and Peace. The parents' stories about this work went through all their childhood. They communicated with each other. It was definitely a game. After the heart attack, Bandarchuk started working. The management was in a hurry. They decided to finish the first two parts of the film at the International Moscow Film Festival. The success of the film was unprecedented. Ask anyone in Western cinema who Bandarchuk is. For the whole world, Lyudmila Savelyeva became the main theme of this screening. She is a ballerina from Leningrad, which Bandarchuk chose from a dozen other experienced and professional actresses. He chose and was not mistaken. At first glance, when Sergey Fyodorovich saw me, I realized that I had come in vain. But when they put a dress on me, I realized that I had to play. Then I stopped being afraid of the stage. I didn't see the camera. And Bandarchuk saw something in me. He said, you know, you have something from Natasha Rostova. Irina Konstantinovna and Sergey Fyodorovich invited us to their home in Tverskaya. Those who received a five in acting skills were allowed to hold an Oscar in their hands and make a wish. It was such an event for us. At the 5th meeting of the Kremlin cinematographers, no one spoke about Bandarchuk's merits. But they remembered Furtseva's protection, the glorification of the Soviet power. Especially the film Red Bells. The most powerful attack on the Soviet Union. In fact, it was poisoned. It was really poisoned. The campaign against the directors of the old school was also supported by the press. In one of the articles, the author mockingly called Bandarchuk a dead lion. Bandarchuk did not answer his questions. He was the strictest judge himself. A month before the 5th meeting, his film Boris Godunov was released. He agreed to make Red Bells for this film. The state cinema needed this film. At the same time, the name of Bandarchuk guaranteed international interest. He resisted, but he was literally blackmailed, Yes, Red Bells, yes. It is what it is. But here everything was mixed up. They bombed the whole creative path of Sergei Fedorovich through Red Bells. Ah, he's like that. He goes on the leash. He gives them one place. And this has never happened. Red Bells did not just fail. The audience ignored the film. And Bandarchuk received a state award. He was also reminded of this at the meeting. The real blow for him was that the audience did not accept his next film, for which he went on a deal with the state cinema. The audience also met Boris Godunov coldly. Bandarchuk turned 66. Despite the harassment and failure, he was full of creative energy and dreamed of a new job. I asked my father, can you make a modern film today? He said, no, they won't give it to me. I said, and you? He said, and me in particular. However, he got used to the fact that in order to shoot what you want, you have to fight. On the eve of the 30th anniversary of the victory, the Minister of Defense of the USSR, Georgy Grechko, decided to screen his memoirs called The Battle for the Caucasus and entrust it to Bandarchuk. But the director was not inspired by the idea of the Minister of Defense. He wanted to make a film about one of the most tragic periods of the war, when the Russians were retreating, bearing huge losses. Sholokhov helped him again. With his own authority, he forced his novel to be screened in the state cinema. They fought for their Motherland. Sholokhov was already obliged to Bandarchuk that he helped him to play one of the main roles, Vasily Shukshin. The ground was shaking. The ground was breathing. The shooting was very difficult. For the 7-year-old son of Sergei Bandarchuk, the future director Fyodor Bandarchuk, the work of his father on this film became the first meeting with a professional cinematographer. There was a constant amount of preparatory work. It was everywhere. We had to knock on the door of the office with Alyona, my sister, to enter. Everything was gray with smoke, because my father was sitting there. Everyone was smoking, friends, colleagues, comrades, co-authors. You had to go there only with permission. It was scary. I wonder if you get there, you get somewhere, you spend your time there, Fyodor Bandarchuk edited from the material that his father had shot the TV version of the film Tichidon. He edited it from 160,000 meters of film with an incredible amount of work bought from a bank creditor who arrested the material because of the bankruptcy of the Italian film producers. There was an unanimous agreement between Gerasimov and Bandarchuk that while Gerasimov was alive, Sergei Fyodorovich would not shoot Tichidon. So he started. He dreamed and wanted to make Tichidon. And then a whole company, I remember some critics, wrote that Bandarchuk would spend state money. Well, in general, in fact, this case was broken. I think it was a strong blow for him. Then he made it with the Italians. The Italians demanded some inhuman efforts from him and put him in some frames. Nevertheless, he tried to do what he did, namely to bring out the social aspect, the social aspect of why the brother goes to the brother, where the roots of this civil war come from. And of course, so to speak, someone pays, someone orders music. But Bandarchuk was not the hero he wanted. At the end of the shooting of Tichidon, in Yoshinsky, there was already some kind of tension in the work. And Sergei Fyodorovich was already, so to speak, not on the verge, but he felt that he was about to break down somewhere. They warned then that these people who took up this work, that they were scammers and that this could not be done. And it turned out that all the material was shown in Italy, not on Mosfilm. And all the negative was in Italy. In fact, they took out loans for this project. Then they bankrupted themselves. And there was this scandal. Of course, the banks left the negative. He was very worried. Well, then he was diagnosed with a disease. Oncology. My father repented at the end of his life. My life is my films. That I could not bury my mother, my father. I did not see how my children grew up. Everything was given to this illusion of cinematography. Those who will live after us, they may find means how to be happy.