Larisa Shepitko: biography and filmography

The famous Soviet film director Larisa Efimovna Shepitko was born on January 6, 1938 in the city of Artemovsk (Ukraine). She received secondary education in an ordinary school, which she graduated in 1954. A year later, Larissa entered the VGIK for directing faculty. As a student, she appeared in several films. Graduation work Shepitko became a full-length film "Heat" based on Aitmatov's work "The Camel's Eye." Filming took place in Kyrgyzstan at the Kirgizfilm studio. At the installation of the picture, Larissa met Elem Klimov, who was also a student of VGIK. Young people began to meet, and in 1963 they got married.

Shooting and Botkin's Disease

It was a beautiful couple. Both differed self-sufficiency, did not depend on each other in terms of work, but for a long time could not be apart. Elem was a few years older than his wife, but she had graduated from VGIK much earlier. During the filming of the painting "Heat" the whole group picked up jaundice. I had to part for a while, some of the actors left for Moscow, some, including Larissa and her husband, stayed. Weakened Shepitko supervised the filming process, sitting on hospital stretchers. Elem was busy with the current installation. Filming in a slightly truncated version, but still continued.

Religion

Larissa was a believer, although she was considered a member of the Komsomol. She did not hide her religiousness, and this negatively affected her career, while atheism was in its prime. Shepitko was also convinced that there is an afterlife and the transmigration of souls. She was haunted by the feeling that she had once lived in the environment that now surrounded her. Once, in a completely unfamiliar room, where she was with Elem, Larissa felt that she had once been here. She pointed to the usual table and said: "They played cards here, it's a card table." When they removed the tablecloth, it turned out to be a green cardboard cloth.

Carier start

The diploma work of the young director Larisa Shepitko was awarded with the "For a successful debut" award at the 1964 International Film Festival in Karlovy Vary. The painting also won a prize at the First All-Union Film Festival in Leningrad. Critics noted that a significant new figure appeared in the film industry, which has a serious potential.

Larisa Shepitko, whose biography then opened the next page, became famous after the release of her second film, entitled "Wings", filmed in 1966. In the picture was presented the story of the pilot Nadezhda Petrukhina and her post-war fate.

Participation of the local population in the filming

The next work Shepitko - the film "Homeland of electricity" based on the stories of Andrei Platonov - was filmed in the Astrakhan region, in the village of Seroglazovo. Numerous secondary roles were called for by the population of the surrounding villages. Larisa Shepitko became the first director who invited local people who had no idea about cinema. The shooting was successful, but the film was put on a shelf for ideological reasons.

The atmosphere of creativity

Leaving Shepitko immediately took off her next picture "At the thirteenth hour of the night." It was a musical fairy tale story on a good color film with the participation of such actors as George Vitsin, Vladimir Basov, Spartak Mishulin, Zinoviy Gerdt and Anatoly Papanov. All the actors worked willingly, feeling the benevolent attitude of the director. The film-tale turned out colorful, fun and informative.

Another color film called "You and I" Larissa Shepitko withdrew in 1971. It was a movie for the rage of the day, frankly satirical and at the same time set on a good artistic level. When creating the film, the director tried her hand as a screenwriter. Larisa Efimovna Shepitko created the plot of the future picture together with Gennady Shpalikov, a professional cinematographer.

The film told about the generation of thirty. According to the story, two medical scientists "buried" their talent for the sake of material achievements and personal popularity of a very dubious property. The main roles were played by Yuri Vizbor, Alla Demidova and Leonid Dyachkov. For this work, Larisa Efimovna Shepitko was awarded the medal "Victory in the competition of young filmmakers." After this award, the direction of her creative activity has changed somewhat in the direction of greater realism.

Popularity and recognition

Larisa Shepitko, whose films differed sincerely, became more and more popular. She received bags of letters from fans and was very worried that she could not answer her admirers. Fame gave her strength, and Larisa Shepitko, whose photographs were posted in many newspapers and magazines, worked with renewed vigor. In 1974, she received recognition at the state level, becoming a deserved figure in the arts of the RSFSR.

Many believe that the work of the director is not a woman's business. And in fact, in this profession are mostly men. However, Larisa Shepitko is an exception, she is the first female director who received an official offer to work in Hollywood. The invitation was not accepted.

Contacts

Larisa closely communicated and was friends with famous representatives of Western cinema, among which were Francis Coppola, Bernardo Bertolucci and others. She even became friends with the eccentric Lisa Minelli. Shepitko shocked the mores of Hollywood, widespread alcoholism, immorality, the lack of elementary decency.

Power Engineering

God kept Hollywood from Larissa Shepitko, otherwise she would instantly subordinate to her will there all, from small to large. Actress-director had a truly inhuman power. Actor Alexei Petrenko, who played Rasputin in the film "Agony", lost all the iron will of his character, just on the set appeared Shepitko, which replaced for several days her husband Elem Klimov. But Rasputin had no equal in strength of spirit, his bullets were not taken, death bypassed. Of course, the actor Petrenko is not Rasputin, but he already got used to the image. And suddenly, from the legendary seer, Alexei turns into a limp creature, at least at least give up the role.

Otherworldly forces

In the work of Shepitko Larisa, there were always barely perceptible mystical moods. The same thing happened with Elem Klimov, her husband and a director's partner, who openly invited psychics, hypnotists, and fortune tellers to the set. One day during the filming appeared Wolf Messing himself. Larissa did not practice such invitations, but some spirit of the other world was present in her work. As one producer noted: "The site smells of gray."

Larissa anticipated her close death and willingly shared her feelings with her close ones. Removing "Farewell to Matyora" under the script of Valentin Rasputin, she publicly declared that this was her last work. So it happened, after the death of Larissa, Elem Klimov dug out a story in memory of his wife and called him "Farewell".

The death of Larissa Shepitko

Early in the morning on July 2, 1979, the Volga 22M film camera was moving along a desert highway, one hundred and fifty kilometers west of Tver. In the car were Larisa Shepitko, cameraman Chukhnov Vladimir, artist Fomenko Yuri and assistants. Ahead of me, the car was looming, it was a massive truck, which was rapidly approaching.

When the distance between the cars was reduced to one hundred meters, the Volga suddenly wagged and flew to the oncoming lane. There was a strong blow, no one had a chance to survive. They buried Larisa Shepitko at the Kuntsevo cemetery in Moscow. Thirty-six years have passed already, and often the fans with bouquets of real flowers gather at the grave.

Larisa Shepitko, filmography

Most of the director's works of Larisa Shepitko contain scenes with her participation, as she was a professional actress and willingly played in her films.

If she was invited to some role in a foreign film, she did not refuse, but on condition that her character would be of secondary importance.

Such films were:

• "Carnival Night", episodic role.
• "Poem about the sea", episode.
• "Ordinary story", the character of Nina.
• "Tavria", the role of Ganna.
• "Sport, sport, sport," the character of the queen, the role of the episodic.
• "Agony," a short episode.

On the account of Larisa Shepitko there are five scenarios:

• "Farewell" for the work of Valentin Rasputin, the script was written in 1978.
• "Ascent" based on the novel by Vasil Bykov, the script was created in 1976.
• "You and I", own work, 1971.
• "Motherland of electricity," the script was written in 1967 on the story of Andrei Platonov.
• "Heat", the script Shepitko wrote in 1963 specifically for his thesis work, taking as a basis the eponymous story of Chingiz Aitmatov.

Director's work

• "Blind cook", short film, course work, filmed in 1956.
• "Living Water", short film, course work, 1957.
• "Heat", full-length film, thesis, 1963-th.
• "Wings" - the first film project directed by Shepitko, filmed in 1966.
• "The birthplace of electricity," movie almanac, 1967.
• "At the thirteenth hour of the night," a fairy tale film, 1969.
• "You and I", 1971.
• "Ascension", 1976th.
• "Forgiveness with Matyora," 1979 (the work is not finished).