Natalya Borisovna Polyakh is a Russian costume designer who has created wonderful and inspiring looks.
The work of a costume designer can be called fundamental for any film. Its task is to prepare a special atmosphere. The actor, putting on the created costume, should feel "at home" - only in this way he will be able to convey the entire idea of the director and screenwriter.
Biography
Natalia Polyakh was born on February 24, 1945 in the city of Chernivtsi (Ukrainian SSR).
She chose her future profession as a costume designer while studying at a theater and art college. Subsequently, in her creative activity, she often worked on the creation of historical costumes for films, performances, television series.
She has joint work with the film studio. Gorky and famous directors: L. Kulidzhanov, S. Gerasimov, G. Yungvald-Khilkevich and others.
As an assistant to the costume designer, Poleh worked on the paintings "Karl Marx. Young Years" (USSR-GDR), as well as "Peter the Great" (USA).
By the way, "Peter the Great" became the first foreign TV series filmed on the territory of the USSR. More than 5,000 costumes were made for him, and the total budget for the series was $ 27 million.
Creation
Any movie affects the viewer not only by the storyline and the selection of actors. With the help of correctly selected and recreated costumes, the meaning of the whole picture is better conveyed to the viewer, the character of each character is revealed.
Costume designers are usually part of the creative team for a film or play, so their work begins with reading the entire script. In the process of creation, you have to communicate with many people: the director, make-up artists, actors and other participants in the process.
The works of Natalia Polyakh have always been remarkable for their fantastic accuracy. Her costumes were thought out to the smallest detail, there were never any random details or color schemes. Everything was subordinated to the general concept, which was set by the director and screenwriter. One has only to watch the Russian films "Richard the Lionheart", "Return of the Musketeers", "Young Russia", "Queen Margot".
In the work of Natalia Polyakh there are also works based on fairy tales. For example, she became the author of costumes for the movie "Cricket Behind the Hearth" and "Thumbelina". The costumes of the main characters convey special warmth and tenderness. And Natalya Borisovna herself called the characters from "Thumbelina" nothing more than "toads" or "bugs", which conveys her reverent attitude to the process.
Natalya Borisovna worked at a time when the Internet was not yet available. Therefore, she had to sit for days in the Theater Library, collecting bit by bit information about each character. Indeed, in addition to historical accuracy, it is also necessary to emphasize the character of each character. For example, the masculinity of these characters is emphasized by the color and texture of the costumes.
And here the wine-colored velvet emphasizes the aggression to which the Duke of Anjou was prone.
Female images are no less impressive.
Another nuance of the work of costume designers at that time was the lack of a wide range of fabrics, accessories, and finishing materials. Natalya Polyakh had to invent and invent a lot, repaint and adapt things to suit the needs of the costume.
Among the series of historical films that N. Polyakh worked on, the cult Soviet film "Little Vera" (1988) stands out. These costumes were also brought to life by Natalya Borisovna.
The last work of Natalia Polyakh was the film "The Return of the Musketeers". But she did not live to see its premiere. Natalya Polyakh died at 63 on November 24, 2008.
Awards
N. Polyakh won two Nika awards. In 1993, the film "Richard the Lionheart" was honored for his work as a costume designer. In 2001, the film "Russian revolt" was celebrated.
Natalia Borisovna's work on historical images in the TV series "Peter the Great" (1985) was awarded an Emmy award.
Historical films are sometimes called "costume films", reflecting the great merit of costume designers. Natalia Polyakh's contribution in this area is difficult to fully assess - most viewers do not even think about how much work a costume designer puts into working on a film. Now some of the costumes made according to the sketches of Natalya Borisovna can be seen in museums. For example, in the Museum of Cinema.
Natalya Polyakh very often had to work on several films at the same time (for example, in the 1990s, Natalya Borisovna created costumes for two films at once - "Queen Margot" and "Countess de Monsoro"). Filming took place in neighboring pavilions, so it was possible to reduce production costs at a time when Russian cinema was in crisis due to scarce funding. There was no time left for personal life in such conditions - sometimes I had to spend the night right at the workplace.
At the same time, the costumes themselves were treated rather casually. According to the curator of the Museum of Cinema, she personally took out several dozen costumes from the set of the film "Russian riot", where they were dumped in the wardrobe room. Since the picture was filmed by a non-state company, no one really cared about the props after filming.
