The name of Alexander Volodin is familiar not only to Russian theatergoers, but also to foreign ones. And movie lovers have long fallen in love with the masterpieces shot according to his scripts - this is "Autumn Marathon", "Five Evenings" and others. He was a recognized authority in creative circles in the 50-60s of the last century.
Biography
Volodin is not the playwright's real surname. At birth, his surname was Livshits, he was born in 1919 in Minsk. He does not remember his mother, because she died when he was just a baby. The father married another, but the stepmother refused to raise someone else's child. Little Sasha had to move from relatives to relatives until he was accepted by his own father. But already at the age of 16, he left there, because they never became close people to him.
From childhood, Sasha was fond of theater, but in order to earn a living and have housing, he applied to the Moscow Aviation Institute - there was a free hostel. Even then, he read Ostrovsky and dreamed of a theater. Perhaps that is why Volodin was never able to finish his studies at the Moscow Aviation Institute. He received a teacher's education and began working as a teacher in the Moscow region. Both at the Moscow Aviation Institute, and later at school, Alexander felt that he was not busy with the fact that he had a different path. And at the first opportunity he entered GITIS.
He had many creative ideas, he was overwhelmed with high feelings and thoughts, he had already experienced a lot in his life. And he really wanted to share this with people. Alexander believed that the theater is just the place where you can do this - to share intimate and thereby make relations between people warmer and cleaner. This later became his professional credo.
In 1939, Volodin became a student at GITIS, but he was not destined to study there: two months later he was drafted into the army, and later - to the front. During the war, he began to write poetry.
He came from the front with a serious wound and with a medal "For Courage", which was awarded for the most daring actions. And also he had matured the decision to enter the VGIK, the scriptwriting faculty.
After graduation, Alexander began working in the studio of popular science films in Leningrad.
Dramaturgy
It was around this time that he began writing short stories, and in 1953 he published Fifteen Years of Life, which reflected his thoughts on the wasted years stolen by the war. A year later, another book of stories was published, which was noticed by critics and gained popularity among readers.
Literally a few years later, Alexander wrote the play "Factory Girl", which was staged with pleasure by many theaters in the USSR. Probably, then he realized that his most important business is drama. And soon the plays "Five Evenings" and "The Idealist" were ready, after which the tape "Two Voices" was later filmed.
The audience was delighted with the performances and films, which were based on the works of Volodin, but the censorship subjected his work to repeated attacks. The reason was the allegedly incorrect coverage of the life of ordinary people in the USSR.
Nevertheless, more than 20 films were shot based on his scripts, which became hits. The best of them were the paintings "Tears were Falling" (1982), "Five Evenings" (1978), "Big Sister" (1966), "Autumn Marathon" (1979), "Do not part with your loved ones" (1979).
Personal life
Even before the war, Volodin managed to marry the girl Frida, who waited for him and bore him two sons. The family lived very poorly - they huddled in the basement of a communal apartment. When the sons grew up, they left for the USA, but their parents did not want to go to them.
Later life improved, the writer got his own apartment. He died at the age of 82 without ceasing to write.
