Elem Klimov is a Soviet screenwriter and film director. The First Secretary of the Board of the Union of Cinematographers was People's Artist of the Russian Federation and Honored Artist of the RSFSR. He was awarded the Diploma of the USSR Investigative Committee, the Gold Medal and the Prize for directing for the film "Sport, Sport, Sport". Awarded the FIPRESCI Prize at the Venice IFF, the Golden Prize of the Moscow IFF. Honorary Member of the British Film Institute was the winner of the All-Union Film Festival in the nomination "Main Special Prize of the Film Festival".
Elem Germanovich Klimov went down in history as a master of serious films raising moral questions. However, the debut was the comedy film "Welcome, or No Unauthorized Entry".
The path to cinema
The biography of the future filmmaker began in 1933. Elem Klimov was born in Stalingrad on July 9. My father was engaged in investigating particularly important cases in the Party Control Committee under the Central Committee. Mom worked as a physical education teacher in a city school. The family had two children.
The younger brother Herman later became an international master of sports in track and field athletics, a medalist of the USSR championship and international competitions in decathlon and long jump, and was a member of the national team.
After school, the graduate continued his education at the capital aviation institute. Elem Germanovich finished his studies in 1957. He started work at the plant as a design engineer, but dreamed of creativity. From his youth, he collaborated with television and the Philharmonic. In 1959, Elem starred in the role of Fyodor in the film Guys from Our Yard.
Elem became a student at VGIK. He chose the directing department. Klimov's teacher was Efim Dzigan, director of the film "We are from Kronstadt." After graduating from the institute in 1964, the aspiring director was entrusted with the shooting of the famous comedy film about the pioneer camp as his graduation work. The unpretentious story told about Kostya Inochkin, expelled from the territory.
An unexpectedly hilarious film turned out to be problematic. The selection committee at the very beginning did not want to agree with the decisions of the young director. Nikita Khrushchev himself approved the painting. The director no longer hoped for the success of his project. As a result, the graduate became a staff director of Mosfilm, receiving a diploma with honors.
Works of the master
New work was also the comedy story "The Adventures of a Dentist." However, the film spent two whole years on the shelf. The tape gained fame only after 20 years of limited circulation and distribution.
The 1970 film "Sport, Sport, Sport" was shot in an innovative manner. It turned out to be a combination of documentary newsreels and feature films. The project was implemented jointly with Klimov's younger brother German, who became the author of the script.
The next was the completion of Romm's documentary project "The World Today" with Lavrov and Khutsiev. In 1974 the public saw the documentary-newsreel "And yet I believe …". Then the director stopped working for several years. He returned to work again after the death of his wife. A short documentary film "Larissa" was shot about her.
A year later, Klimov shot the piercing drama Agony. It tells the story of the life and death of Grigory Rasputin. To achieve the effect of authenticity, the director inserted frames of a black-and-white chronicle into the film.
In the year the film was released, work was completed on a new dramatic film Farewell based on Rasputin's story about the last days of a Siberian village. The film was started by the director's wife, and Klimov dedicated the footage to her memory.
Confession
The top of skill is called the 1985 film on the military theme "Come and See" based on the script by Ales Adamovich. In the opinion of all who saw this project, after it it is impossible to shoot anything about the fears of wartime.
In just two screen days, Alexei Kravchenko, who played the main role, turned from a boy into a gray-haired wrinkled old man. The picture has won recognition at world-class festivals, including Cannes, Venice and Moscow.
In 1986 Elem Germanovich was elected to the post of the first secretary of the Russian Union of Cinematographers. Through his efforts, a course was taken to abandon the exclusively entertainment theme of films and the launch of problem films.
In the late 1980s, the master left the leading position. He intended to return to directing. His dream was a joint film project "The Master and Margarita" with his brother. The Klimovs wrote the script for the picture, but the plan was never realized. Also, the shooting of "Demons" based on the work of Dostoevsky remained unstarted.
The last acting work was reading the text behind the scenes in the program about Anatoly Romashin from the series of documentaries "To be remembered."
A family
The master's wife was the director and actress, a recognized master of her craft Larisa Shepitko. The attention of the spectacular girl was not immediately captured by Klimov. The romantic relationship was preceded by help during Larisa's illness. Elem helped the girl to edit the materials she had filmed for her thesis. As a result, gratitude has grown into serious feelings.
The lovers officially became husband and wife in 1965 after a two-year romance. In 1973, a child appeared in the family, son Anton. He chose the career of a PR director. Creatively independent, talented and inspirational parents were considered the perfect match. Shepitko shot author's serious films, turning into a director with a big name.
She died during a trip to the filming location of her project "Farewell to Matera". A documentary film "More than love" was filmed about the relationship of the director's couple. The picture was shown on the Kultura TV channel.
Elem Germanovich, who remained with his son, did not begin to rebuild his personal life anew. He firmly believed that no one could replace Larisa for him. Any relationship could turn into a compromise. For almost two decades, Klimov did not shoot a single picture. He wrote poems, led a reclusive lifestyle. The master died in 2003, on October 26.
