The wonderful actor Mikhail Kononov died. The New Times had an interview with Mikhail Ivanovich, who in recent years categorically refused to communicate with the press. The text of the conversation of Sergei Kapkov with Mikhail Kononov is fully published for the first time.
Each person, and the artist in particular, should have a reliable rear, a house, close people who can save and protect from external hardships. Do you have such a rear? The village is time. And secondly, people of art in our country travel so much, giving a lot of strength and scene and the screen that often their personal life does not develop. All this is difficult, ambiguous. We are under the gaze of millions of eyes, and the people who go with us in life - a wife, friend - fall under this influence and sometimes do not fit into your atmosphere. And you have to part. Categories such as love, friendship are saints for me. Finding them can be very difficult. I, thank God, found.
Why did you decide to connect your life with an acting profession? I began to speak on stage at school. Together with Andrei Smirnov, who later became a famous film director, we prepared entire pop programs. And, apparently, success in school of amateur performances and brought me to the Schepkin Theater School. By the way, our course was quite famous, headed by Nikolai Alexandrovich Annenkov, truly People's Artist of the Soviet Union.
Mikhail Kononov did not worry at all the mass success of the films "Big Change" and "Guest from the Future"
Have you dreamed of Hamlet, about Chatsky? All these dreams are from the evil one. The fact is that each theater has its own programs, its own direction. If this is a small theater in which I served, then in the repertoire, of course, Ostrovsky, Tolstoy, Chekhov. You can measure all your life. It is good that in the cinema I got into a slightly different direction - my personal, if I may say. Although I starred with different directors.
Have you loved the scene, felt the "smell of the curtains"? I felt the smell of dust, sweat and nerves of my colleagues. (Laughs.) So the smell of Culis is also all illusions. This is a very cruel work.
Success brought you the film "Chief of Chukotka." What memories are related to this picture? I do not think that this film brought me something. If we talk about recognition in professional circles, then more success brought me a small role of Thomas in the film “Andrei Rublev”. And the mass success, which have a “big change” or “guest from the future”, does not bother me. I just gave my professional duty. When I read the script “Big Change”, I just horrified and told myself: “Well, if I can overcome it, then I probably am a strong actor.” It seems to me that I coped with this role, of course, with the help of brilliant actors who were just starting in a “big change”.
Is it really not touched by the fact that the audience adore this picture? For some reason, actors love completely not those roles that their fans like. You see, we were taught to treat our business differently. If you follow the viewer, you can get lost at all. Which is now observed in cinema and on television. We can show to the place and out of place naked. But this is anti -art, anti -aesthetics. We must not maintain a vice or mass psychosis. Otherwise, our profession is not needed. Neither artists nor writers are needed. Let's just dance, drink, eat, steal, kill, rape.
Nevertheless, I would not want to get so easy to get away from the conversation about the "chief of Chukotka." With what pleasure this wonderful film looks today, permeated with subtle irony, naive humor and malicious mockery of power. Naturally, the “chief of Chukotka” is very dear to me. Firstly, this was the first comedy about the Soviet regime. I love such subtle things, and therefore I chose this scenario. By the way, I always chose films and directors myself, while the directors tried other actors in their paintings. I loved to work with debutants. So, Melnikov debuted the “Chukotka chief”, and then Panfilov debuted the film “There is no Broda in the fire”.
Nikita Mikhalkov - let me go from the filming - Feed the piglet
Kononov considered the small role of Thomas (left) in Tarkovsky’s film “Andrei Rublev” “Andrei Rublev”. 1971 Mikhail Kononov and Inna Churikova in the directorial debut of Gleb Panfilov "There is no Broda in the fire." 1971
In recent years, you can rarely see you wherever, you practically do not act in the cinema, do not participate in television shows. Is everything so sad? Now we all live in such a situation that not up to fun. Many in an interview ask me to tell something funny, funny. But, firstly, I am not an anecdotist, and secondly, my cinema has nothing to do with me personally. I am a completely different person.
What are you doing now? I am looking for myself. I am looking for where to attach my strength. I thought to publish my newspaper, but, unfortunately, a person died on whom the implementation of this project depended.
What would your newspaper talk about? There was such a thought - to speak through a newspaper with the people. What does he think about today's existence, position in the country? They shout: free television, free press, freedom of speech! There is no freedom of speech. Everyone belongs to some uncles who, of course, dictate their conditions. There are many freedoms, but they are all different, contradictory, each has its own interest. Therefore, my event is dangerous. I want everyone to say what he thinks. And the highest people, and the most fallen. If only they spoke sincerely. Do they believe at least something and how they come out of the current situations. Maybe someone will help to navigate.
Do you have any bright memories that, as they say, warm your soul in a sad moment? Happy moments, of course, are associated with good roles, with good directors. With memories, a person is fueled, otherwise you can crawl into the cemetery. My feeding is the memory of friends. These are people of honor, conscience, high morality. They support me in today's senmatic-criminal time. Now all the actors are such a difficult situation that they are forced to rush into commerce, to deal with completely opposite arts. The good impulses of the times of Vysotsky, Okudzhava passed. The optimistic mood with which the actor must go on stage or on the set is mixed with the desire to survive. Such a situation in the country. Naturally, I live in this situation and constantly fall into all kinds of criminal stories.
From an acting point of view are you interested in these stories? Yes. I am interested in watching the little people how they deceive each other, bluff, lie, sophisticated in all sorts of fraud. When they meet with me, it seems to them that I do not notice this, since I am a man of art. And our business is close to psychology, you always see what a person breathes.
Do you consider yourself a sixties? What does this word mean to you? Each generation is somehow indicated, some sign is hung on it. I did not even know that I was the sixties. Well, since they have indicated so, let it be. The fact is that we desperately tried to make real art. We tried not to act with the directors who led any propaganda, the ideology-about the charms of the five-year plan, wonderful construction sites, harvesting, which was not at a matter. And then they began Kalik, Tarkovsky, a whole wave on Lenfilm - Panfilov, German, Melnikov. Efros appeared in the theater. Naturally, we sought to support these sprouts, despite the fact that leading circles did not accept them and even organized some persecution. I remember how we read Solzhenitsyn secretly, one might say, by candles, like revolutionaries. So we searched for each other and found fresh, then present, then sincere that existed in people. This was our power.
Why did you burn so quickly? Many are trying to understand why it is in our country that some new trends, sparkling appearance of one or another talent in painting, music, literature, and cinema are often subjected to oppression, persecution. And sometimes masses fall under the influence of this persecution. In this case, the people cease to navigate and attack the one who may give him his heart. People will blinded under the onslaught of evil forces, if I may say so ...
Once someone noticed that artists like Oleg Dal, Vasily Shukshin, Georgy Burkov, Andrei Mironov, Yuri Bogatyrev, had passed away so early because they could not exist in our present society. Do you agree with this? I believe that now there are such people. Only they are in the shade, no one will promote them. I met with them. These are artists, writers, and directors. Now there are completely different values, and under the pressure of these pseudo -intensities and pseudo -art, many have closed and went into a voluntary underground. After all, real art is intimate, and sex - he wounds, he does not climb into the window dressing. Such people must be identified.
Is your decision several years ago to retire in the village caused by the same considerations? The village at that time became for me help, help. I had a whole farm. Nikita Mikhalkov let me feed the piglet from the filming, because he worked seven days a week, and the feed should be taken out for animals. So the village fed me, and I knew: when the shooting of Mikhalkov will end and no one would call me again, I will not get enough. And now I care about myself. But the farm to establish at the moment turned out to be much more difficult than under the Soviet regime ...
Now there are very few in the cinema - Actors of this class -
Can you name a person who has become an event for you on the set? Yes, I had events all the time. Every year a picture came out with my participation, and each caused a resonance. I already called a lot of films, but I can’t help but remember "in war, as in war." It was also a debut - Viktor Tregubovich. A big resonance was made by the picture "Goodbye, boys!" Kalika, and then “Andrei Rublev” came out - you yourself understand the world’s picture. Then - "there is no ford in the fire." So every work was an event for me, and I was, as it were, all the time on the crest of the wave. But not because I was lucky, but because I chose. We had a taste in the school. We have learned this for life, and therefore such beautiful actors as Solomin, Dahl, Pavlov, Baryshev took place on our course. And in the theater I had work with Efros and Varpakhovsky.
Have you never conflicts with the directors? Never. In addition, perhaps, a “big change” and a couple of terribly bad directors. What does a bad director mean? There should not be bad directors. This means a non -professional, and therefore not a director. I have never had conflicts either with Tarkovsky, nor with Panfilov, or Mikhalkov, whom many actors are afraid of. Never. Because I agree with them everything “on the shore”. I remember how Mikhalkov was very surprised when I was listening carefully to everything that he told us day after day. He probably thought I was crazy. And then I explained to him: “Nikita, I have been studying all my life. You are a new director for me, so I have to understand your direction. ” But, understanding "on the shore", I no longer allow myself to touch on the set.
Does the current acting youth inspire you with trust? Unfortunately, now there are very few real class actors in the cinema. I will not call names, they are told compliments, but in the concept of our generation, our understanding of art, they are not yet professionals. However, they are put on a pedestal, they say that they are sex symbols, great masters, someone else ... But in fact they are still youths. But when society exalms them, it spoils them with this. When a wave of real art begins again, they will not be needed. Now they love themselves, appreciate, shout: “I!”, Not understanding that they still look and stupid. But they are supported by commercial structures. And everything is given to very great difficulty. Understanding this, from time immemorial, theaters have been collecting the troupe by bit, like Mark Zakharov.
Do you feel the audience love? She still holds on. The grandchildren of my first spectators already know me, and I am glad that I managed to go through life so without deceiving them. Some trust, the trepidation of my heroes captivates. And it's great.
For a long time you stayed on the screen with a young hero, practically not changing with age ... Like Lenin, always young.
Did this property helped with nature or prevented you in life, in creativity? I treated this for a given. Nature is nature, you won’t get away from it. I still do not look for my years ... (Laughs.)
