Dress up as a pioneer

He loves his Motherland so much that he shoots his own, native soldiers, ”they say about one of the generals who won the Great Patriotic War. These are the words from the play "The Naked Pioneer" by the Sovremennik Theater. The production, which has been going on for more than one season, has remained the rarest phenomenon in our theatrical (and not only theatrical) art.

Part of the public was indignant: they raised their hand to the most sacred. Heroes are humiliated, winners are judged. Veterans protested: "The Naked Pioneer" should not be shown on Victory Day! Their request was respected.

Those who were accustomed to the fact that in the cinema, theater, on canvases, Soviet troops are invincible, generals are infallible, armor is strong, and tanks are fast, were in great annoyance. The excellent performance of Chulpan Khamatova (she played the role of the regimental whore Masha Mukhina) and the brilliant direction of Kirill Serebrennikov only increased the anger of the keepers of national shrines.

In this performance, they showed that the Second World War did not take place so that we could decorate school textbooks with thousands of heroes, erect monuments to them and name them after cities and streets; that the people, having received the most grandiose challenge in their history, paradoxically felt a surge of freedom in a totalitarian state; that in this war, betrayal by military leaders of the rank and file, as well as executions just because the soldiers were surrounded, were no exception; that people who, in fact, lived in a fascist state had to fight the threat of fascism.

This performance split the auditorium, showing that our society is not ready to accept conflicting information about the Great Patriotic War.

Is it possible, knowing the whole truth about the Victory, not to deprive this event of greatness? Is it possible to respect the heroes of historical events, having completely exhausted knowledge about them? It is almost a childish fear to believe that if our knowledge of that war is replenished with negative facts, then the beauty of the feat of the people will fade. There is a Chinese proverb: "The bigger the person, the bigger his shadow." Such a large-scale event as the Great Patriotic War cannot but have a shadow.

I don't know how appropriate the comparison with the art of Germany is here: the German mentality tends to bring all hidden complexes, problems and fears to light. There is a share of masochism, and arrogance, and a focus on everything that concerns Germany and its fate, even if this is a very critical reflection. But art helps the Germans to "pronounce" their problems, fears and complexes, to soberly assess their own history.

In the space of our art, for the most part, works are created that establish a new mythology with their gods and heroes. But art can be of great help in understanding history. Otherwise, as Merab Mamardashvili wrote, the consequences of historical events, the meaning of which remains unclear and the truth about them is hidden, will "develop in irrational, pathogenic ways." Death, the meaning of which has been realized, is death participating in life. Death that has not become the subject of historical reflection is absolute death. In vain death.

Therefore, there can be no question of whether the whole truth is needed, and what kind of truth is needed, what should be silenced (for now) and what information the people are ready or not ready to receive. There are historical events that can only be offended by embellishment and a fancifully woven veil of omissions and omissions. The Great Patriotic War, of course, refers to such events. Therefore, the performance in Sovremennik is so lonely in our art and so significant. Therefore, he caused so much anger and delight - both as a work of art and as an act. And there are no works like it yet.