Chronicle of current events

Konstantin Seliverstov, the most independent of the Russian independent directors, who began to make post -domestic cinema before the appearance of this term, shot a strict adaptation of the “process” of Kafka - with professional actors and a full -fledged film crew. Seliverstov collected part of the budget on the Craudfunding platform "Boomstarter". Ivan Chuvilyaev talked with Seliverstov about Necrorealism, the primitiveness of unprofessional actors and his difficult relations with literary text and documentary.

Not everyone can withstand the Russian partisan film production from the Frunzenskaya metro station, with gloomy and disheveled types of roles, the Oberiut shift of optics - in details, with extensive confessional dialogs. But the one who withstanding can stick, grow together with a crooked, Gogol, a mirror of reality, into which the entire Seliverstovskiy filmography merges. In it, one work smoothly flows into another, the documentary “marriage” - in a complete game “strawberry meadow”, playing a short film for the anger of the Banderte day (about street activity, yes) - in the current “process”. Once I arranged a show of one of Seliverstov’s films, and the smallest person in the hall was the smallest person-a librarian, similar to the walking Aibolit. Therefore, again asking Seliverstov damned Russian questions, I insert another one - about the viewer of parallel cinema. Still, crowdfunding is a great occasion to get to know the audience.

"Bandertlelog", director Konstantin Seliverstov

“Well,” Seliverstov is riding, “I didn’t correspond in detail with everyone.” It was like this with many: they just knocked on Facebook, offered to help, that’s all communication. Sometimes some old acquaintances appeared-for example, suddenly my former classmate appeared, whom I had not seen for thirty years. And now he writes a message, offers to help. But in principle, it became clear, yes, the composition of these people. There was, say, a guy from Moscow who worked at the headquarters of one of the candidates for mayor. There the circle closed - this candidate himself, as you know, ended up in a situation of Joseph K. And at the same time was a woman from St. Petersburg, who turned out to be a fan of the leading role, Anton Schwartz. Really-I went to his performances in the BDT and now I saw that there was such a project, looked at the trailer and transferred some small amount. Alexei Medvedev, the program director of the 2 in 1 festival, and Anton Nosik - he, as I understand it, was just a big fan of Kafka, helped financially. And after all, there were still those who did not help with money, but, say, with the premises - we rented a bank where Joseph works, in the editorial office of one old literary magazine. There turned out such a strange combination - like a bank, but like the old, Petersburg and at the same time the Soviet office is dusty.

There is nothing strange in the fact that Seliverstov took up Kafka. He was always literary: in his cinema he improvised on the topic “Marriage” and “scenes from the life of bohemia”, he himself writes some funny opuses.

"Scenes from the life of bohemia", director Konstantin Seliverstov

-I worked as a journalist for five or six years, and before that I studied at the scenario courses of Lenfilm ... But here, I think, it’s not even in personal experience, but that I just love good text in films. It’s really important for me that the characters say a text that I myself would like.

And Seliverstov is an involuntary keeper of the extinct traditions of necroalists. For the time being, this genetic kinship was felt only in the form of his existence as a director - in the backyards (morgue, garbage, a district library or a burnt theater - what's the difference). In the “process” of Seliverstov, it is already similar to comrades and the manner of directing-if Evgeny Yufit was shooting now, there would probably be something like that, no matter how scary to imagine it.

“I have known Yufit for at least twenty years.” He was visiting him, now we rarely intersect, but before I went to Peterhof, we walked there, we walked around the forests ... Well, imagine the situation: I decided to take the camera and start shooting Mozart in St. Petersburg, my first film is generally the first film. Not knowing anything about how to make a movie. And Yufit, already a well -deserved master, did not hesitate to star from me without a second. He did not bother him at all what would happen, whether his reputation would suffer. It is necessary - please, is always ready to help. And he also brought his actors, ten people. Most of all, I am grateful to him for Seryozha Chernov, who became my permanent actor, and before Zhenya starred. By the way, I was well familiar with his cinema, he gave me the films of the necroist, I laughed ... And when I already started making it, I realized: I could not do the movie that the Necrorealists did. As a spectator I can watch, but somehow to develop-no.

"Women: the art of seduction", director Konstantin Seliverstov

The choice of “process” is all the more surprising that the selievers, with all the radicality of their post -domestic method of work, is very old -fashioned. Pay attention to the kafka, to pronounce in seriousness without blushing, without a millionth time beaten “We are born ...” and further in the text, only a person of a strictly defined culture and hardening can. And, it seems, this hardening of the old school is a secret sign for a narrow circle of initiates and understanding the work of Seliverstov. He is a representative of a generation and a social layer, really deprived of a vote in the cinema of the last twenty years: the city intellectual, Luser, the Vaginsky hero, sitting on a pile of his own universities. Someone like Buzykin or a recent service. Only Seliverstov’s films are “Autumn Marathon”, shot by Buzykin himself, without the removal, music of Andrei Petrov and Georgian sympathy, the master was late. His world, invented on the basis of kitchen St. Petersburg reality, was for ten years a wonderful alternative to office slavery, a fed stomach and other joys of stability. A form of escapism, flights not from storms, but from a plug. In the quiet velvet underground of his films, the heroes pass from the picture to the picture, remaining themselves, if playing anyone, then only a little more pretty and bold themselves. The narrow circle of the Seliverstov alter of the Ego, as he himself explains, behaves the same as always, only in not even invented, but several expanded household circumstances. From a specific situation, he throws the character into a myth - the plot of Gogol or Murge.

“I know these people, many of them are my friends.” There was an opportunity to laugh at himself. Well, for example, Yuri Zelkin. He lives in Germany now, works on television, he has his own theater. And when we met, he was an artist of pop-he performed from the stage, like some Khazanov; He performed on television. And suddenly, at some point, his roof went, and he decided to put the classics, and Mozart and Salieri. He made such an impression on me that I decided to make my first film, “Mozart in St. Petersburg”. But this is so, there was a joke. Somehow this conditional "bohemia" was formed. Although I didn’t perceive her like that: these are all my friends, here is the actor, Vladimir Tyminsky - Baletmeister, Nikolai Ivanovich Palachev - the architect is real, Sergey Chernov - fashion designer, Evgeny Volkov - musician, actor, as well as a candidate of sciences, microbiologist. And this company is somehow increasing. And the fact that I am now from this model, working with characters, has moved away - this is just a matter of interest. There are heroes - you drive them into a corner and make you open. And it makes sense to drive who is ready to do it - in fact, because I work with the same heroes, with types. They are ready to confess, to open. And the actors are another story. I had an attempt to work with the actor as with the hero - in "adjacent rooms." And there it all ended that the actress said not her personal text, but a monologue from Thomas Mann.

"Adjacent rooms", director Konstantin Seliverstov

I just do not really imagine how to make a “process” with non -professionals. Still, the better the actor, the better he understands what they demand from him. It only needs to be directed. I was lucky with the actors - they themselves got perfectly into the role, without my tip. And they make the film just them, excellent professionals. But, let's say, nothing would have happened to the Banderalogs with professionals - as they do not work as heroes. The hero is still a character who has a core, which must be dug up to, and this is my profession. And with the actor - well, the devil knows what is inside, it is not too important. Yes, and is there anything there at all ... Non-professional-they are primitive. What they do on the screen is just a splash of their subconscious. Which always coincides with someone else. So you ask why I am leaving the heroes-so no, I don’t leave, I just look for new ones or try to somehow reveal old acquaintances in a new way. In the “process” I fundamentally refused documentary. Although she was around - when I took a volume of Kafka from the shelf and sat down to write a script, Pussy Riot was just pronounced. When he finished the shooting and began to collect money for voice acting in the summer - the case of Kirovles was in full swing. And, of course, the impulse to take the book from the shelves, were the sixth of May and the story of the Punk-Lovely. But I did not insert documentary elements into the “process” - this is a text, and I need to work with it. At the same time, it was obvious that it was necessary to do something over time, not to literally transfer it to our days, but to add some modern elements. Kafka is good among other things that he has freedom and improvisation, it makes no sense to transfer the word word to the screen. But when I shot the film, I perfectly understood that a direct reaction to a specific process-Kirovles, on May sixth-it would not work. That everything can change a hundred times, there will be more processes, others, someone will let go, put someone. Instant action is fast. And here I had a different task, after all, I wanted to make a big film, gain a new experience. With relevance, of course, but another. Constant.