Not so often in our time you have to see historical documentary films dedicated to science or its representatives in the announcements of the Russian film award. A happy exception to this rule can be called April 14 at the Zvezda movie theater to the premiere of the film, telling the audience about the dramatic episodes of the relationship between one of the greatest scientists in the history of mankind - Galileo Galileo - and the Church. I remember that Stephen Hawking once indicated that it was Galileo “perhaps more than any of some of the individuals, responsible for the birth of modern science” 1 . Professional philosophers and historians of science can treat this phrase in different ways, one can say with confidence: Galileo's research has become an integral part of scientific knowledge, and its path is a symbol of the scientist’s desire for the truth that reveals the laws of the environment. And therefore it is very symbolic that the story of Galilee has become the object of attention of the creators of the film. These events, however, are, like any other story of this scale, overgrown with time with many legends and myths. The resulting film, according to the authors, is largely designed to help the viewer understand the intricacies of truth and fiction, and at the same time introduce him to the dramatic moment of the life of the great physicist, mathematics, mechanics, philosopher, astronomer and founder of experimental science.

Before the premiere, Svyatoslav Gorbunov talked with the authors of the new picture - directors Efim Reznikov and Alena Badyagina , asking them several questions regarding the history of the creation and the main features of this work.

The case of Galileo. Variations on the topic

Directors: Efim Reznikov, Alena Badyagin
Made ANO "Pilot Studio" in 2014 with the support of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation
The timing is 41 min.
Filming places: Russia, Italy

-To begin with, as expected, I will ask the most banal question: how did the idea come to make a film about Galileo Galilee and was there any initial directorial concept of the future work? For example, did you think of initially making a movie about Galilee as a certain victim of the Inquisition, or did you consider this circumstance as a secondary and ambiguous?

Efim Reznikov: Experience in a non-human cinema led me to the idea that a documentary is not the one who more or less neatly transfers a biography or some event, but an artist who can foresee events that will be relevant. When we started shooting Galileo, a new wave of interest in the fate and affairs of the great scientist arose, related to the revision of the Galileo case at the initiative of John Paul II - it is enough to look at the number of publications, conferences, round tables and similar events. And the issues concerned not only the relationship between Galileo with the church ... It all began with my interest in one of the episodes of the life of a great scientist who taught in 1592 at the University of Paduan. I was surprised that it was at that time that Galileo, who set out the Ptolemy the theory of the universe to students, suddenly changed his views on Coperman in one year. Then I made the assumption that he could meet with Jordano Bruno, who was able to influence him. It was the second year when Jordano stayed with the Venetian Dozh. However, as it turned out, neither in his letters, nor in notes, nor in any other written sources, Galileo mentions Bruno at all. And this despite the fact that Jordano Bruno was a bright person for those times.

The second point that interested me was that Pope Urban VIII, while still a cardinal, was friends with Galilee and looked at the stars with him. And that dad, who is so drawn to consider tyrant and ignoramus, was one of the smartest and most educated people of his time. But it was he who became the initiator of the court over Galileo.

- Who acted as the main consultants of the film?

Alena Badyagin: Consultants in the classical sense of the word - that is, people behind the scenes - was not in this picture. All our consultants are our heroes. There are no random people in the frame, random opinions. Alexey Yudin - a church historian, worked in the Vatican some time ago; We owe him to get acquainted with the cardinals of the Pupa-rime field and Walter Brandmuller. His Eminence Cardinal Pupar participated in the revision of the Galileo case under John Paul II, Cardinal Brandmuller - historian and theologian, author of the famous book Copernicus, Galileo and the Church. Igor Dmitriev is a historian of science and a person in love with Galileo, the author of several monographs about the life and activity of a great scientist. Dmitry Bayuk wrote about Galilee dissertation. Finally, our last hero is the astronomer of the Vatican Observatory Brother Guy Consularo. All of them are engaged in science, and the question of the events of Galileo’s case is a real interesting problem for them, a story in which there are many white spots, which means there are reasons for research.

- Did you manage to sit in the archives and get acquainted with the original sources - witnesses of that distant era?

AB: Unfortunately, no. Getting into the vatican archives is not easy. Although the issue of primary sources in our film is acute. We very much hoped to contact Sergio Pagano or Francesco Beretta - specialists who directly worked with the documents of the case - but, unfortunately, we did not succeed. Therefore, some questions in this film remained open, and you can see it on the screen.

E.R. : It was not possible to get into the archives for a fairly simple reason: we can say that our bureaucracy is still flowers compared to the Vatican bureaucracy. However, our sources were not archival materials, but our heroes, who, of course, worked with the original sources. In addition, we managed to touch the history in the material way - to visit those places that are directly related to Galileo. All this can be seen in the picture.

- It is wrong to ask this question to the authors of a documentary historical film, but still risk ... What is you imagining your audience? Who is he - a spectator who would like this movie?

E.R. : Initially, we thought that our film should be addressed to youth. But it turned out to be amazing that people liked the picture more, having a decent education behind their back. Apparently, it allows you to discover Galileo for the prepared, intellectual viewer, who has at least general ideas about who Galileo is and what happened to him.

AB: Probably, it is not entirely true to call our film purely historical. As well as popular science. Such a task was not set. This is a problematic film, designed to reveal the topic of the mythologization of the history and complexity of the scientific interpretation of known events. The film is not easy, there is a lot of interviews in it, a lot of text. It is designed for people with a certain erudition and know how to monitor the thought. Focus groups showed that the picture is hard to perceived by schoolchildren and junior students, but it looks with interest to older people, graduate students and teachers.

- It seems to you, is the story of Galileo relevant for our time, and if so, what is its relevance?

AB: Undoubtedly. The Galileo case is not just the relationship of science and the church, not just a clash of two “main systems of the world”, it is still a political and personal history. This kind of conflict has consequences for both parties. They often forget about this, but Pope Urban VIII risked his authority no less than Galileo. But there was a thirty -year war, and any major scandal could easily overturn the papal throne. We are used to looking at this situation through the prism of the Brecht play. The real story is always much more rough and more prosaic. You should not forget about this now, when you so want to interpret any current event one-sided.

E.R. : It seems to me that the story of Galileo says that it has become a catalyst for an epoch -making event - the turn of the knowledge of the world from theological to scientific. Perhaps now we are in a similar state of changes in the very approach to the knowledge of the world around us. The second is a question: if it weren’t for Urban VIII and not the trial of Galilee, would Galilei be so famous? In this story, we find an amazingly twisted plot, immersed in the historical context of that time, which, it seems to us, will certainly be interesting to our contemporaries.

- What basic difficulties (in addition to the financial and technical side of the issue) had to collide during work?

AB: A rather acute problem was a lack of visual material. There are quite a lot of portraits of Galileo, but most of them are made in a romantic manner characteristic of the 19th century, which did not always fit well on the narrative. I did not want to resort to staged tricks. As a result, we were helped out by the case, and the film included pieces of a costumed lecture-performance, which we accidentally found in the rostrum of Galilee in Florence.

ER: It was quite difficult to agree on meetings with cardinals. And without their participation, the film would not be complete. Invaluable help was provided to us by the Nunctions Ivan Yurkovich and the attache on the culture of the Vatican embassy in Moscow Giovanna Parravichini.

-Usually every author of a book or a film dedicated to any historical character has his own idea of ​​him. What is he, your Galileo?

AB: Our Galileo is a hero with character. It is by no means like a blessed old man from the paintings of the 19th century. We know something about him from the documents: we know that he did not get married with Marina Gamba, from whom he took out three children. We know that he sent his two daughters to the monastery. We know that all his life he complained about poverty, although he received a decent salary from the duke. He, of course, is brilliant, workgoing, devoted to science, but his character is clearly difficult - do not forget that at the time of the trial he is already a very elderly and sick person who did not lose, nevertheless, will and a living mind.

ER: He had, of course, heavy, conflict, ambiguous. But at the same time, Galileo remains for us a great scientist, the forerunner of classical and modern science, a person who made a radical revolution in the worldview and consciousness of people of that distant era.

- Will the film appear at a wide box office, where and when it can still be seen?

ER: Negotiations are being completed with the historical television channel 365. There are output plans for DVDs. Of course, there will certainly be one -time film screenings at a wide variety of sites, where the film can be interesting.

- Your wishes to the future spectators of the film?

Efim Reznikov: I would like to wish our viewers to break away from household values, to look at the world around the world wider, to be interested in its history.

1 Hawking S. Brief history of time: from a large explosion to black holes. - St. Petersburg: Amphora, 2001. - 268 p.