Alexander Askoldov was gone. The unpublished monologue of the director and afterword Yuri Norshtein

Director-Mif. Writer.

The author of the legendary “commissioner” based on the story of Vasily Grossman. Film belonging to the world classics. In which the air of time. Film forbidden. Sent to the shelf. The right power tamped the ideas of communism and the universal fraternity.

The director himself was driven and did not let them go. They fired from the studio with the wording "professionally unsuitable." For twenty years he was tormented. He was not loved by bosses. Colleagues betrayed.

In perestroika, the film began the triumphal procession around the world. But the 20 best years were stolen from life. “If you knew that all these decades have done with me,” he said, “if only the authorities ...”

The picture "Commissar" was going to destroy, but there was one copy left, which the director himself secretly carried out of the installation and thereby saved from destruction.

His “commissar” was 50 years last year.

He considered nobility a necessary part of the artist’s creature.

Filmed about human and inhuman in man.

And he helped himself when he could. For example, he defended the "outpost of Ilyich" Khutsiev.

For many years he lived with his family in Germany on the so -called "Visa of Honor". Several times I tried to launch a new film in Russia. Once I even decided to call the Minister of Culture Schwydkoy: "Askolds calls you." At this moment, he heard the minister asks the assistant: "And who is it?" He could only get a pipe.

We saw him last year in white pillars. And they talked about the film, about the revolution and its connection with our life. For the first time we print this conversation.

• Larisa Malyukova

Heroes and barbarians. Monologue of Alexander Askoldov

Revolution? It seems to me that I was still an infants, and I already felt something about her. Perhaps I am the last child of the revolution. My father is one of the creators of the Red Army. He was a soldier in the First World War, a member of the soldier’s committee of the Western Front. In the old days, the order relied for this, now it is a betrayal.

In the 20th, the Belopoliki grabbed him, sentenced him to death. They led ... And what is he? He sang "International." The shooting was delayed. Lenin instructed Joffe, a plenipotentiary in Berlin, so that his father was exchanged for Polish officers. Freed out. And after many years they still shot.

Now I drove past the house on Nikolskaya, in the basement of which Koltsov, Babel, Meyerhold were shot. Only recently I received documentary evidence that my father was also killed there. He was the head of the main engineering department of the Red Army. And at one time - Trotsky’s assistant, commanded the Armed Forces of the Kharkov Military District. Trotsky signed the Order personally. In that terrible carousel of terror, absurdity and stupidity, this order is the last drop that decided his fate (he had three orders of the Red Banner).

Here is the story of my family. So, mine.

Under the leadership of the father, amazing people served.

Who were they? Obsessed? Sadists? Convinced? Fanatics?

Father built the Novosibirsk Opera Theater. And also a grandiose defense plant near Novosibirsk, who played a huge role during the war years. Ordzhonikidze sent him to Kyiv, and he was the director of the Kyiv defense plant "Bolshevik". When his father was taken from the hospital - he was a completely sick person, he had wounds, contusion.

He did not get along with his superiors at all, so consider it, I have a hereditary one.

He was accompanied by eternal conflicts. And only his adored colleague Ordzhonikidze loved him.

The Ordzhonikidze on the cross -line calendar before the disastrous for his father had a record at night: "In the morning, call Yasha Askoldov by all means."

I saw this calendar. When Ordzhonikidze left, the father was completely unprotected. And this is with his independence. Even naivety.

How to talk about people of that era?

It was naked to blame them for all mortal sins? Hit in sweetness? This is all unfair.

For example, the search documents remained. You know, they loved to play with weapons. The documents shows: so many mausers, cartridges, hunting rifles, gold weapons, and registered checkers are requisitioned from the father’s office. And three orders of the Red Banner.

There is a home legend. Once, Stalin met his father with a question: "Why don't you wear an order?" It was necessary to wear the orders, they were disturbed from their greatcoats on jackets and coats. The father replies: "I have to climb under the units at work, I can stain machine oil." After some time, his father was informed that he had to hand over the order.

The one from Trotsky, on whom the persecution began. And he did not give up. People came, seized awards. Everything rolled. And he still built, built.

In general, unlike me, who does not know how to screw the screw, he knew how to all.

Mom was much younger than his father. In the highest degree, the girl is peculiar. From commoners, a peasant family. I did not finish my studies at the law enforcement department. I went to the medical one. I met my father.

The verdict of the father was signed by the prosecutor of Vyshinsky and the People's Commissar of Internal Affairs Ezhov. Naturally: espionage, paid agent of the two powers: Poland and Japan. To the highest degree of punishment without presenting an article by the law. It was difficult for me to read the case. It seems like a bad play, absolute linden.

And when it concerns you personally, you understand especially acutely: everything was possible. Investigators could not even be zealous. And yet they tried. The investigator Lipman was especially vicious. The character is pure Dostoevsky. He could not stand his ties, he walked in boots. The composition of blood was special, or what? I want to think that he was a man not embittered and not vengeful. But I don't know this for certain.

How I decided on the movie

It happens that something is stuck in you-you cannot get rid of. Initially, there were other options. After all, I seemed to have foreseen the whole story of my father, even recorded, called the future film “Polustyk”. He would be even worse than the “commissar”, there two people from the Far East are taken to an inquiry to Moscow ...

Did I know that the Father of the half -dead would be brought to Moscow from Kyiv ... to kill.

I made that scenario with two prescribed characters of the heroes. Actors were already looking. When I wrote, I thought about Chirkov and Cherkasov. Cherkasov is a person close to me. We talked closely. I dragged the play “Run” to the Alexandrinsky Theater, persuaded to put it, was a consultant. And so we agreed that we will remove this picture.

I had a wonderful consultant, writer, amazing woman Alexander Yakovlevna Brushtein, with her we wrote the script. Although she said: "Dusya, admit, came up with everything!" Fantastic person, smart.

Why Cherkasov? After all, the staging “Don Quixote”, which was played with brilliance in the Leningrad Youth Theater, made Brushtein. Cherkasov is not only an actor is brilliant, but a good, rare decency, even naivety. With this naivety, he won even Stalin. It was in the late fifties.

Another vegetarian time. You could still push something: a small gap existed until the sixtieth year.

But Cherkasov had a stroke.

And this splinter sat so.

I have not seen Grossman. He was generally known, practically did not read it. I was in love with all early stories, like "Happiness in my pocket." It seemed: I know all this so well, so close. About Siberia, Altai, where we were with parents. Now, raking my archives, I stumble upon a confusing record: “I got through to Grossman, I explain what I want. A long silence ... then: “Well, since they decided, try it. Then he lay down in the hospital ... "

He was considered biliary, but life was unfair to him. The story of the feelings of this person is separate. It has happiness and tragedy. There are more tragedies.

Maybe if the novel had come to people in time. Even so deep and complex, it was accepted and understood.

After all, in such an atmosphere of hatred I shot this picture - I want to forget it. It is difficult for you to imagine what fury both the Jewish contingent and the anti -Semites were surrounded by a picture.

When I thought about the “commissioner”, I fantasized about the actors ... Rolan Bykov was originally. But I did not know Mordyukov. Seeing her, I decided to shoot without samples. It was extremely difficult with her. She was under the press of the influence of many "opinions". They crushed it. I did not have the right to form a group. So he worked in the "enemy" environment.

In this film crew there was simply a gangster company of my zealous enemies - illuminators. They did not respect me, they obeyed poorly. And I called everyone to watch the material - late in the evening to the local cinema. And here is a miracle of art, they changed: they have already broken the muzzles to everyone who was idle or scolded me.

A miracle, but in this snake pitch there were decent people. Although, I think that many were simply hunted - we were closed many times.

Of course, Nonna has accumulated resentment. She did not receive a good word for this work. And it was difficult on the set. At some point, it is unbearable. We quarreled. Once I said loudly: "Call Tonya Dmitriev!" A wonderful actress from the Central Children's Theater arrived. They began to try on the costume, adjust the boots. The group rustled: "Our completely crazy."

I go along the hotel corridor, I hear Nonna's sobs. I went to her and say: “You hate me. It's hard for me too. But I thought out your entire line in such detail. Want to act? Let's get to the finals so. Give me a word. Take it as you like. I will definitely freeze. "

I went to the tone, called her to drink. She immediately understood everything: "I will not act ..."

And Nonna endured.

How to go to Jerusalem

If they didn’t bother me like that, we would have made a movie an order of magnitude higher. Otherwise. But I was tied hand and foot.

At a meeting of the Goskino college, everything was, including movie generations: Donskoy, Gerasimov ... And I suddenly have a temperature. I was about to go - a scandal at home. He called in Goskino, they reassured me, promised to transfer the meeting ... And they held it without me.

And how many meetings of the party bureau of Gorky Studio were! If they knew how my comrades yesterday performed. They stopped greeting me. So it was. I was closed all the time.

They said, for example: "He confused everything, because this is about the civil war, what does Jews have to do with it?"

There was a letter from Simonov about the picture. I met him many times, I can’t overcome the good attitude towards him, he made the impression of a man of charming, friendly on me. We met on the day of Stalin's death. At our university, a discussion of his novel “Comrades in Weapons”, printed in the “New in the World” along with Grossman, was planned at the University of Moscow State University. I had to make a report, prepared. But in connection with mourning, everything canceled. Castle on the door of the club. I see Simonova: stands at the door, wipes tears. We walked for a long time. I liked his lyrics. And also Serov.

Then they went with his wife to bury Stalin: they made their way for a day. The pipe was surrounded by "Studebakers." Soldiers. The wife had a new coat. And the soldiers shouted to her: “Hey, Baba! Climb under the car ”, she already saw that the crowd was pushing.

She was sorry for the coat, there, on the asphalt, there was oil. We crawled for a long time on karach. They got out. We made our way to Pushkinskaya Square. And there is already a chain - not to break through. I remembered about the newly received journalist ticket. The officer came running - they missed. They ran into a trot in the fare of the Art Theater, blocked on both sides. They drove us for several hours. I clung to the metal brackets at the entrance to the Moscow Art Theater, they dragged me ... The evening came. We again climbed under the "Studabele" and said goodbye to Comrade Stalin.

Here is nonsense. I rushed there. No, did not cry. But he was terribly excited.

So more, in fact, I did nothing. I published a novel a few years ago. I can hardly do the film.

Although I wrote the script. It is called "how to go to Jerusalem" - a drama about the era, about time. This is the mid-30s-the end of the 50s: a very important time. I know these people. This is not quite about Mikhoels, this is about the era. The picture is quite tough and at the same time about love.

I am a person from there

I think that Russia could continue to live the way it lived before the revolution could not for objective reasons. The revolution is a painful childbirth. Heroes and barbarians were born.

Maybe it's stupid. But I am a person from there. Once they contemptuously abandoned me: "Ahh, he was a member of the party." So they say people who do not care what party to be. But without any party, all these bosses could lick. I was not in the party not because it gave some kind of increase to my life. I could have been. The biography itself pushed me to the very top. Believe me, I didn't want to. Just at some point, he believed that we would all win. Then we entered the party at the same time at the same time: Oleg Efremov, Misha Shatrov and I. We were honest in front of ourselves. If I had not joined the party, I would have an easier life - I put on this loop myself. I was excluded twice. Now it looks anecdotal, but try to live with it.

Now, completing all these games with life, with a profession, I think how much grief brought my wife and daughter. How many! For what? For years we wrote explanations: day and night. A normal person cannot live like that.

Yuri Norshtein

Multiplier

There was also the “death of the commissioner” here ...

- I lost a huge friend, a close person with whom we could talk about everything. He was absolutely sincerely, at times childishly surprised at the dramatic circumstances that were spinning around him with a whirlwind.

Now they will say: "The great director, the author of one great film, died." I suppose for one life - this is enough.

The Commissioner has become a global phenomenon.

Its main quality is cordiality. Art is not created at all without a heart.

Like in Pushkin lines:

Leave your heart to the hero! Well
Will he be without him? Tyrant...

We have been observing this last 25 years of what has been happening in the country. As the heart of others turns into a piece of ice, a piece of iron, turning a person into a tyrant.

Throughout our acquaintance, Askolds were in a state of strong experience. What heart can it withstand?

I can’t imagine how his wife of Light is experiencing now. They were non -residents. He told me when invitations came to show a film in a country, he always warned: "I won’t go without Sveta." It is difficult to find a more faithful minister of his muse, his work, the experience of all the dramas with him that fell to their lot. She was the same Soldadraz, accompanying Mexican fighters in the most terrible battles.

When I first heard about this film, and then I saw Askoldov, for some reason I recalled the painting by Petrov-Vodkin “The Death of the Commissioner”. The profile of the commissar, who hugged the fighter dying on the battlefield, reminded the profile of Alexander Yakovlevich.

I remember then I formulated about Askoldov: there was also the “death of the commissioner” here.

Our last meeting was literally the day before his departure. They sat in his kitchen, finished the bottle of the “Gorilka” brought by him from Kyiv. And the conversation was sad. I don't want to talk about foresight ...

But maybe now someone will be ashamed. After all, on the 85th anniversary of such a significant author, television did not show his film. On that day, they showed the "relatives" of Mikhalkov. And this is the fact of our history, our attitude to people. When the business devours everything, including business people.

The film "Commissioner" - about what is happening with a person who, without heartily, loses the most important thing. No one asks what the accordion plays in this picture, what kind of song the heroine sings: Russian lullaby, Jewish ... But voices are intertwined in a holistic harmony. And it is priceless. Without this, we cannot live on.

I still want to think that not everyone on television has yet lost their conscience. And waking up, at least these days they will show the “commissioner”, and those few programs in which Askoldov's voice. For the audience to listen to him, and hence himself, he heard the world.