Alexander Sokurov about the ideological cleaning of the movie: "This eclipse will pass"

Director Alexander Sokurov is outraged by the proposal of a member of the State Duma Committee on Culture Sergei Solovyov to cut out fragments with "actors-representatives" from films. In an interview with the North. Real. Reali Sokurov told why this idea is "crazy and impossible."

Deputy Soloviev believes that it is necessary to "clean" domestic films from episodes where actors who occupy a "wrong" ideological position because of the war in Ukraine play. Recently, with a similar proposal-to form stop lists for unreliable artists-the State Duma deputy Ekaterina Stenyakina made, and deputy Elena Drapeko is convinced that the artists-foreign agents should be banned in films financed by the state. Soloviev has already proposed to hold a vote on this issue in order to "find out the opinion of society." Film director Alexander Sokurov He considers this idea "madness."

The film director, screenwriter, People's Artist of the Russian Federation Alexander Sokurov was born in 1951 near Irkutsk in the family of a military, a veteran of the Great Patriotic War. In 1975 he entered the director's faculty of the All-Russian State Institute of Cinematography, which he had to finish a year ahead of schedule due to the conflict with the leadership of the university and Goskino, who saw anti-Soviet sentiments and formalism in his student works. Sokurov’s first film “The Lonely Voice of a Man”, which later received many festival awards, was not counted as a thesis, it was ordered to wash it off. Fortunately, the film was made out of the warehouse and save.

Since 1980, Sokurov worked at Lenfilm, but until the end of the 1980s, none of his paintings had been released. Sokurov came in the most fruitful period of work in the 1980–90s, his films were a great success at international film festivals. In 1995, the European Film Academy included the name of Alexander Sokurov in the list of one hundred best directors of the world.

Sokurov has been engaged in pedagogical activities for many years, heads the public group of urban activists, the so-called "Sokurov group", regularly expresses publicly on the most acute political issues, often bringing over the displeasure of the Russian authorities.

- What can I add to this? This is stupidity and madness. And in the end, we go into such a dead end branch of civilization, says Sokurov.

- But, it seems, nothing is impossible, we remember how we cut out photos of repressed enemies.

- But this is a photo, and from the photos they really deleted the characters. In the time of Stalin, historical documents were cleaned that it costs nothing. But there is copyright, in the end, the moral right that belongs to both artists - this is part of their fate, all this belongs to the directors and the studio. Ideology does not have such total rights to everything. The film is also a monument of culture or art, I do not know what the cinema belongs to, probably, to culture, and not to art. Why then do not go through the sculpture, not to cut from there too naked or not with those emotions of the characters? We must be consistent, then let's go continue.

- We also passed, remember how the creations of Michelangelo were recognized as obscene, and they were slightly drank ...

- What are we discussing? This is a completely absurd idea from all sides. Until she became the law. Although I have no doubt that the Duma will accept such a law with pleasure. Nevertheless, cinema is part of our cultural heritage. How to edit a cultural heritage? The film is a whole work. How do they imagine it?

- You said that technically this is possible.

- Technically there are no problems now, especially in our digital time. The viewer may not notice even any episodes.

- It just scares.

- No need to be scared, let it be the smallest that scares us now. This is absurd, but this eclipse will pass, it will certainly pass, the sun will look out. The films will survive this, survive, and then everything will return to its place. But the tendency itself - to cut and prohibit - speaks of the degradation of legislators in every sense, and in relation to them to copyright, and in relation to the cultural heritage of the country. This is just the degradation of all these institutions and, in addition, a misunderstanding of ideology. Ideology is not so voluminous in its rights. Based on ideological considerations, you can not do whatever you want. Ideology is a temporary weapon like a fork or knife, or spoon. This indicates the complete degradation of the level of legislators in general.

But dehumanization is characteristic not only for the life of the modern Russian political and humanitarian space, it is equally characteristic of the European political and European space. If in Europe not only politicians, but also cultural figures so zealously supported the exclusion of Russian culture from European life, did they also go crazy? This is a single crisis humanitarian, they also betray humanitarian principles, when the ideology allows you to prevail over everything else, it does not matter, in Russia or in Europe. Ideology does not have such rights that politicians or various public institutions provide her.

But in politics, crazy people are much more than we imagine this. Never the mind led people who are inflamed by ideological infections. Until this infection perishes, all this will continue. Then she will die, and everything will return to normal state, if at all the world will still exist if people do not destroy each other with the help of weapons, new or old, any. Any ideological disease, any ideological infection, eventually passes.

- The only question is, with what consequences for the body.

- We will not exaggerate these consequences. Including we will not exaggerate the consequences of these calls to cut out objectionable actors from films. Because rational people have already learned to use those antibiotics for treatment that are available to every person. In modern conditions, you can find the same film from which everything was cut out, and in an unbearable version.

- But at the same time, the current censors say that they act from the most patriotic motives. Opponents of the war also consider themselves to be patriots, and it is possible that with a great basis than cheers-Z-patriots. But they seem to be deprived of the right to patriotism.

- The issue of war and the world today is beyond humanitarian representations. Therefore, even discussing it is somehow embarrassed. In fact, this is outside the normal discussion. How can you even discuss that war is bad? How can you discuss something with those who say that war is good? This is outside the discussion, this is only a matter of human mental health or group of people.

- You always treated youth with great trepidation, and in your film school you give a lot of effort to young people. We are now again military training at school, every Monday "Lessons about the important." How do you feel about this?

- I am for the education of male and female characters, including at school. Boys should be boys, girls should be girls. In what way is this done, teachers know.

I am against the girls, even with gigantic terrible white bows and caps, go in parades, lifting their naked knees under short skirts, studied in paramilitary colleges, I am completely against it. Of course, this is bad.

And certainly I am against excessive passion for militarism in general, and in schools, in particular.

- Returning to the censorship of films - so you said that whoever wants to, he will find where to watch the unexplored film, and now Prigozhin, who is gaining mercenaries for war, including in the colonies, promises and YouTube to close. And then, where to look for these films?

- They will find it anyway. We will not exaggerate the meaning of cinema in the life of society, in the life of people. There are all other types of culture, art. I assure you that everything cannot be subjected quickly, immediately all kinds of circumcision. This will take a lot of time, but this time is not and will not be. I hope that this fumes will quickly end, people will calm down, and they will not have time to destroy everything. There are a lot of copies, there are a lot of lists, something will be preserved. A person who would like to see a non -castrated work will always find his natural integral form.

-How does this concept itself-"actor-representative" who has left-means a traitor?

- This is unfair, wrong, unconstitutional. This ideological inflammation gives rise to tremendous anxiety in a society that shares people. No external forces have the right in a state that calls itself democratic to beat people because they have a different point of view. Yes, the situation now is military, politically, national - very difficult. Therefore, there will be different points of view, it is inevitable and that is correct. And it is necessary to express them for a citizen. And the state, which, violating constitutional norms, punishes people for beliefs and for their political position, performs unconstitutional actions. If it is so confident in them, then it is necessary to amend the Constitution, change articles that give people the right to have different points of view on what is happening. What is happening today is a tragic situation that arose not because people wanted it, but because the state began to take certain military-historical actions. Citizens have different reactions. And this is normal. The people should not lie to their leaders - this is a crime. And if leaders begin to deceive their people - this is also a crime. This is all exactly in the Constitution of the Russian Federation. All the time I am sending my compatriots who are inflamed by the desire to win on the ideological front, to the text of the Constitution of the Russian Federation.

- You say a citizen should not lie to the state. But if a citizen expresses a rejection of war, aggression, he receives a fine or gets into prison. To tell the truth to the state is now dangerous.

- I have already said if a person is condemned for the expression of his point of view on the historical process - this is the unconstitutional action of state authorities or public organizations, public forces. A person may want to state his point of view, including protest, or he may not want - this is his right. But those who formulate their point of view should not be persecuted until changes are made to the Constitution. Not in the legislation, but in the Constitution, where a person’s right is spelled out to have his own point of view without any restrictions, to express and defend his position.

- All these prohibitions go in a row with the desire to burn out Russia from European and Western culture, will it be possible?

- This is impossible. Then close, protect Petersburg, which is a symbol of the excellent influence of European culture, world culture on us. Close Russian music classic, large shape. Stop teaching mathematics or physics, where the contribution of European intellectual culture is great and high. It is impossible to treat a person today without resorting to the greatest experience of world and European medicine. It is impossible to fly on airplanes, not taking into account the great influence of European science and technology on the development of both Russia and the Soviet Union. We must not love, not value your people in order to claim that isolation is possible. Isolation is impossible.

Political, scientific, technical, ideological isolation, including the main blow to the interests of Russia's development. I am a supporter of the development of Russia. And it is possible only in interaction with the most advanced scientific, technical, intellectual, art processes that occur all over the world.

-In your words, there is still the hope that the current madness will not last long. Why do you think so?

- I am a citizen of the Russian Federation, I am a Russian person, I am a person working in the field of domestic culture, and not only Russian, but also European culture. I insist that this cannot continue endlessly, because it is the opposite of both life and the interests of people. It is impossible, it is unexpectedly.