"Scammers with Khabensky's face called me today"
Yuri Stoyanov played the main role in The Caucasian Trio, one of the last films of the classic Soviet and Georgian cinema Eldar Shengelai, who died on August 4. The actor is currently filming, but he found time to recall the unique experiences of working with Shengelai in an interview with Izvestia, as well as discuss modern Russian cinema and TV series. Stoyanov considers "Fisher" and "Outsourcing" to be examples of deep cinema, admires Yura Borisov and Ivan Yankovsky and recalls that he himself is still a young actor.
"There is such a form of loan in Tbilisi — for a banquet"
— Do you remember how you received an offer to star in the "Caucasian Trio"? How did this story get you hooked?
— There was a very good script by Rustam Ibragimbekov. When you get an offer from the person who wrote "White Sun of the Desert," and when the director is the person we remember, you don't have to think too long. Naturally, I agreed. But I didn't get to know Eldar Nikolaevich right away, but when I arrived in Tbilisi. We shot in Moscow first, and only then in Georgia.
— How did he work with the artists?
— You know, his method was very quiet and very gentle. You always had to listen. And the remarks are very simple, like all great directors, substantive and accurate. I realized that this is the principle of great directing. To find the right verb means to suggest the way to a proper existence in the frame. He put it very simply. But to realize that behind this simplicity there are films that you adore is amazing!
A shot from the movie "Caucasian Trio"
Cinema in Georgia is not a business, but a way of communication, an excuse to be together. That's why we all talked a lot informally. For example, one of the scenes was filmed in a Georgian restaurant. Naturally, no extras were invited — they were all family members and friends. And when the banquet started in the story, the only thing that bothered the people in the frame was the movie camera, because they forgot that it was filming. This is the most beautiful thing — everyone communicated absolutely genuinely, sometimes with an eye on the script. All my ideas about Georgia were constantly being turned upside down there.
- why?
— One day Eldar Nikolaevich invited me to visit. I wanted to buy a beautiful bouquet for his charming wife. I went to the pavilion in the city center. At that time, I had a very poor understanding of the lari-ruble ratio. The seller, a girl who doesn't speak Russian at all, named some amount, I paid, and as soon as we were driving away, this girl rushed straight into the car, almost on the hood! I immediately thought, "What a fool, I must have underpaid something!" But it turned out that she hadn't given me the change.
— A matter of honor!
- yes! And another terrible problem was paying at the restaurant. Every day in Georgia, someone invited us to lunch. Moreover, it was a reception on a grand scale and for a large number of people. Usually in the same luxury restaurant. When I got tired of not being allowed to pay, I went up to the receptionist and said, "If I leave the table, just tell me how much, and I'll pay." He replied, "No, Yuri Nikolaevich, that won't do. You'll leave, and I'll still live here!" No amount of trickery was able to pay! I found out that in Tbilisi there is such a form of loan — for a banquet. That is, even if you burst, but you have to accept the guests! And without any faggotry, eloquence, showing off, stories of great love and promises to accept, as no one has ever accepted. Everything happens quietly, modestly and uncritically. Very intelligent! Do you understand what it costs these people with their tiny earnings! Whatever I did, they wouldn't let me pay those who came from Moscow, and that's it!
Another example is that I really love satsivi. I kept asking why he wasn't there. Eldar Nikolaevich explained that this is a New Year's dish. For another lunch, his charming wife brought a ten-liter pot of satsivi, which she made for me. And it was absolutely amazing at home. It was a museum! Not in the sense of gold, silver and expensive Italian furniture. This place breathed the history of Georgian cinema. For example, he had an incredible number of Parajanov's crafts in special display cases and just on the walls. At every step, my stamps broke, I discovered Georgia through people — thanks to this very quiet, intelligent man. He was joking the same way—quietly.
His sense of humor was amazing! He was telling a story that happened during the break of the next congress of cinematographers of the USSR. The delegation went to lay flowers at Lenin's mausoleum. Nonna Mordyukova was walking in front of him. And suddenly, when they reached the coffin, she fell to her knees, began to sob and scream: "Oh, poor man! My God!" And he asked her: "Nonnochka, didn't you know that Lenin was dead?" And she was horrified by the way he looked.
— Indeed, Shengelai has always had a place for humor, sadness, and the sharp truth of life, but skipped through the prism of subtle irony.
— You bet! I went to see his movie "Blue Mountains, or An Incredible Story" about five times. It's an amazing picture! So subtle, gentle, funny, but sad. He was like that in real life. It was an absolutely auteur cinema in the sense that the cinema very much reflected the personality of the author. And at the same time, it was very Georgian, of course. Such a movie is always relevant for thinking and feeling viewers. But people like Shengelaya or, for example, Danelia, appear extremely rarely, so such a movie is a rarity. It can't be a trend. It comes from a person's personality and their attitude to life. He is gone, and this is a very big loss both for Georgia and for our cinema, which was once united.
"It's pointless to criticize technology at all"
— Now it is still customary to say that there is a kind of global breakdown of epochs, the beginning of a new era. Do you feel the inability to capture time?
— Time is very difficult. But cinema cannot reflect reality in a momentary, momentary way. This is not a chronicle. We're not talking about documentaries, we're not talking about journalism, we're talking about cinema. And movies, real, big movies, always take time to reflect on what's going on. That's why all the great war films, even if they were shot by front-line soldiers, were made 10, 15, 20 years after the war. Then comes the realization of how this piece of your life came into contact with the life of the country. And "today in the newspaper, tomorrow in a couplet" is an extremely rare case.
— Do you easily accept technology in cinema? Can you imagine yourself in some kind of "Avatar"?
— This is a very difficult task. Very interesting, but very difficult. When you play not in the interior, not in the open air, but on a green background, it's much more difficult, because it's harder to believe, you know? Sometimes they say with disdain: "It was filmed on the green." I don't have that much experience, but I still have it, because sometimes it's hard to do without it today. Let's say you can't go shoot a scene in another country, but you can do it on pre-shot backgrounds, and do it decently. This is very difficult for an artist, namely, increased demands on him regarding the ultimate truth of existence in a non-existent object.
— To make the audience believe it all!
— Generally— it's pointless to criticize technology. I'm not one of those people who says there used to be a MOVIE! It was there, of course, but not because it lacked technology. But because there were great directors, amazing actors. There was an understanding of time. That's why it was great. Using a shovel, you can dig a trench and plant several trees. Or you can hit him over the head with the same shovel from around the corner and kill him. The question is, in whose hands and for what purpose is this shovel. It's the same with technology. Artificial intelligence, of course, will be madly advancing. We can't even imagine what kind of role he will play in the movie. I got a call today from scammers with the face of Konstantin Khabensky.
— Did you ask to transfer money?
— No, they only managed to start, to say: "Yuri Nikolaevich? Hello, Yuri Nikolaevich!" I hung up the phone. Because Kostya would never have addressed me as "you" or by his patronymic. He would say, "Hi, Yura!"
"It's a little scary for me to look into the future at my age"
- What has changed for you as an actor besides technology in the last 15-20 years? Has it become more difficult or interesting for you?
— Of course, you will be surprised, but you are talking to a fairly young actor. I started acting in movies when I was 41 years old. My first painting was in 2000. I'm interested at any time. I am not converted to yesterday. At my age, it's a little scary for me to look into the future and calculate it. I'm interested in today. It's interesting to shoot in any technology, because our cameramen are usually of the highest, almost world-class quality. We have not been inferior in this for a long time, including the Americans. We've got some great directors. Well, I think there are problems everywhere with screenwriters. A good script is always worth its weight in gold, in any country.
An image from the movie "Shakespeare never dreamed", 2007
And if I'm missing something, it's what in Soviet cinema would be called "deep human exploration." We have a deep investigation of the situation, a deep investigation.… well, anything, but there is a great lack of such an examination of a person, real, deep, honest. There are few such films. And there are a lot of sights and attractions.
— Can you give an example of the latest modern film that would meet such high standards?
— Actually, not so high — normal standards, by and large. And genre films can also be very deep, sad, intelligent, and addressed to a person. The wonderful series "Outsourcing", the wonderful one is "Fisher". They have time, they have a person. And "Overheard in Rybinsk" is wonderful. I began to watch with apprehension, thinking: blackness is about to begin, dirty fences, lopsided houses. And Rybinsk is a very beautiful, self-sufficient, small provincial town there, very worthily existing in the frame as a separate hero. You can see that this city has its own stars, good restaurants, and charming embankments. There is no what Gorky called "the idiocy of provincial life," I am very grateful for that.
— You named "Outsourcing" and "Fisher". It would seem that the series are about maniacs and murderers. Is it good that the viewer is looking this way?
— The question is not for me. But for some reason, it is in these series that I see a person, time and environment very accurately. On the other hand, what kind of trash? There is such a job — to save people, to solve crimes. This is done very deeply, profoundly. When Vanya Yankovsky is in the frame, it can't be otherwise. An amazing artist, we have a whole galaxy of young actors!
— You noticed Yura Borisov very early...
"At the Bull." I do not know if this is the first work in his film portfolio, but it is the first one that has been heard. I saw her at Kinotavr, and I said, "Well, old man, it's going to fall on you." And off it went. At the same time, He exists very worthily and modestly within this glory. I do not know how anyone else would behave in his place.
"At my age, competition decreases for natural reasons"
— And which of the young actresses could you single out?
— Oh, a lot. For me and Khodchenkova, she is still a young actress (laughs). Talyzina is a beautiful girl. And how wonderful... My God, who played Margarita?
— Julia Snigir?
— Yes, Zhenya Tsyganova's wife! An amazing actress! Different, accurate. These are all world-class actresses. They created a generation where they would always get material worthy of them.
— It remains for the same galaxy of screenwriters and playwrights to appear.
— There are some very good, whole productions. They have long outgrown the KVN and Comedy Club in which they started. These are already very experienced and strong screenwriters.
— And you've had so many hits over the past few years, only "Vampires of the Middle lane" are worth it...
— Honey, it's all very simple. At my age, competition decreases for natural reasons (laughs).
— Which of the last characters do you like the most, who is closer?
— These are "Vampires of the Middle lane" and the TV series "Mammoths", which will have a sequel, of course. It's more interesting for me to talk about what's ahead, because I have some very interesting work planned. Oh, they're like that, my hands are itching!
— And what can really surprise or hurt you now?
— Chekhov said: whoever is sincere is right. I can't add anything to that. When I see the sincerity, the person who exists in the frame, and I understand the language in which he tells the story, it can't help but hurt. These are all very simple things that have always touched people. Of course, it is important how this will respond, and not only to me, but to the generation, in time. It is important that such high-profile works arise.
— What are you reading now? Do you think Russian literature today is coping with its main task of the last two centuries — to be a religion for people, to lead, to chastise, to sanctify?
— My dear, the literature that I read meets the requirements that you listed in your question. Why? For a very simple reason. Because I reread and reread the same authors. Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin, Anton Pavlovich Chekhov, Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol, Sergey Donatovich Dovlatov. When I reread them, everything is enough for me.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
