Alexander Moiseevich Volodin is a popular domestic screenwriter and playwright. He has written many famous plays, which are still staged on the stages of Russian theaters. He also wrote scripts for several feature films. The most famous of them are Nikita Mikhalkov’s melodrama "Five Evenings", the tragicomedy of George Danelia "Autumn Marathon", and another sad tale of the same director - "Tears Trickled".
Playwright Biography
Alexander Moiseevich Volodin was born in Minsk. It happened in 1919. His surname at birth was Lifshits. But for obvious reasons, he subsequently took a creative pseudonym. It was difficult to achieve something with a Jewish surname in the Soviet Union.
At the age of 5, Alexander Moiseevich Volodin moved from the capital of the Byelorussian SSR to Moscow. There he stayed with his uncle, who worked as a doctor.
Passion for the stage by the future famous playwright appeared in childhood. A big role was played by his older brother, who was engaged in the creative workshop of the People's Artist of the USSR Alexei Diky, who became famous for his roles in the Moscow Art Theater and the Vakhtangov Theater.
However, when the time came to choose a profession, Alexander Moiseevich Volodin entered the Moscow Aviation Institute. However, a year later he realized that this was not his and dropped out of high school. After receiving a diploma in teacher training, Volodin went to teach Russian language and literature at a regular school in the village of Veshki in the Moscow Region.
Volodin at war
The fateful decision in his life was made in 1939 by Alexander Moiseevich Volodin. A brief biography of the playwright contains information about studying at GITIS at the theater department. However, even here they did not give a long time to study. Two months after enrolling, he received a summons to the army.
And very soon it became completely not up to the theater - the Great Patriotic War began. Alexander Moiseevich Volodin, whose photo you will find in this article, took an active part in the battles. At the front he was a sapper and signalman. He took part in the battles on the Belarusian front. He was wounded twice, after which he was treated in hospitals. He was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War of the 1st degree and the medal "For Courage".
Theater education
After the war, he did not return to GITIS, but entered the VGIK. He began to study at the scriptwriting department. He graduated in 1949. He was engaged in the creative workshop of the Honored Art Worker of the RSFSR Yevgeny Iosifovich Gabrilovich, famous for the drama “Two Fighters” by Leonid Lukov, the production drama “Communist” by Yulia Raizman, and the psychological drama “Sunday” by Mikhail Schweizer, for which he wrote the scripts.
Not all immediately developed successfully in the career of a playwright. When he graduated from VGIK, the country was fighting against cosmopolitanism, therefore, as a Jew by birth, Volodin was left without work.
He moves to Leningrad, where the situation was not so tense. In 1949 he joined the party, worked at the Lennauchfilm film studio. First, as an editor, and then as a full-time screenwriter.
In 1956, transferred to Lenfilm, became a member of the Art Council. He writes scripts.
First works
The first collection of stories Volodin saw the light in 1954. But the first play was written in the 56th. She became the "Factory Girl", which was immediately put on in the Stavropol Drama Theater and the Central Theater of the Soviet Army. It was a performance in which it was clearly shown how the team breaks down a person trying to confront him.
The second play brought popularity to Alexander Moiseevich Volodin. The work "Five Evenings" immediately went to the Bolshoi Drama Theater. It was directed by director Georgy Tovstonogov. This immediately became one of the main events of cultural life.
The plays of Volodin evoked conflicting feelings among the audience and critics. Some were ready for them to go to another city, others were accused of pessimism, decadent moods, interest in the fate of small people who could not arrange their lives.
Volodin's third work is considered the least successful. The play "Away and Home", staged just once, then forever left the theatrical stage. But the following works again returned his name to the front pages. “My Elder Sister” and “Appointment” were staged at the Bolshoi Drama Theater. The latter spoke of a decent person who, at a crucial moment, shows weakness and refuses a high post. But when he finds out who will take this place, he reconsiders his decision. The main role in the play was played by Oleg Efremov.
Movie scripts
In the early 60s, Alexander Moiseevich Volodin began to compose for cinema. The writer, who only worked with dramatic material for this, discovered new possibilities. The short film "Last Summer" was the first.
And already in 1965, the first full-length film according to the script of Volodin was released. This is Alexander Mitta’s film novel “They Call, Open the Door”. The story of a fifth grader Tanya, who is in love with a pioneer leader. To please him, she begins to look for interesting people who were the first pioneers. Hoping that this will help her lover realize a large school project dedicated to Pioneer Day.
In 1967, Volodin made the first film as a director in his own script. The melodrama "An incident that no one noticed" is a story about a saleswoman in a greengrocer who dreams of great love. For this, she wants to become beautiful. Like in a fairy tale, one day this happens. However, the beauty that she so dreamed about disappoints the heroine.
Success in the cinema
Certain success in the cinema was achieved by Volodin. With great success in 1978 was the film adaptation of his famous play "Five Evenings" by Nikita Mikhalkov. The story of the meeting of a man and a woman after years of separation caused by the war received positive reviews from both viewers and critics. The main roles were played by Lyudmila Gurchenko and Stanislav Lyubshin.
In the 70s Volodin returned to work in the theater. He writes the plays “Do not part with your beloved” and “Dulsineya Tobos”, which were also later filmed.
At the same time, the playwright does not leave work on the set. In 1974, according to his script, Sergei Gerasimov directed the melodrama "Daughters and Mothers." About a graduate of an orphanage who wants to track down her mother. And in 1979, George Danelia made the most famous film based on Volodin’s work - the tragicomedy Autumn Marathon. Oleg Basilashvili, Natalya Gundareva and Marina Neyolova play on the set a sad philosophical story about a man who is trying to lead a double life, into two families, but as a result he realizes that he is driving himself into a corner.
In addition to dramatic and philosophical episodes, the picture has many humorous scenes. They are especially good in the performance of Evgeny Leonov, who played the main character's neighbor Vasily Kharitonov.
Plays and scripts have never been limited to the work of Volodin. He also wrote poetry and prose. Mostly memoirs.
Creativity rating
Critics attribute Volodin to the generation of playwright “sixties”. Their main distinguishing feature is the opposition in their plays of the tendencies that existed in the Stalinist theater, when the hero always defended collective interests. In the works of the “sixties” the main characters constantly come into conflict with the collective. Its heroes are people swimming against the current, who rebel against all that is generally accepted. This is the main feature of his work.
