One of the most famous and beloved directors in Russian cinema is Karen Shakhnazarov. The biography, the personal life of this talented man is now of interest to his many fans. He made such famous paintings as “We Are From Jazz”, “Courier”, “American Daughter” and many others. The most famous people in the domestic film industry dream of working with him. This famous director will be discussed in this article.
Origin
Karen Shakhnazarov, whose biography is famous for his creative achievements, was born in 1952, on July 8, in the city of Krasnodar. His dad, Georgy Khosroevich Shakhnazarov, has Armenian roots, and his mother, Anna Grigoryevna Shakhnazarova, is Russian. The famous paternal director comes from the ancient Armenian aristocratic family of princes Melik-Shakhnazaryans, who ruled one of the provinces of Nagorno-Karabakh in the Middle Ages. Some believe that the ancestors of Karen Shakhnazarov were the offspring of the ancient clans of Suni and Gegharkuni, which, according to legend, came from the legendary ancestor of Armenians Hayk. The director's father was an international lawyer by training. Over time, he became a well-known nomenclature worker, a corresponding member of the USSR Academy of Sciences, and in the last years of his life was an assistant to Mikhail Gorbachev. And the mother of the future celebrity grew up in a very poor family. Before meeting her husband, she graduated from commodity courses in Moscow and worked at a vegetable warehouse. Only after the birth of Karen did she enter GITIS at the theater department.
Childhood and youth
From a young age, he lived in a creative atmosphere Karen Shakhnazarov. The biography of the future director was very different from that of other Soviet children of that period, because his father was a very influential person. Guests often came to the Shakhnazarovs house, among them were such famous people as Vysotsky, Tselikovskaya, Lyubimov. Thanks to his father’s connections, Karen always had the opportunity to attend any theaters, go to the most sensational productions. The young man, along with his parents, went to all exhibitions and art galleries. It is not surprising that Shakhnazarov chose a creative path for himself and in 1975 graduated from the directing department of the All-Russian State Institute of Cinematography named after S. A. Gerasimov in Moscow. Here, his mentor was Igor Talankin, whom Karen subsequently worked as an assistant in the film “Target Selection”.
Way to success
Success did not come to Karen Georgievich right away. His debut work was the film "Good Kind", which had no response from the audience. The only consolation for the director was that in 1980, according to his script, the film “Ladies Invite Cavaliers” was set, which became quite popular. Karen Shakhnazarov gained wide fame in 1983: the director’s biography was marked by the release of the film “We Are From Jazz”. Now he recalls that he shot this film without much enthusiasm. Karen seemed to himself a failure, and almost everyone who starred in his tape at that time was not successful. Igor Sklyar, Alexander Pankratov-Cherny, Elena Tsyplakova received national recognition only after the release of this picture. “We are from jazz” were amazingly accepted at the premiere at the Cinema House, and according to the version of the magazine “Soviet Screen”, the tape was recognized as the best film of the year. After that, the director created many more wonderful films. Among them are such famous ones as “Winter Evening in Gagra”, “The Vanished Empire”, “Courier”, “City of Zero”, “Regicide”, “Horseman named Death”, “Dreams”, “American Daughter”, “Full Moon Day” ", " Poisons, or World History of Poisoning ", " House No. 6 ", " White Tiger. " However, Karen Georgievich remembered his first success for life. He was particularly shocked that the day after the premiere, Yevgeny Yevtushenko himself called him and expressed his admiration for his work.
First marriage
Karen Shakhnazarov, a biography, a family whose children are often discussed in the press, was married three times. His first marriage was at a young age with a girl named Elena. This union lasted only six months, and then broke up. The director believes that this is due to his difficult formation in the world of cinema. After all, the first film of Karen Georgievich - “Goodasses” - failed at the box office, the young man was very worried about this and poured all his negative emotions on his wife.
Second marriage
The second wife of the director was Setunskaya Elena (now TV presenter Alena Zander). This spectacular woman was immediately conquered by Karen Shakhnazarov. The biography, nationality of the beauty then had no meaning for him. He married her only two months after meeting. Two years later, the daughter of Anna appeared in the family. This marriage ended abruptly. Once the director returned home from another business trip and found on the table a note saying that his wife and her daughter had left for America. Karen Georgievich tried for a long time to find out the details of what happened, but found out only that Elena left him forever and married a Hollywood director. The film "American Daughter" was shot by a celebrity under the impression of this sad story. The director met his daughter Anna only twenty years later and was convinced that she was doing well. She became an absolute American, engaged in the advertising business and does not remember her homeland at all.
Third marriage
The third time he married Daria Mayorova Karen Shakhnazarov. The biography, family, wife of a celebrity was at that time the subject of wide discussion in the press. The director met this attractive girl on the set of the movie "Regicide". Despite the impressive difference in age, he developed a close relationship with the beauty. This marriage lasted ten years. Daria gave the director two sons: Ivan (born in 1993) and Vasily (born in 1996). Remembering the sad story with his eldest child, Karen Georgievich closely communicated with younger children after the divorce. At first, the boys did not even realize that their parents had broken up. However, since the breakup with his third wife, the director never married again.
Summary
Karen Shakhnazarov, a biography whose family is the subject of this article, now bitterly states that his personal life failed. Moreover, he blames only himself for this, because he devoted his whole life to cinema, often ignoring the desires and needs of his loved ones. Now the director already doubts that such serious sacrifices were necessary, because in recent years his faith in the power of cinema has been greatly shaken. However, the children of Shakhnazarov want to follow in his footsteps. The eldest son, Ivan, has already received his first prize for a short film, the youngest, Vasily, also plans to connect his life with cinema at the end of school. Karen Georgievich does not interfere with the desires of his children, but warns them that the director is a very complex and often ungrateful profession.
Public position
Karen Georgievich Shakhnazarov has an active lifestyle. The biography of this man is decorated with many glorious deeds. His services to domestic cinema were noted in 2013 with the award of the State Prize of the Russian Federation in the field of literature and art. In 2012, in January, the director was a member of the National Headquarters (in Moscow) of presidential candidate V.V. Putin. In 2014, Karen Georgievich, together with other cultural figures of the Russian Federation, signed an appeal in support of Putin's policies in the Crimea and Ukraine.
In addition, Shakhnazarov is the director of Mosfilm and has his own view on the current problems of the domestic film industry. For example, he believes that in the production of films not only creative but also technical (image, sound quality) component is very important. The director also thinks that contemporary Russian cinema lacks a common idea and bright personalities. The trouble is, he argues, that getting a cinematic education is now much more difficult than in past times, because for this now not only talent and diligence are needed, but also money.
