Peter Balabanov Biography

Maxim Ershov talked with a young filmmaker with a famous surname about the recent documentary of Lyubov Arc “Balabanov. Requiem ”, parish in the profession and favorite business. Recently at the box office was the documentary of Lyubov Arkus “Balabanov. Have you watched him? Yes, I looked. How difficult it was to recall the events of almost a ten -year ago and what are your impressions of the film?

The film, of course, has difficult moments. It’s generally difficult for me to watch a documentary movie about dad. By the way, for some reason, the love of the film from all of them was the easiest to watch. But for relatives it is really heavy. In general, watching about the last years of a person’s life is a rather strong sight for his relatives who saw all this live.

Perhaps someone wanted to forget, someone forgot, someone is not. I can say that the film is very good, and therefore it is not so difficult to watch it. You understand that all this is done not just as a documentary shooting of life, all this was removed with the idea and with the playwright correct. There is integrity, everything is shown not in vain. Frame from the film "Balabanov.

Requiem ", dir. Lyubov Arkus in the film Alexei Oktyabrinovich says that his paintings will not be interested in anyone in years. At the same time, in the year, there were two “brothers” in the second rental, a documentary of Lyubov Arcus. Last year, I saw a film about Sergey Bodrov at Kinotavr - the youngest “There will be no others”, where, of course, there were also Sergey Selvanov and Alexei Balabanov.

And the exhibition is now large in Sevkabel. In the public field of Russia, films obviously did not forget and will not forget soon. It seems to me that he said so because he did not believe in a new generation. Dad so felt the gap between his understanding of the world and mine and Fedkin, that is, our generation. He did not believe. It seemed to him that we were not at all interested in what he was interested in.

Accordingly, we will not be interested in this. And he also thought about everyone else: that we are only interested in computers, games and nothing more. But in fact, he simply did not wait. I began to interest me and everything that was connected with him, precisely when dad died. Therefore, I entered the university, began to study cinema from the point of view of a filmmaker. It seems to me that dad simply did not believe, so he said so.

As for me, yes, these films were certainly influenced by me, especially when I wrote a thesis. I studied his filmography throughout the year in terms of filming. And, of course, when I understood how the cinema is being built and what techniques are built, I realized that dad has a huge range of techniques in the films, it is teeming with them. Everywhere subtext, everywhere you can read between the lines, and it is very cool, very interesting to study it.

How do you feel about such a term as “Balabanism”? It seems that in Russian cinema they periodically mean films in which Russia shows Russia without embellishment. I say so uncertainly, because, in my opinion, these are just copyright films. It is not customary to embellish anything in them. Maybe this term appeared simply because your dad openly and honestly spoke about his homeland?

Or do you think such a term has some other origins? It seems to me that there is a combination. And the fact that you say that he really stated reality and in fact she did not go far from the truth, remained the same. People see this and say: “Oh, well, it’s like Balabanov shot it, because the same tin happens.” But it also seems to me that all the people who watched the “brother” and know all this aesthetics X, and they have in cities who are not Petersburg, not Moscow, they can say that, of course, because really nothing has changed.

They watch cinema, go out into the street, and there is the same, they see a hoodie around. Is this any additional responsibility? This is the answer to the question why I did not become a director.

I had a choice of what to do. I always understood that I wanted to go to the cinema, but I knew that it was difficult to go to the directors when you did not know that you want to shoot. This is time. And when they expect you to remove something from you, you will be more closely attention. And the first films, they always come out lumpy, so I was very afraid to shoot something of my own.

Again, because, probably, that there is the influence of surnames. But with all this, I never seemed to be a surname in Russia, I was always a name. Hello, I'm Petya. Then we can say. And here, for example, in America, I had to reconsider my views, because otherwise no one listens to you. And in fact, the surname helps. Although it is very unusual for me, now that I am meeting, and I say this.

Watching the movie? So I am engaged in cinema. Then they listen to you, it is more likely that they will call somewhere or something else. So, probably helps. Although I do not really use it. Now there will be a sharp turn. How did you decide to become a movie artist? Maybe he often visited the sets, or is my mother's experience affected? I have been to the set, of course.

But by the way, I don’t know how it happened that I became a movie artist.More precisely, I do not remember very well. I painted because my mother always painted. I thought, well, then I will also draw why not. I graduated from an art school. And then the moment came when it was necessary to choose a university. I was absolutely purple, I didn't want to do anything. That year, the dad just died.

Mom came up to me, asked what you want, leave or stay. I said I don't really know. Mom said, go talk to Vladimir Iosifovich Svetozarov. He said: "Petka, come on to my course, we will shoot a movie with you, do, draw, will be cool." And the university was a five -minute walk from the house. Therefore, I said: “Well, okay,” and went there. For the first two years I almost did not understand what I was doing.

But then, in the second, when he almost flew out, he began to study. From that moment it rushed. I realized that here it is, cool, cinema, an unusual profession. After all, there are many other professions, and I always worried that I do not want to work on something one thing, I don’t know, go to the office, that I would get tired of it, that I will be unhappy. I had some such experiences.

And I thought, you can immediately communicate, draw, build, and draw, and come up with worlds. I liked the worlds to invent. But I don’t want to stop there. Plus, I knew that a lot of directors came from the profession of an artist-winner, like my beloved director Robert Eggers. Yes, just wanted to remember him. Therefore, of course, depending on his projects, I understand that very much attention is paid to the texture, decorations, and the atmosphere in which his heroes are.

This is a very cool movie. Of course, I would like to work with him, or to do something like this myself. Maybe I was looking badly, but I got the impression that you give little interviews.