"He said that the director was insane in the process of work"

"The Crew", "Chagall – Malevich", "The Border. The Taiga Novel", "My friend, Kolka!...", "The bell is ringing, open the door" – these and other beloved films of Alexander Mitta (director, screenwriter, producer, actor, teacher and artist) were remembered on July 17 in Moscow. The People's Artist passed away at the age of 92. The farewell ceremony took place at the Central House of Writers, where his relatives, colleagues and students, who have become the main faces of Russian cinema today, came. For more information, see the Izvestia report.

"The creator is absolutely restless, unstoppable and reckless"

Since the morning, so many people have gathered at the doors of the Central House of Writers that they almost blocked the road for pedestrians. On this day, they said goodbye to Alexander Mitta, the director of iconic paintings. He started his journey with stories about teenagers. He made his debut in 1961 with the drama "My Friend, Kolka!...", followed by the film news "Ring, open the Door" with the young Elena Proklova, and the comedy "Dot, dot, comma..." with Yuri Nikulin.

Later, Alexander Mitta discovered the genre of disaster film for the Russian audience. His "Crew" (1979) became one of the rental leaders and brought more than 70 million people to cinemas. And when the eight-episode melodrama "Border. Taiga novel" – a large audience clung to the TV screens.

Much of what the audience saw in his films was born in an endless flight of fantasy right on the set. Alexander Mitta's colleagues unanimously recall him as an absolutely restless, irrepressible and gambling creator.

— He was making it up on the fly! — Elena Panova, who performed in The Border, told Izvestia. The Taiga novel" the role of Galina Zhgut. — We filmed in a military town, and I lived there. Sometimes on weekends they would come running to me and say, "Lena, get to the playground right away! Alexander Naumovich has come up with an episode for you!" So, for example, there was a scene where Renata Litvinova and I are walking with empty three-liter cans. The process was unstoppable! (Laughs). Absolutely amazing energy! It really seemed like he could appear in different places at the same time, and sometimes we couldn't keep up with him. For me, working with Alexander Naumovich was a joy. I am grateful to him for the role that has become my calling card, and for putting me in his orbit.

For her colleague in the project, Alexander Karpilovsky, an actor and now also a director who shot the first season of the hit TV series "Lilies of the Valley" and "Christmas Trees 11", the role in "Taiga Romance" became her film debut. He played Private Nikolai Vasyutin, who is driven by hazing to attempt suicide. He says he was initially given much less space in the script.

— At that time, I was studying with Alexander Naumovich at the higher courses of screenwriters and directors, and I was doing an internship in this film. My role was simple because-insofar as –I was at hand, and when any ideas came up on the set, he used me. And my story has grown from a small episode," Alexander Karpilovsky shared with Izvestia. — He had a fountain of ideas all the time. He said that the director was deranged and in a changed state in the process of work. He was in this altered state — he lived by the movie, he was always inventing something, from morning to night he talked only about this movie, he was writing something all the time.

And yet, colleagues recall, he was always drawing something. He turned this talent into a method that has educated many of today's masters.

—For me, he is remembered both as the favorite director of my childhood thanks to "The Crew" and "The Tale of Wanderings", and then as a master of drama and just as an artist. I was lucky — I managed to take his courses, and then it was a great discovery for me how he drew. Alexander Naumovich told how the story is built through the image, as cinematographers do. He always drew in his lectures, and it became much clearer and more convenient. He was able to do it absolutely brilliantly," Boris Mashkovtsev, CEO of Soyuzmultfilm Studio, told Izvestia, who came to say goodbye to the teacher.

"Mitta understood all the people he worked with very accurately"

Vasily Tsereteli, President of the Russian Academy of Arts, director Valeria Guy Germanika, actor Mikhail Gorevoy, rock musician Garik Sukachev, honored coach Tatyana Tarasova, media manager Konstantin Ernst, Nikita Vysotsky– the son of Vladimir Vysotsky, who starred in Mitta's historical melodrama "The Tale of how Tsar Peter the Arapa Married" (1976), directed by Nikolai Lebedev. His 2016 "Crew" was Alexander Mitta's last acting work. There he played a cameo role.

— When he took my script for "The Crew" just to get acquainted, he sat down and began to draw his own storyboards. He was so interested in everything! — Lebedev shared. – Off the court, he was exactly the same — adventurous, restless, funny, very responsive. When he starred in my Crew, he was a little out of sorts. He sat patiently, but said, "Well, let me go!" We took it off. At night he calls me: "Listen! You have such a band! I've never seen anything like this before! That's great! What interesting people! Can I come to you again?" I thought he was joking, but he really came and walked, looked at the scenery, marveled at how it was done, how it was thought up.,

According to Nikolai Lebedev, Alexander Mitta studied people with the same great interest and was able to feel them.

— We once agreed to meet here at the Writers' House. I wanted to introduce him to Danila Kozlovsky. Mitta was thinking about the painting "Chagall—Malevich" at that moment. Dana was about 27-28 years old at the time. They immediately agreed on something. I was even jealous — he's my artist! (laughs). And they were talking in the same language with him. And then Mitta boarded a train and went to St. Petersburg to watch him on stage. Then he called me and said, "He's an amazing theater artist." I said I knew, and he said, "No! You don't understand. He works great in movies, but when he goes on stage, he starts developing second by second, and it leads to a climax!" Mitta understood all the people he worked with very accurately. He was absolutely restless.

In the hall where the ceremony took place, the audience saw the director in a different way – in a portrait painted by his son, the artist Evgeny Mitta. In the painting, Alexander Mitta is thoughtful and calm, busy studying the material, sitting in an armchair.