Karen Shakhnazarov criticized the idea of remaking Soviet films
Photo: Vladimir VELENGURIN. Go to Photobank KP
The Union of Cinematographers of the Russian Federation received a letter from the Department of Cinematography and Digital Development of the Ministry of Culture of Russia, which contains proposals (from the Ministry of Education) for the film adaptation of historical works and the creation of films for children and young people. The goal of this initiative is good: the preservation of historical memory and the formation of patriotism.
The list of films to be remade includes 30 Soviet films, including the greats: “Cranes Are Flying” by Mikhail Kalatozov, “Alexander Nevsky” and “Ivan the Terrible” by Sergei Eisenstein, “War and Peace” and “The Fate of a Man” by Sergei Bondarchuk, “Sotnikov” by Larisa Shepitko, “Star of Captivating Happiness” by Vladimir Motyl…
In total, 30 films will be screened, including Yuri Kara’s film “Zavra Was War”. Unlike Eisenstein and Kalatozov, Yuri Viktorovich Kara, thank God, is alive and well. Is he ready to remake his wonderful war film? And what will he say if someone else does it? You have questions.
The list of possible remakes also includes: “At the Beginning of Glorious Deeds” and “Peter’s Youth” by Sergei Gerasimov, “Seryozha” by Georgy Danelia, “How the Steel Was Tempered” by Nikolai Mashchenko, “Alpine Ballad” by Boris Stepanov, etc.
In addition, the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation proposed to film 15 works of Russian literature to create films primarily for children and young people: “Sevastopol Stories” by Leo Tolstoy, “The Adventures of the Rhinoceros Beetle” by Konstantin Paustovsky, “Matrenin’s Dvor” by Alexander Solzhenitsyn, “Apple Savior” by Evgeny Nosov, “Blue Dragonfly” by Mikhail Prishvin, “Far and Near Fairy Tale” by Viktor Astafiev, “The Adventure of the Rhinoceros Beetle”, “The King of Arbat” by Vladimir Chachin, etc.
We discussed this idea with Mosfilm CEO Karen Shakhnazarov.
– Karen Georgievich, what do you think about the list of 30 Soviet films suitable for patriotic remakes?…
– This list contains wonderful Soviet films, and some of them are simply great… But I would like to ask the officials who took the initiative to make remakes, where will they find Bonadrchuk, Kalatozov or Eisenstein today?… Do they have such authors? Honestly, what surprises me is not so much the recklessness of such ideas, but the ease with which we admit our absolute creative impotence. We can only make remakes! This is a very bad symptom for our time. The recognition that today we cannot generate new and interesting creative ideas, that this poses huge problems.
In general, I think that any remake is a useless undertaking. It always turns out worse than the original.
– But I don’t understand why you should remake old films when your Mosfilm studio is constantly restoring the best Soviet films, including patriotic ones, after which they turn out to be “new”.
– More than 200 iconic films of the 20th century have already been restored in our film studio. These films have been reconstructed, restored and digitized. They have modern color and sound. Archive films have been given a new digital life. You can watch them for free (!) in the Mosfilm online cinema.
And it has already been watched by tens of millions of people around the world. We make subtitles in many foreign languages. We have millions of views abroad…
Well, as for the topic of our conversation… We cannot rely solely on Soviet baggage. Although I have never denied and do not deny the merits of Soviet cinema. But today we need to create a modern culture, we need to educate young people with modern examples. We cannot live only on ideas, merits and victories of past years.
The Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation has clarified information regarding the proposal to remake Soviet films:
“As usual, the Ministry of Culture was given a list of masterpieces of Russian cinema, knowledge of which seems important for the education of the younger generation. The proposal also contains the idea of a possible new film adaptation of classic works using modern means of national cinema. The list is intended for discussion by the expert community.”
