Russian film director Vladimir Bortko: photo, biography, creativity and interesting facts

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:40

"Heart of a Dog", "Afghan Break", "Blonde around the Corner", "Once Lied", "Gangster Petersburg", "Master and Margarita", "Idiot" - film and television projects that made the audience remember Vladimir Bortko. The talented director has enough opponents, but even they recognize his contribution to the development of domestic cinema. What can you tell about the master, his life and creative achievements?

Vladimir Bortko: family, childhood

The director was born in Moscow, it happened in May 1946. The family of Vladimir Bortko was directly related to the world of dramatic art. The boy's mother was an actress, his father was a theater director. Shortly after the birth of their son, the family moved to Kyiv, where the first years of the life of the future star passed.

Volodya was still a child when his parents divorced. The boy stayed with his mother.

Youth years

By the timegraduation from school, Vladimir Bortko has not yet decided on the choice of profession. He graduated from the Geological Prospecting College, and then went into the army. While the son served, the mother married a second time. She connected her fate with the playwright and writer Alexander Korneichuk.

Having given a long time to his native country, Vladimir returned home. His relationship with his stepfather did not work out, they constantly quarreled. Bortko worked for some time in the "Voenproekt" as an electrical technician, and then decided to get a higher education. The choice of a young man fell on the Kyiv Institute of Theater Arts. He managed to enter on the first attempt, he was taken to his workshop by Rodion Efimenko. The young man received a university diploma in 1974.

First successes

After graduating from the Kyiv Institute of Theater Arts, the young man began to collaborate with the Dovzhenko film studio. In 1975, Vladimir Bortko presented his first painting to the audience. His filmography began with the drama "Channel", which tells about the everyday life of young builders. The picture was warmly received by critics, awarded prizes at a number of domestic film festivals.

Already in 1978, a new film by Bortko was released. The drama "Commission of Inquiry" begins with an accident that occurs at a nuclear power plant. A special commission arrives at the scene in order to find the perpetrators. The main roles in this tape were played by Irina Miroshnichenko and Oleg Efremov.

In 1980, Vladimir decided to move to Leningrad. Then began his fruitfulcollaboration with Lenfilm.

Blonde around the corner

In 1984 Vladimir Bortko presented the comedy melodrama "Blonde Around the Corner" to the audience. The film about the love of a former astrophysicist for a saleswoman made an indelible impression on the audience. Tatyana Dogileva and Andrey Mironov brilliantly played the main roles.

The protagonist of the picture is a former scientist who spent half his life looking for extraterrestrial civilizations. Over the years of work, he has not amassed material we alth, and does not really strive for this. Fate disposes so that the former astrophysicist is forced to get a job as a loader in a local supermarket. His attention is attracted by a charming saleswoman in the gastronomic department. The hero falls in love with this businesslike and assertive young lady, not realizing how different their views on life are.

Heart of a Dog

"Heart of a Dog" - a picture that Vladimir Vladimirovich Bortko presented to the audience in 1988. The plot of this black-and-white film is borrowed from the work of the same name by Mikhail Bulgakov.

The action takes place in the twenties. The film tells about a bold experiment, which is decided by a talented surgeon Preobrazhensky. The hero transplants the human pituitary gland and seminal glands into the dog. An alcoholic and rowdy Chugunkin, who found his death in a fight, becomes an organ donor. The role of the guinea pig is assigned to the homeless dog Sharik. The operation is successful, but events unfold in such a way that the surgeon begins to regretabout what he did.

Many famous actors tried to get the role of Sharikov, for example, Nikolai Karachentsov applied for it. However, Bortko gave preference to Vladimir Tolokonnikov, which he did not have to regret. The image of Professor Preobrazhensky was brilliantly performed by Evgeny Evstigneev. The film won the hearts of thousands of viewers.

Afghan break

“The Afghan Break” is another famous film directed by Vladimir Bortko. The military drama tells about the events that take place on the eve of the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan. The son of a high-ranking military man arrives in a paratrooper unit at the very end of the war. Everyone understands that the guy was sent here so that he "participated" in the hostilities and deserved awards. However, it soon becomes clear that every soldier is still in danger.

The audience liked the picture not only because of the fascinating plot. It is impossible not to note her truly stellar composition. The main roles were played by Alexei Serebryakov, Tatyana Dogileva, Viktor Proskurin, Alexander Rosenbaum, Yuri Kuznetsov, Andrey Krasko, Nina Ruslanova. The newly arrived senior lieutenant was convincingly played by Philip Jankowski.

TV series

Vladimir Vladimirovich became famous not only as a creator of high-quality films. Long-running TV projects are also successful for him. In 2000, the master presented the series “Gangster Petersburg. Baron. The story begins with the thief in law Yuri Mikheev robbing the apartment of a famous collector. A very valuable painting is included in the list of stolen things. Aegina by Rembrandt. The bandits are doing their best to get her back. Yuri Mikheev is trying to prevent them, for which he gets in touch with the famous journalist Andrei Obnorsky.

A few months later, the series "Gangster Petersburg 2: Lawyer" was released. The TV project tells the story of childhood friends who, by the will of fate, turn into criminals. Both parts of the TV project gathered a huge audience. The cast included many stars of Russian cinema, including Alexander Domogarov, Alexei Serebryakov, Dmitry Pevtsov and Olga Drozdova. It is impossible not to mention that the image of the king of bandits named "Antibiotic" was brilliantly embodied by Lev Durov.

In 2003, Vladimir Bortko presented to the audience court a film adaptation of Fyodor Dostoevsky's work "The Idiot". The main roles in this series were played by Vladimir Mashkov, Evgeny Mironov, Inna Churikova, Oleg Basilashvili, Lidia Velezheva and Olga Budina.

“Peter the Great. Testament”is a mini-series that won the hearts of viewers who like to watch palace intrigues. This historical drama tells about the last years of the life of the famous Russian emperor, tells about his last love. In his declining years, Peter the Great fell in love with Princess Maria Cantemir, who was considered one of the most educated women of her era. She was supposed to become an empress, give birth to a child for him. However, the untimely death of the king and the intrigues of the nobility prevented this.

Filmography

What series and films did Vladimir Bortko manage to shoot by the age of 71? A list of the famous director's creations is given below:

• "Channel".
• "Commission of Inquiry".
• "My dad is an idealist."
• "Blonde around the corner".
• "No family".
• "Exception without rules".
• "I once lied"
• "Heart of a Dog".
• "Afghan kink".
• "Good luck to you gentlemen."
• Streets of Broken Lanterns.
• "The circus burned down and the clowns fled."
• "Gangster Petersburg: Baron".
• "Gangster Petersburg 2: Lawyer".
• "Idiot".
• "The Master and Margarita".
• "Taras Bulba".
• “Peter the Great. Will.”
• Spirit of a Spy.
• "About love".
• "City Murder".

The Master and Margarita

The film adaptation of Mikhail Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita, which Bortko completed in 2005, deserves special mention. Events unfold in 1935 in the capital. It all starts with the appearance in Moscow of Woland and his retinue. The prince of darkness is trying to understand what the new people are, whether they deserve destruction or forgiveness.

The series, like many other creations of the director, was a great success with the audience. Not to mention the stellar cast. Oleg Basilashvili, Kirill Lavrov, Alexander Abdulov, Vladislav Galkin, SergeyBezrukov, Anna Kovalchuk.

Private life

From the biography of Vladimir Bortko it follows that for many years he has been married to one woman. Natalia is directly related to the world of dramatic art, she is a screenwriter by profession.

Vladimir and Natalia have a son, who was named after his father, following a family tradition. The father and grandfather of the famous director were also named. Vladimir did not follow in his parental footsteps, his professional activities have nothing to do with the world of cinema.

There is little information about Bortko's personal life. This is due to the fact that the famous director flatly refuses to touch on this topic in conversations with the press.

Interesting facts

What else is known about Vladimir Vladimirovich? It is impossible not to mention that many believe that the director is a relative of his colleague Nikita Mikhalkov. This misconception is directly related to the external similarity of the masters. Bortko and Mikhalkov are not really related.

In his youth, Vladimir Vladimirovich established himself as an ardent opponent of the Soviet regime in general and the Communists in particular. His negative attitude was largely due to the fact that in the infamous 1937, his grandfather, also called Vladimir, was unjustly shot. Gradually, the beliefs of the talented director changed. For eight years, Bortko was a member of the CPSU, he joined this party in 1983 and left its ranks in 1991.

Twice-famous director was elected MPState Duma of the Russian Federation, this happened in 2011 and in 2016. The master repeatedly mentioned in his interviews that he considers socialism to be the future of Russia. The director owes it to his political views that he has a lot of opponents. A large number of enemies does not bother Bortko at all.