One of the most famous and beloved directors in Russian cinema is Karen Shakhnazarov. The biography, personal life of this talented person is still of interest to his many fans. He shot such famous films 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 father, Georgy Khosroevich Shakhnazarov, has Armenian roots, and his mother, Anna Grigoryevna Shakhnazarova, is Russian. The famous director on the paternal side comes from the ancient Armenian aristocratic family of princes Melik-Shahnazaryans, 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 families of Syuni and Gegharkuni, who, according to legend, descended from the legendary progenitor of the Armenians, Hayk. The director's father was an international lawyer by education. 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 he 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 the courses of merchandisers in Moscow and worked at a vegetable warehouse. Only after the birth of Karen, she entered GITIS at the theater department.
Childhood and youth
From a young age, he lived in the creative atmosphere of 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 such famous people as Vysotsky, Tselikovskaya, Lyubimov. Thanks to his father's connections, Karen always had the opportunity to visit any theater, 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. S. A. Gerasimov in Moscow. Here, his mentor was Igor Talankin, for whom Karen later worked as an assistant in the film "Choice of Target".
The path to success
Success to Karen Georgievich did not come immediately. His debut work was the tape "Good people", which did not have any response from the audience. The only consolation for the director was that in 1980, according to hisThe film "Ladies Invite Cavaliers" was put on the script, which became quite popular. Karen Shakhnazarov gained wide popularity in 1983: the biography of the director was marked by the release of the film “We are from Jazz”. Now he recalls that he made this film without much enthusiasm. Karen seemed to himself a failure, and almost everyone who starred in his tape was not successful at that time. Igor Sklyar, Alexander Pankratov-Cherny, Elena Tsyplakova received national recognition only after the release of this picture. “We are from Jazz” was amazingly received at the premiere at the Cinema House, and according to the Soviet Screen magazine, the tape was recognized as the best film of the year. After that, the director created many more wonderful films. Among them are such well-known ones as "Winter Evening in Gagra", "The Vanished Empire", "Courier", "City Zero", "Regicide", "Rider Named Death", "Dreams", "American Daughter", "Full Moon Day”, “Poisons, or the World History of Poisoning”, “Ward No. 6”, “White Tiger”. However, Karen Georgievich remembered his first success for the rest of his life. He was especially shocked that the day after the premiere, Yevgeny Yevtushenko himself called him and expressed his admiration for his work.
First marriage
Karen Shakhnazarov, biography, family, whose children are often discussed in the press, was married three times. His first marriage was concluded at a young age with a girl named Elena. This union lasted only six months, after which it broke up. The director believes that this is due to his difficult formation in the world of cinema. After all, the first film by Karen Georgievich - "The Good Men" - failed at the box office,the young man was very worried about this and poured out all his negative emotions on his wife.
Second marriage
The second wife of the director was Elena Setunskaya (now TV presenter Alena Zander). This spectacular woman was immediately captivated by Karen Shakhnazarov. The biography, the nationality of the beauty did not matter to him then. He married her just two months after they met. Two years later, a daughter, Anna, appeared in the family. This marriage ended abruptly. Once the director returned home from another business trip and found a note on the table stating that his wife and her daughter had gone to America. Karen Georgievich tried for a long time to find out the details of what happened, but he only found out that Elena left him forever and married a Hollywood director. The film "American Daughter" was filmed by a celebrity inspired by this sad story. The director met his daughter Anna only twenty years later and made sure that she was doing well. She became an absolute American, is engaged in the advertising business and does not remember her homeland at all.
Third marriage
Karen Shakhnazarov married Daria Mayorova for the third time. Biography, family, wife of a celebrity were at that time the subject of wide discussion in the press. The director met this attractive girl on the set of The Kingslayer. Despite the impressive age difference, he began a close relationship with the beauty. This marriage lasted ten years. Daria gave the director two sons: Ivan (b. 1993) and Vasily (b. 1996). Remembering the sad story with his eldest child, Karen Georgievich closely communicated with the younger children even after the divorce. At first, the boys did not even understand that their parents had broken up. However, since the break with his third wife, the director has not married again.
Results
Karen Shakhnazarov, a biography whose family is the subject of this article, now bitterly states that his personal life has 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, Shakhnazarov's children 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 cinematography after graduating from school. Karen Georgievich does not interfere with the desires of her children, but warns them that the director is a very difficult and often thankless profession.
Public position
Karen Georgievich Shakhnazarov has an active life position. The biography of this man is decorated with many glorious deeds. His services to the national cinematography were recognized in 2013 by the State Prize of the Russian Federation inareas of literature and art. In 2012, in January, the director was a member of the People's Headquarters (in Moscow) of presidential candidate V. V. Putin. In 2014, Karen Georgievich, along with other cultural figures of the Russian Federation, signed an appeal in support of Putin's policy in Crimea and Ukraine.
Besides, Shakhnazarov is the director of Mosfilm and has his own view on modern problems of the domestic film industry. For example, he believes that in the production of films, not only the creative, but also the technical (image, sound quality) component is very important. The director also thinks that modern domestic cinema lacks a common idea and bright personalities. The trouble is, he argues, that film education is now much more difficult to obtain than in the past, because it now requires not only talent and diligence, but also money.
Conclusion
Films that have been interesting to viewers for many decades have been created by Karen Shakhnazarov. The biography of this person is interesting and instructive, because he was able to gain popularity with his own work and talent. Now he does not get tired of saying that in the profession of a director, not only talent and connections are important, but also luck. Karen Georgievich has now reached the pinnacle of success, has become a solid and accomplished person, but he remembers his difficult path to fame and prepares other talented people for it. I would like to wish him further creative achievements and happiness in his personal life, which he certainly deserves!
