Soviet playwright Braginsky Emil Veniaminovich is well known to several generations of domestic moviegoers. At least the part of them that has a habit of carefully reading the credits of their favorite films. But the biographical details of the life of the man who composed all these stories that underlie the cinema are almost unknown to the general public. Let's try to correct this omission.
From the biography of the playwright
Braginsky Emil was born on November 19, 1921 in Moscow. He walked a long and winding path towards his vocation through many life difficulties and problems, among which were a semi-homeless childhood, and admission to a medical institute, and work as a nurse in front-line hospitals during the war, and evacuation to the capital of Tajikistan after being wounded. At the same time, Braginsky Emil devoted all his free time to literary creativity, to which he felt a spiritual inclination.
He was good at telling various stories that happened to himself or to his acquaintances. People listened to them with pleasure, and the author knew how to make the most ordinary life situations interesting for the listener.situations. In the future, this ability was very useful to the writer in his work. Why didn't he enter the literary institute? According to his own assurance, he simply did not know about the existence of such an educational institution.
After the war
Not many people know that Emil Braginsky is a lawyer by profession. He successfully graduated from the Law Institute in 1953. But he did not make a career in this area. More importantly, it was during these years that Braginsky Emil decided on the final choice of his life path. As is often the case, the turning point in the fate of the writer was an accident. One day, Emil Braginsky, whose biography had developed far from literature until that moment, received an invitation to become a freelance correspondent for the regional newspaper "Soviet Latvia" in Moscow and the Moscow region.
The reason for this tempting proposal for a novice writer was an essay about a chess tournament. Shortly before that, Braginsky Emil sent this report to the newspaper without much hope of success. But the style and characteristic humor of the notes were duly appreciated by the editors, which made it possible for the author to engage in literature on a professional basis and receive money for it. Braginsky Emil did not miss his chance.
Floating freely
Carrying out routine journalistic work for several years, the writer stubbornly walked towards the intended goal. However, the road to recognition was a long one, and quite often his manuscripts were returned from the editors of literary magazines with negative reviews. ButHere in the scenario edition of "Mosfilm" everything was somewhat different. The works of the novice writer were met with understanding there, and two of them - "The Case in the Square 45" and "The Mexican" based on the story of the same name by Jack London - were accepted for implementation. However, Emil Braginsky himself, whose filmography includes dozens of works, preferred to consider his debut in big cinema a biopic about the great Russian artist Vasily Surikov. It was delivered in 1959.
Opened window
With a special feeling, Emil Braginsky, whose plays in subsequent years were successfully staged in many theaters of the Soviet Union, recalled his debut on the stage. They became the play "The Open Window", staged by director Alexander Aronov at the Stanislavsky Theater. The performance quickly gained popularity and gathered full houses. This circumstance caused a characteristic reaction of semi-official theater critics.
The author was accused of predilection for petty philistine topics and ignoring the global tasks of building a bright communist future. And, most surprisingly, in the absence of a sense of humor. In a play, over which the whole audience laughed contagiously throughout its action! But the author by that time already had a stable immunity to the sentences of such connoisseurs. The only thing that mattered to him was the fact that in the professional theater community of actors and directors, his work was accepted with respect. It is thanks to this play that its authorreceived several offers and applications for comedy scripts for Mosfilm at once.
Eldar Ryazanov
There is no point in proving that the meeting with the outstanding Soviet director Eldar Alexandrovich Ryazanov was of decisive importance in the fate of the screenwriter Emil Braginsky. However, this was no less important for Ryazanov himself. And by the time they met, his creative career was still beginning, he was just about to become a great director.
One way or another, the creative collaboration of these artists lasted about thirty years. And many of his results have become classics of Soviet and Russian cinematography.
This creative union had its own well-established principles of relationships - any of the authors could impose an objection to a particular thought, plot twist or just a word. The co-authors met almost every day - either at one or the other, at home or in Mosfilm's office.
Watch out for the car
Emil Braginsky, whose script books have become teaching aids for several generations of Soviet and Russian screenwriters, usually opened collections of his screenwriting with this particular work. And not only because it was an enchanting success throughout the Soviet Union and far beyond its borders. It was in the script of the film "Beware of the Car" that the features of the author's style were most clearly manifested, which for many years will become the main for the creative community of Braginsky and Ryazanov. ATThe scenario was based on a real story from the police chronicle. Emil Braginsky, whose films often amaze with a bold flight of fancy, did not add much of himself to this criminal plot about car theft.
For Soviet cinematography, the film was unique due to the fact that a purely negative character evoked sympathy and empathy from the audience.
Irony of Fate…
If the expression "cult film" has any real meaning, then first of all it should be attributed to this New Year's fairy tale. This work has stood the test of time and has withstood that test. It will not be an exaggeration to say that the film only gets better the deeper into the past the New Year's premiere of "Irony …" goes into the past in December 1975. Like a good cognac, this film acquires new qualities over time. Meeting the New Year without the "Irony of Fate …" on several television channels at the same time is almost as difficult to imagine as without champagne and a Christmas tree. It is impossible to say whose merit in the success of this film is more significant - the director or the actor's constellation.
With all certainty, we can only say that without the dramaturgy of Emil Braginsky there would be nothing to talk about. Replies and dialogues from"Irony of Fate.." is written in such a way that it can be used as a teaching aid for teaching young screenwriters. There is nothing surprising in the fact that they have diverged into quotes.
Achievements and awards
It would be some exaggeration to say that the entire filmography of Emil Braginsky consists entirely of masterpieces alone. However, their concentration on this list makes the strongest impression. "Beware of the Car", "Zigzag of Fortune", "Old Robbers", "The Incredible Adventures of Italians in Russia", "Irony of Fate, or Enjoy Your Bath!", "Office Romance", "Station for Two", "Forgotten Melody for flutes" make up the golden fund of the achievements of Soviet cinema.
Of course, the merits of the playwright were recognized and repeatedly noted at the highest level. He was awarded the State Prize of the USSR for "The Irony of Fate.." in 1977, and two years after that - the State Prize of the RSFSR named after the Vasiliev Brothers for "Office Romance". In 1976, Emil Braginsky was awarded the honorary title "Honored Artist of the RSFSR".
Final
In the early nineties, domestic cinematography was going through hard times. Few films were shot, and many filmmakers were in a forced creative downtime. Only a few luminaries continued to struggle, find new sources of funding and work on new films.
Among those who did not give up was Emil Braginsky. During these years, he continues to work on several scenarios at once - "The Game of Imagination", "Moscow Holidays", "Paradise Apple". But everything ended for him suddenly and tragically. On May 26, 1998, Emil Braginsky died suddenly of a heart attack. This happened when returning from Paris, in the arrivals hall of the Sheremetyevo airport, when passing through passport control. The playwright was buried at the Vagankovsky cemetery in Moscow.
In 2000, Eldar Ryazanov made the film "Quiet Pools" according to his script. He became the last work of Emil Braginsky in Russian cinema.
