Boris Barnet - actor, director, screenwriter, stuntman. Most of his films are little known today. Many of Barnet's film works were designed in the spirit of socialist realism and, according to modern critics, are "custom", "primitive" films. Some of the pictures were taken off the big screen back in Soviet times.
Early years
Barnet Boris Vasilyevich was born in 1902 (June 18) in Moscow. His ancestors were entirely artisans. The Barnets owned a small printing press, which was passed down from grandfather to father, from father to son. However, Boris Barnet did not enter the family business. Not only because he decided to connect his life with art, but also because in 1917 the Bolsheviks came to power and the printing house was nationalized. In 1920, Boris Barnet volunteered for the Red Army. He ended up on the South-Eastern Front, served in hospitals as a nurse. Two years later, after being wounded, he was sent to Moscow for treatment.
Film debut
The future actor and director graduated from the Military School of Physicaleducation, after which he was enrolled in the staff of the educational institution as a boxing teacher. He also competed in the ring. Director Lev Kuleshov drew attention to Boris Barnet at one of the matches and invited him to play one of the characters in his film. This film work was for Boris Barnet, whose photo is presented in the article, his debut and played a significant role in his fate. After filming in Kuleshov's film, the hero of this article decided to become a professional actor. He graduated from the State College of Cinematography, and then wrote the script and took it to the Mezhrabpomfilm department. The novice writer was not paid any money, but he liked the script. A few months later, Boris Barnet wrote the script for the film Miss Mend.
Director Career
In the twenties, Boris Barnet made several films. At the same time, he did not leave the profession of an actor. He created the film "Girl with a box", which conveyed the atmosphere of the NEP. There is irony, lyrics and eccentric buffoonery in the picture. In the early thirties, the Soviet director created several documentaries. Among them: "Piano", "Living Affairs", "Production of musical instruments". All these are pictures that only film critics know about today.
In 1933, Boris Barnet made the film "Outskirts", which tells about the First World War. The film shows the life of a provincial town in the last years of the Russian Empire. The director used editing techniques that were innovative at that time, he presented the military theme from a side that was completely unexpected for the viewers of that time. In his paintinglyrical and epic motifs intertwined in a peculiar way. In 1934, Barnet's film won the Mussolini Cup, the main award at the Venice Film Festival (until 1942).
During the war years
A year before the start of the Second World War, Boris Barnet made the film "The Old Rider" based on the script by Nikolai Erdman and Mikhail Volpin. The picture tells about a jockey running from failures in the professional field to his native village. The film premiered in early 1941. Critics responded positively to Barnet's film, calling it the first real sound comedy in the USSR. On the big screens, this film was released only in 1959. During the war, Boris Barnet, like other directors, worked on creating films designed to raise the heroic spirit of Soviet citizens. At this time, the painting “One Night” was created, which hardly anyone remembers today. In 1942, Barnet directed the comedy The Nice Guy. And already two years after the end of the war, he created the "Feat of the Scout", which was popular with Soviet viewers for more than one year. It was this film that laid the foundation for the traditions of heroic adventure films in the USSR.
Films of the 50s
The films Barnet made in the 1950s were no longer rated as highly by critics. In 1959 he filmed the drama "Annushka". This film is one of the few that enjoyed audience success. In 1957, the painting "Wrestler and Clown" was created. Jean Luc Godard spoke of this work of the Soviet director very commendably. The last rise of Boris Barnet, whose filmography includesmore than forty works, fell on the beginning of the sixties. It was then that the comedy "Alenka" based on the novel by Sergei Antonov appeared on the screens.
Recent years
In the 60s, Boris Barnet worked a little. He often moved from city to city. In 1963, he filed a letter of resignation from Mosfilm. And some time later, the director was invited to the Riga Film Studio, where work began on the film "Conspiracy of Ambassadors".
Boris Barnet passed away tragically during the pre-production period for this film. The Soviet director committed suicide on January 8, 1965. In his suicide letter, he wrote about fatigue, old age and the fact that he had lost faith in himself, without which it is impossible to work or live. Boris Barnet is buried in Riga at the Forest Cemetery.
The Soviet director and screenwriter was married three times. From his last marriage, he had a daughter, Olga Barnet, an actress known for the films Solaris and Poirot's Failure.
