Georgy Rerberg: what was the genius of the famous cameraman?

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:55

The famous Soviet and Russian cameraman, who was rightfully considered a genius, has the richest pedigree with Swedish-Danish roots, aristocratic and creatively gifted.

Georgy was born in September 1937 in Moscow. One of his grandfathers was a famous architect, was involved in the construction of the telegraph, the Kyiv railway station in the capital. The second grandfather is an artist, he painted portraits of the Grand Duchesses, landscapes. Father is a graphic designer, a great many illustrated books came out from under his brush. Mother played the cello, was a famous person in creative circles.

Georgy was interested in painting since childhood, he especially singled out the Dutch and Italian masters. In his youth, he painted pictures himself, but to date, few works of the master have been preserved. He destroyed more than half. The future famous cultural figure received an excellent education. In 1960 he graduated from VGIK, the camera department.

Famous works

DebutRerberg's work was the painting "The First Teacher" (1965), filmed in black and white based on the novel by Chingiz Aitmatov. This is a drama with documentary elements. The next film was "The Story of Asya Klyachina …", on the picture Rerberg worked together with Andron Konchalovsky. The film was banned at the box office, only 20 years later the restrictions were lifted. That's when the recognition came. The creators of the picture were awarded the State Prize. brothers Vasiliev. Rerberg himself was nominated for Nika.

Followed by "Uncle Vanya", in which black and white shots with color are surprisingly organically intertwined, which gives the plot a special drama, piquancy. This technique became the hallmark of Georgy Rerberg. He continued it in Tarkovsky's "Mirror", where the unreal is displayed in black and white, and the world of childhood - in colorful. In addition to color techniques, the cameraman used a lot of others: rapid, reportage, intraframe movement, contrast lighting and others.

Stalker

The shooting of the famous film directed by Tarkovsky "Stalker" was marked by a conflict situation. The Kodak film was damaged, on which an impressive part of the film was shot. The director demanded that Rerberg be removed from the production process. Most of the film was reshot by director A. Knyazhinskiy. A documentary film was created in 2008 about the conflict between two masters.

Georgy Rerberg and his wife

Genius cinematographer, according to memoirscontemporaries, was distinguished by a sharp disposition. The inconsistency and unpredictability of character became the reasons for his frequent conflicts with colleagues, actors. He had a small circle of friends, in fact, his personal life did not develop. Georgy Rerberg was loved, women found in him a special brutality, masculinity, respected for his genius, appreciated and believed in harmonious relationships. He was a heartthrob and he himself believed that he was not capable of a long relationship with one woman, he gravitated towards a free and unburdened life. He did not know how to love and treat his beloved tenderly, too. One of the famous novels of the master was with Marianna Vertinskaya. However, the longest alliance was with actress Valentina Titova.

Meet her by chance, on the set of the film "Father Sergius". Director Igor Talanin invited Valentina to take part in the process of creating the picture. Rerberg worked as an operator and, as he later admitted, fell in love with the girl's back. One day, Georgy volunteered to see the actress off, then he insisted on meeting his mother, who had already heard about Valentina.

The lovers did not live in the best conditions. For the soul of the eminent operator was virtually nothing. Thanks to the efforts of Titova, he began to adapt, learned to live on the same square with another person. In an actual marriage, Valentina Titova and Georgy Rerberg lived for 15 years, after which they decided to register their relationship. He insisted that his wife take his last name after marriage. At the end of his life George lefta touching message to his wife asking for forgiveness for putting up with his difficult nature for 20 years.

Last years of life. Cause of death of Georgy Rerberg

In recent years, the master almost did not take pictures, besides, many were afraid to invite him to cooperate, they were afraid of his principled nature, the emergence of conflict situations on the set.