IGOR SAVCHENKO, MASTER OF RUSSIAN CINEMA |

FILMS SELECTED :

GARMON (Accordion)
Russia. 1934. 66 min. Musical.
BOGDAN KHMELNITSKI
Russia.1941. 114 min. History.

These films will be shown at Russian cultural centre in Madrid

IGOR SAVCHENKO (1906 – 1950)

Igor Andreyevich Savchenko was a writer and director of films, often cited as one of the great early Soviet filmmakers, alongside Sergei Eisenstein , Vsevolod Pudovkin and Aleksandr Dovzhenko. He is also known for teaching the genius Sergei Parajanov at the famous Russian film school VGIK, also attended by Parajanov’s best friend Mikhail Vartanov.

He studied at the Leningrad Institute of Performing Arts. In 1932, he played on the stage and doing performances at the Moscow tram. Since 1931, he served as a film director. In 1934, he staged one of the first Soviet musical comedy “Accordion”, about the life of Komsomol village, where he played the role of a kulak son. The theme of the Civil War in the Ukraine, the heroic past of Ukrainian and Russian peoples formed the sones film “Ballad of Cossack Golota” and the film – the legend “Riders”. He created the monumental folk heroic drama “Bogdan Khmelnitsky” (1941). Struggle of the Ukrainian nation, its freedom-loving tradition of poetic, exciting, colorfully recreated in the film. In 1946 the director returned to his comedic theme, putting one of the first Soviet color feature films “Old vaudeville”. In the picture a special emphasis on the patriotism of the Russian people in the Patriotic War of 1812, and also paid tribute to a popular topic in the postwar year ridiculing the German nation.

Events of the Great Patriotic War devoted to films “Guerrillas in the steppes of Ukraine” (1942) and “Ivan Nikulin – Russian Sailor” (1944). The film “third strike” ( 1948) about the impact of the Third Red Army with battle scenes later criticized as yet another monument to Stalin era. Premature death interrupted the Wizard of historical film “Taras Shevchenko” (1951). Savchenko – bright, kind of artist, master of monumental paintings – made a great contribution to the development of Soviet cinema. But since the 60s, his films rarely shown at all.

In 1946 the director headed the Institute of Cinematography . Among his students: A. Alov A., B. Naumov, G. S. Gabay, L. Faiziev, F. E. Mironer, Y. N. Ozerov, S. I. Parajanov, M. Khutsiev M., A. Korenev A., A. Zakrevskii, Lev Ivanov, LS Danilov.