Pioneer of Russian cinema
In early childhood of cinema, while it could hardly be named a sphere of art, and its very essense had more common with circus, amusement, carnival, than with theatre and literature, then lots of mostly occasional, but very enthusiastic people were thrown by accident on film set. And though Chaplins and Mélièses could also be found among them, and later they made the art of cinema as we know it today, but large majority of them produced extemporary threadbare movies, and due to them contemporary common people treat early (and sometimes all silent) cinema with offensive allowances - as something ridiculous, that has to be respected for age and being first, but not evaluated seriously (otherwise it's like blasphemy). Well, anyway that was trial of strength and searching for meaning by cinema, and many innovations, technical practices were found by such enthusiasts and understood much later.
All of the aforesaid can be applyed to Russian Czarist cinema as well. Probably, the suggestion of Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation to include first Russian movie "Stenka Razin" in school curricula was quite reasonable some way - just to show that Russians started filming something since 1908, but we can talk seriously just about few Russian movie directors of that period. But the main issue of this post is more folksy creator and forefather of cinema genre of "historical reconstruction". This article is devoted to great and strange enthusiast Vasiliy Mikhaylovich Goncharov, the man, who in fact started Russian cinema.
He was a man from railway, dabbling in graphomania and writing amateur plays. Though none of them was accepted by any provincial theatre, flooded with Goncharov's letters, hence for a long time the reference-book of railway rates stayed his opus magnum. Significantly, that one of the plays by unappreciated playwriter finally was realized as... screenplay for that certain first Russian movie about legendary bandit Stenka Razin. And that screenplay also became pioneer in scandals with copyrights: Goncharov quarreled with producer Drankov, but failed in reserving copyrights in "Union of dramatic and musical authors", because his work could hardly be named a screenplay, and also because on that moment "Union" despised cinema and didn't recognize it as art.
But finally Goncharov, being almost 50 years old, has found his vocation - in affordable and undemanding art of cinema, we he has started directing movies on own screenplays by himself, with kind assistance of one of the main cinema producers of Russian Empire - Aleksandr Khanzhonkov (however, Khanzhonkov has soon invented position of assistant director - in order to control somehow his nutty and unpredictable charge, who had turned out to be crusading layman - and tis position was start for career of much more talented Pyotr Chardynin). Goncharov had cranky idea of director's work and cinematography process. For instance, he followed actors with stop-watch, demanding to uphold limits, occasionally crossed his mind. Several years before that Vasiliy Gonharov has undergone a cure in psychiatric hospital, and considering that fact all his freaks bothered even more (that is what railway does with people! Gosh, never marry a railroad man).
Goncharovs pecularities in cinema were temptation to grand-scale historical plots and... borrowing compositions of famous paintings on the same plots - amazing subsort of plagiary, that could be explained as either absolute absence of imagination (~"bug"), or intention to evoke associations with pictures coming alive from the viewer (~"feature"). In 1911 Goncharov (whoes lack of talant was compensated with pushing adventurism) reached a new breakthrough in Russian cinema - production of first full-length movie "Defence of Sevastopol", in addition gain support of imperial family and partial state financing. Confused Khanzhonkov agreed to assist old fellow with production (even as co-director), though by that moment they had already quarrelled.
Broad-scale filming with regular troops engaging, many historical and military consultants (though bull in result anyway, that in fact corresponded to requests and groundling tastes of the main sponsor). Badly swollen budget was hardly bounced back on screenings by Khanzhonkov. On the other hand companions has envented a couple of tricks in filming and a couple of tricks in screening. The most curious was one of the screening - like first 5D-screenings: in capital cinema blank gunfire was organized in neighbouring room during battle scenes - for creating participation effect, but "grateful" audience demanded to stop screening and ventilate movie hall after that.
From a viewpoint of art the movie is quite weak and looks like amateur in some scenes. Background artist constantly look at the camera, sank battleship "Tri Sviatitelia" is definitely cardboard, priest leads christians in attack almost like Red Army commissar, the wounded act unnaturally, jumping on litter by themselves (while support stuff do a poor job of helping them). Battle scenes are shameful: a crowd of conscript tear around and tries to show combat formation or bayonet fighting without chance of success (already in three years theese boys will have to show something similar to German audience...). The concept of plot or characters is just absent. It looks like:
- Look, this is Admiral Nakhimov!
- Mercy me! Really himself?
- Look, this is Captain Ostrovskiy!
- Oh, dear! Show me someone else...
etc.
But there is also weighty plus. I mean the ending with footage of real veterans, who was alive in 1911. That's a good and essential decision: watching seamed face of French, British, Russians veterans, killing each other on Crimean resorts 150 years ago - is an opportunity to have a real look into XIX century (by the way, the alternate title of movie is "Redivivus Sevastopol"). The other footage in final is also impressive: views of surprisingly peaceful and sunny Sevastopol - the city confident that most terrible things are all over, the city having no idea what will happen 30 years later... All this idle streets with girls and seamen walking around - everything like now. And thats even more disturbing.
Favour of royal family provided further career of the director. Goncharov heartily fulfilled monarchial orders by remarkable anniversaries - "1812" (centenary of war with Napoleon in 1912) and "Enthronement of the House of Romanovs" (tercentenary of the House of Romanovs in 1913). But 1913 became last year for Goncharov as director: cinema became elder and more serious, professional, Russia was influenced by new trends from Europe (particularly, influence of Dutch cinema, obsessed with common plots from "hard life" of the bourgeoisie). Goncharov has left directing for administrative work in Khanzhonkov's film studio, and in 2 years has passed away.
But today I'm looking back on Goncharov's work due to watching that certain "1812", that became his second full-length movie and to a large extent followed the way, chosen in "Defence of Sevastopol". Movie is a compilation of well-known episodes of war of 1812, and again regular troops are engaged. But everything is all that bad with war. In fact the only battle scene is battle of Borodino (also known as battle for Moscow), taking inexcusably short running time (perhaps, Goncharov understood, that he had no idea how to make war movie) and consisting of two confused and snatchy episodes - infantry square under cavalry charge (Leib Guard vs Nansouty's cuirassier in Semyonovskoye?) and assault of some banket by cavalry, then by infantry (Bagration flèches?). And engaging regular troops mostly influenced cavalry parades in front of camera, which running time really lost sense of proportion. Senseless crowd scenes became the main movie's trouble.
Goncharov's work is specially interesting as a reflection of official historiography on that moment, when list of historical episodes, considered key, had stiil no influence of later popularizer of that period - soviet historian Tarle. Centenary of Patriotic war of 1812 was celebrated in 1912 on a noble scale, a monument to war was grandly unveiled on Borodino field tohether with French delegation, that simbolized conciliation of nations. French company "Pathé", having business in Russia, was responsible for newsreel of that event... But in Goncharov's "1812" (hardly intended for international and particularly French distribution) French soldiers (as well as Nepoleon himself) are represented in strongly unfavourable light (wide practice of war crimes: pillage, executions, murders of civilians), and id doesn't look like conciliation at all. Some sticking-point, like murder of translator Vereshchagin or death of the left wounded in fire of Moscow, were tactfully ignored by Goncharov.
The most touching and valuable moment of "Defence of Sevastopol" were cinema portraits of Crimean war veterans - like a hue of past epoch, a glimpse of time, which was seemingly unachievable for film camera. The audience of "1812" sitting in unbreathing astonishment will see the similar, so even more exciting bonus. As known, by emperor's edict the full-scale search for alive witnesses of glorious events was started all over the country by anniversary ceremonies. Governors did their best to excel each other in commitment and have found 25 old people aged from 110 to 116, 5 of them managed to come to anniversary celebrations in Moscow. It's astonishing, that lifetime in Tsarist Russia massively surpassed a record high of contemporary Japan, the USA, Europe and Israel (110-116 years), notably Russian centenarians were peasants. On that reason popular journalist и specialist in heraldry Vladimir Yefimovich Belinskiy even regreted, that Russian nobility didn't take care of itself and couldn't live up to 110 years old. Of course, liberal press sank in sceptical sarcasm, as it used to. But emperor treated his honorable subjects with sincere respect and even followed one of them on Borodino field to have a look on bush, where that "soldier" was wounded.
"Witnesses" were filmed by the French from "Pathé", but Goncharov also managed to catch couple of them by his camera: peasant Stepn V. Zhuk, 110 years old, from Vitebsk Governorate ("after battle of Kulbov he was picking bullets on battlefield", the youngest of "witnesses" and one of five participants of celebrations in Moscow) and peasant woman Yevgeniya Zhernosenkova, 115 years old, from Mogilev Governorate ("witness of events of Patriotic war; her father, according to her words, participated in combats"). Camera has captured live breath of old thundering time, and we can excuse many Vasiliy Goncharov's faults for that advantage.
So, in this movie Goncharov turned back to his favourite tricks: coping of famous fine art paintings (sometimes plots, and sometimes compositions, up to direct citing). We can even say, that the whole movie consist of them, and watching it will be a merry quiz for connoisseur of painting. I am not that one, but Vasiliy Mikhaylovich has taken so famous plots, widely used in school-books, that I can show some examples of Russian cinema pioneer methods, that were recognized by me.
Vereshchagin, «Napoleon near Borodino»
Matveyev, «General Tuchkov's widow is looking for corpse of her husband»
Kivshenko, «The Fili council of war»
Vereshchagin, «In the Assumption Cathedral»
Vereshchagin, «Fire in Kremlin!»
Vereshchagin, «Through the fire»
And also a wide shot, quite interesting :
Vereshchagin, «In Defeated Moscow»
Vereshchagin, «Napoleon and general Lauriston» («Peace at all costs»)
By the way, Napoleon played by Pavel Knorr turnd out to be the only memorable character, granted something like temper. Though that's in fact a side-effect of using paintings.
Vereshchagin, «Wait. Let them come nearer»
Wojciech Kossak «Burning of regimental flags»
