Ivan Okhlobystin - 55: Paradoxes of a Man-Orchestra, in Which Several Personalities Live Together

2023 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-24 13:10

July 22 marks the 55th anniversary of the famous actor, screenwriter, director and TV presenter Ivan Okhlobystin. It is often called a man-orchestra, because many completely opposite personalities coexist in it: an artist, a clergyman, a biker, a father of six children. At the peak of his acting popularity, he became a clergyman, and after a few years left the service in the church and returned to the cinema. He became a star of both independent films and television series, achieved success both in creativity and in business.

His life from the moment of birth was extraordinary: he was born not in a maternity hospital, but in a rest home in the Tula region, where his father served as chief physician. At that time, he was already over 60, and Ivan's mother was barely 19. After 5 years, his parents divorced, and the son first lived with his grandmother, and then his mother took him to Moscow. When Ivan was in the 8th grade, he saw Mark Zakharov's film "An Ordinary Miracle", and since then dreamed of becoming a wizard, and later decided that the director's profession was closest to this. This desire led him after school to VGIK.

Director Igor Talankin was in the selection committee, and he asked the applicant to surprise him. To this the arrogant young man replied that he had not come there to entertain the examiners, but to say a new word in Russian cinema. He was kicked out of the audience, but he was admitted to the institute - after all, he coped with the task of surprising the director! Together with Okhlobystin, Fedor Bondarchuk, Tigran Keosayan, Alexander Bashirov studied, and subsequently with many of his classmates he worked together on the set.

After his first year, Okhlobystin was drafted into the army, and he served in the rocket forces in Rostov-on-Don. With such a character it was not easy there - he spent "on the lip" for a total of 3 months. His military experience came in handy later when he wrote the script for several parts of the film "DMB". After the service, Okhlobystin returned to the institute.

While still a student, he began to shoot short films and play roles in films. and his very first works received recognition not only at home, but also abroad: the short film "Wave Breaker" received the "Silver Eagle" for the best director at the International Film Festival in Chicago, and for one of the first acting works in the film "Leg" Okhlobystin was awarded Prize at Kinotavr and the Molodist-91 Film Festival. His first full-length directorial work - the film "The Arbiter" - was also awarded a prize at the "Kinotavr". Since then, Okhlobystin has received 17 awards for directing, 9 for acting and 21 for scripts.

Father John - "the priest is forbidden"

For a long time, the actor was fond of studying religion. Back in the late 1990s. he began broadcasting the religious program Canon, and on weekends he helped temple workers. In 2001, the artist was ordained a priest in the Tashkent diocese. He served there for 7 months, but due to the fact that his wife could hardly endure the local hot climate, Okhlobystin decided to return to Moscow. Here he served in the church, made a series of films "Lives of the Saints" and conducted a religious broadcast on the radio.

When, 6 years later, Ivan Okhlobystin realized that he could not provide his large family with everything he needed and decided to return to the cinema, he had to leave the service in the church. In 2009, he filed a petition to be excommunicated "because of internal contradictions." He was removed from the ministry, while leaving the opportunity to lift the temporary ban in the event that Okhlobystin makes "the final and unambiguous choice in favor of the pastoral ministry." In 2010, he announced that he intended to return to ministry in the church within two years, but so far this has not happened.

On this occasion, the artist says: "". Today he calls himself a “banned priest”: he has no right to marry, baptize, funeral and other church rituals as long as he acts in films.

Orchestra Man

In addition to directing, working on television and radio, filming films and writing scripts, the artist also has a lot of hobbies: he has a degree in chess, he is a member of the Union of Hunters and Fishermen of Russia and the International Aikido Keku Renmei Association, he is fond of jewelry - creates cyberpunk decorations. At one time, the artist worked as a creative director at the Euroset company, and also shot commercials, since 2014 he has been the creative director of the Baon company.

By the age of 55, he managed to try his hand at so many different spheres of activity that this raises questions for many: is such throwing a manifestation of the versatility of the personality or the search for oneself? To this Okhlobystin replies: "".

Probably, the desire of Okhlobystin to be realized in several directions at once largely explains his understanding of happiness: "". All Ivan Okhlobystin is in this eternal search and movement.

She conquered him by knocking over a glass of vodka and agreeing to walk with him through the night city, and after a few days he proposed to her: Ivan and Oksana Okhlobystiny.