5 famous directors who not only made films, but were also talented teachers

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Domestic cinema knows many talented directors who have left a bright mark on the history of cinema. However, not all of them can boast that not only had talent themselves, but were also able to raise worthy students, who repeated the success of their teachers, brought their own view of life in general and cinema in particular to cinema. In our today's review, we suggest recalling the best Russian film directors and educators.

Lev Kuleshov

Lev Vladimirovich Kuleshov began teaching at VGIK (at that time it was called the State School of Cinematography) when he himself was only 20 years old. But by that time he, together with Andrei Gromov, shot the film "Twilight", after that, together with Vitold Polonsky, he shot the picture "The Song of Love Unfinished". After returning from the Civil War, during which Lev Kuleshov directed the filming at the front, he began to attend classes at a film school. First as a listener, and then he invited students who had failed to pass the exam to help them at rehearsals of etudes. All his wards passed the exam with excellent marks, and Kuleshov himself was invited to teach. And he taught after that all his life.

He will direct his films, but along with this he will pass on his knowledge and directing experience to his students, who will later become absolutely wonderful directors. Among them are Boris Barnet and Mikhail Romm, Sergei Komarov and Vsevolod Pudovkin, Viktor Georgiev and Leonid Makhnach.

Sergey Eisenstein

Sergei Eisenstein, an innovative director, began his teaching career in 1928 at the State Technical School of Cinematography, and later headed the directing department of VGIK. Eisenstein not only had his own view of cinema, but also a completely unique way of teaching. He never stood at the pulpit, preferring to walk around the classroom and communicate directly with his students. He attributed drawing to the necessary and very important skills of the director, therefore, he forced the students to depict their lathers figuratively, literally frame-by-frame to draw their future films on paper.

Each lesson of Eisenstein seemed to be pure improvisation, but preparation for one lesson took the director about six hours. The director took care of his graduates, affectionately called them “eyzenski”, helped them get a job, sending accompanying notes to his colleagues at various film studios. Among the most famous students of Eisenstein are Ivan Pyriev, Grigory Alexandrov, Grigory Lipshits, Mikhail Vinyarsky, Sergei and Georgy Vasiliev.

Mikhail Romm

Mikhail Romm began his teaching career with lectures at the screenwriting and camera departments. And only 10 years later, in 1948, he headed his own workshop. In his studies, the famous director used his own films as an example, took them literally frame by frame, noted both the strengths and the frankly unsuccessful, in his opinion, scenes.

The famous director loved his students and was ready to receive them in his house almost around the clock. Often the teacher became the first listener to the works of students, as was the case with Vasily Shukshin. When, for some reason, his students were forbidden to shoot a certain film, Mikhail Ilyich again came to the rescue: he wrote letters of recommendation, interceded with the party leadership, defended when the film was about to be put on a distant shelf.

Among the most successful students of Mikhail Romm are Nikita Mikhalkov and Andrei Konchalovsky, Vasily Shukshin and Andrei Tarkovsky, Grigory Chukhrai, Vladimir Basov and many, many others.

Grigory Kozintsev

He began teaching at the acting department at the College of Performing Arts when Grigory Kozintsev himself was only 22 years old. After 17 years, he already had his own workshop. In his classes, he avoided monologues, preferring to engage in dialogue with students. He allowed each student to express their opinion both about directing in general and about his work, helped to identify strengths and weaknesses, while he was always against the shorthand of his classes. However, the director had his own reasons for this: he was afraid of denunciations, since he believed that the director should not succumb to ideology, he openly criticized Stalin's comedies.

He was a supporter of a practical approach to teaching filmmakers, so instead of proofreading lectures, he often took students to the set, allowed them to immerse themselves in the creative process and see the magic of making a film from the inside. Grigory Kozintsev considered it necessary to teach his students to think, and everything else, in his opinion, they could comprehend on their own. Among the outstanding students of the director and teacher were Veniamin Dorman and Igor Maslennikov, Stanislav Rostotsky, Ilya Averbakh, Eldar Ryazanov and others.

Sergey Gerasimov

On the account of this director, there are many films that can be safely called classics of Soviet cinema. Over the years, he has run a joint acting and directing workshop. Sergei Gerasimov and his wife Tamara Makarova took care of their students as if they were their own children, but at the same time they were quite strict and demanding in their studies.

It was important for Sergei Apollinarievich to educate not only high-class professionals, but also individuals. Among Gerasimov's students are Sergey Bondarchuk and Lev Kulidzhanov, Tatyana Lioznova and Kira Muratova, and many more famous actors and directors.

The director Eldar Ryazanov also has his own galaxy of students. He taught at the Higher Courses for Scriptwriters and Directors, taught Yuri Mamin, Ivan Dykhovichny, Evgeny Tsymbal, Isaac Fridberg. And also the author of the most beloved films wrote a book of memoirs "Unsummed Results", where the director talks about interesting moments of filming, about the work of actors and the most intimate.