An actor who never wasted on trifles: Post in memory of Boris Plotnikov

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

Most Russian viewers remember this actor as Dr. Bormental in the film adaptation of Bulgakov's Heart of a Dog, many people know and love his roles in the theater. Boris Plotnikov's talent was multifaceted, but at the same time he always remained a very modest person. He never advertised his personal life, did not suffer from star fever and even in the most difficult times did not betray his principles, he was extremely scrupulous in choosing who to star in and in which film. On December 2, 2020, Boris Grigorievich Plotnikov died of pneumonia caused by a coronavirus infection.

The creative path of a boy from a simple family who grew up in a small town near Sverdlovsk began, it is quite understandable, not easy. Father is a locksmith, mother is a process engineer. The boy grew up incredibly talented. He studied to play the violin and piano, even wanted to enter the conservatory, but then chose a theater university. However, it turned out to be difficult to break through to Leningrad or Moscow: the Ural dialect let down, therefore, at the Moscow Art Theater school, the young man was generally given the verdict “unfit for professional”.

Boris did not give up and did not turn away from the chosen path. He entered the Sverdlovsk Theater School and successfully graduated in 1970, immediately went to work at the Sverdlovsk Youth Theater. The cherished dream - to act in films - had to be postponed for a while, the Sverdlovsk film studio, to which the young actor came several times, did not want to see him as a potential screen star. Once they even answered sharply:

Five years later, a real miracle happened: director Larisa Shepitko, choosing the composition for the film "Ascent", decided to work with little-known actors so that their past roles would not leave an imprint on new images. The film based on the story by Vasil Bykov, which tells about two Belarusian partisans who fell into the hands of policemen, according to the State Cinema officials, looked like a biblical parable. The director was forced to defend the already written script and explain what is not religious, and the story of how one betrays the other is as old as the world. However, in order to find the performer of the leading role, Larisa Shepitko asked the assistant for actors to keep the image of Jesus Christ in her mind.

The 25-year-old actor from Sverdlovsk with huge eyes and a spiritualized, as if luminous face, fit perfectly into the intended role. However, he had to fly to Moscow for auditions seven times, and the director once again had to answer what kind of "Christ" she wants to drag into a patriotic film. Boris Plotnikov was even made up a little more heroically to make the bureaucrats happy. In the end, everyone just gave up, succumbing to the "hurricane named Larissa" - the director knew how to convince.

Recognized stars really wanted to get into the new film: Andrey Myagkov, Nikolai Gubenko and Vladimir Vysotsky, as a result, the leading roles were received by the unknown Boris Plotnikov and Vladimir Gostyukhin. Ascent won several prizes at the 1977 West Berlin International Film Festival, becoming the first Soviet film to receive the festival's highest award, The Golden Bear. Young actors instantly turned into stars and then both starred in films regularly.

In the filmography of Boris Plotnikov there are about seventy tapes, for many years he combined active work in the theater with constant filming. He managed to work in the Moscow Theater of Satire, the Theater of the Russian Army, the Tabakerka and the Chekhov Moscow Art Theater. In the early 2000s, when many actors somewhat "lowered the bar" and began to appear in anything, just not to be forgotten, Boris Grigorievich did not betray his principles, continued to be selective and scrupulous, therefore, despite the hard times, faces never lost. Although, judging by his filmography, good roles can always be found. The last works in the cinema were the historical and drama series "Wings of the Empire" and "Godunov".

On December 2, at the age of 72, Boris Grigorievich died. He did not like to communicate with journalists and advertise himself. Perhaps everything that the wonderful Russian actor and teacher wanted to tell us, he has already expressed in his theatrical and cinematic images, passed on to the students of GITIS and wrote in his only book "My hope, torment and reward …" - this is how he talked about the profession of an actor.

The most famous role of Boris Plotnikov remains “Heart of a Dog”, beloved by several generations of viewers, and the famous phrase from this film about “ruin in the heads” even became a winged one. See next: The most famous quotes from popular films by Evgeny Evstigneev