Mikhail Krichman: style is born in tandem director of photography

The filmography of the permanent creative associate of the famous Russian director Andrei Zvyagintsev is impressive. It is not surprising that the Russian cameraman Krichman Mikhail Vladimirovich is one of the few domestic filmmakers who are in demand not only in national cinema, but also abroad. One of the first significant works of the filming master was Zvyagintsev's Black Room project, after which he returned to the rental program “Return”, “Sky. Plane. Girl ”by V. Storozheva and“ Poor Relatives ”by P. Lungin. In addition to joint projects with domestic directors, Michael’s track record contains the films “Froken Julia” Liv Ullman and “The Tablets of Fate” by Jim Sheridan. Krichman Mikhail admires the work of Kurosawa and Kim Ki-Duk, trying to inherit their original approach to stage-setting and achieving harmony in the film frame.

Becoming a master

Cameraman Mikhail Krichman did not immediately determine his professional preferences. A native of the capital, having graduated from high school, he entered the Press Academy, at that time - the Polygraphic Institute, choosing the specialty “Process Engineer”. Probably, the choice of the educational institution was influenced by the fact that the parents of the future filmmaker were polygraphists. Having successfully completed two full-time courses, Krichman goes on to correspondence courses. He decides to improve his financial condition and go into business. In this chaotic period, Mikhail's fateful meeting with a person who has graduated from the camera department takes place. Michael offers him his help and soon, unexpectedly for all, Krichman receives an invitation to take part in the filming of a commercial. This time during the filming, he only shifted focus. As a result, he finds himself in an editing studio located in the Orlyonok hotel. Starting to work as an editor, Mikhail Krichman spent days and nights in the studio, began to learn a new profession from the masters of his craft. Soon, he was already editing programs for domestic television, filming documentaries and music videos with E. Serdyukovsky and A. Novoselov. He independently filled knowledge gaps by drawing technical information from thematic print media and training videos.

Style is born in tandem

A significant milestone in the creative development of the operator is his acquaintance with Andrei Zvyagintsev. The director invites Krichman Mikhail to work on the creation of his short story for the Black Room project on Ren-TV. The entire program included eight independent short stories, three of which were filmed by Zvyagintsev. Initially, Krichman was supposed to remove only one, but after he took part in the creation of all three. After viewing the material, producer D. Lesnevsky proposes to remove Zvyagintsev’s full-length tape with a working version of the name “You”, which was subsequently transformed into “Father”, and the picture was released as “Return”.

In search of an unexpected angle

After a fruitful collaboration with Zvyagintsev, Mikhail takes part in the filming of the film “Poor Relatives”. The 2005 film is a co-production project between Russia and France, directed by Pavel Lungin. The picture, although it received the main prize of the Kinotavr 2005 film festival, was sharply criticized. Reviewers described the film as an attempt to create a national grotesque with a claim to roll over with Gogol's “Dead Souls”. The author’s reading of history was attacked most of all, Lungin was accused of turning a sad tragicomedy into an absurd divertissement of pop shock.

With all the criticism of the film, Krichman’s camera work was praised. “Poor relatives” (2005 film) were saved by the manner of filming Mikhail, in which, according to art historians, the camera was dynamic even in those moments when it remained static. Everyone appreciated the relentless search by the operator for unexpected angles. Viewers also noted the lack of a depressing abundance of video information, from which domestic cinema sometimes suffers.

Great style cinema

Literally a year later, Mikhail Krichman was shooting a new project by Zvyagintsev called “Exile”. Thanks to the efforts of the creative tandem, the film was perceived by the cinema community as a great movie, not in terms of grandiose special effects and a significant amount of the budget, but in the sense of a cinematic style. The success of the film largely depended on the work of the cameraman, and Krichman surpassed himself. His camera works tirelessly in a neurotic vein, producing a magical, semantic image. Due to this, the melancholic, multilayer structured tape, built on the affects, is perfectly verbalized.

Handwriting

A distinctive feature, a manifestation of originality in the work of the operator is his dislike for all sorts of technical tricks, especially cranes. According to Krichman, they "clamp" him. The operator is confident that every movement of the camera should be strictly justified dramatically. He is categorically against camera flights for the sake of beauty. According to the statement of the operator, he will prefer to stand on the ground and remove the statics, or he will make a move using the cart. Therefore, Michael’s favorite techniques, despite the inexorable NTP, are the hand camera, long, drawn frames and the “look of God”.