Soviet director Yuri Ozerov went down in the history of world cinema as the creator of such epic films as “Liberation” and “The Battle for Moscow”. On the eve of the May anniversary of the great victory, we recall these wonderful paintings and their creator.
Biography - participation in the Great Patriotic War, years of study
Yuri Ozerov was born in the family of opera singer Nikolai Ozerov. The mother of the future director came from a noble family. The younger brother Nikolai later became the most famous and beloved by many sports commentators.
The theater family could not but have a huge impact on the education of the future director. Visiting the Ozerovs were often such famous artists as Konstantin Stanislavsky, Sergey Lemeshev, Leonid Sobinov, Vladimir Kachalov.
From an early age, showing a love of art, Yuri Ozerov studied at an art school, and then entered GITIS. War prevented graduation. The future filmmaker was drafted into the ranks of the Red Army and went through the whole war. Starting his service as an ordinary signalman, he graduated from the Military Academy a year before the war and received the rank of major.
The severity of the military service and the horrors of war did not change Ozerov’s desire to continue training. He returned to GITIS, in which at first he felt extremely embarrassed - he was already an adult and had seen a lot of people, and mostly young girls were studying next to him.
After some time, Ozerov entered the directing department of VGIK. In the same course, such famous future directors as Sergei Parajanov and Marlene Khutsiev studied with him.
Early work
Yuri Ozerov began shooting his first paintings in the 1950s. They were not much different from traditional Soviet cinema: the ideas of the victory of socialism, a happy present and no less bright future for every Soviet citizen. Ozerov's early works include the Kochubey (about the hero of the Civil War), Son, and Fortune tapes. They went almost unnoticed by the audience.
Ozerov was a rather conservative director, but among his early works there is a special picture - the adventure comedy “The Big Road”. This is a film about Yaroslav Hasek, but the director will no longer take such an easy and witty picture.
The filmography of the famous director - the most significant works
The most famous film shot by the director is the epic "Liberation". Yuri Ozerov in 1960 was among the members of the procurement commission, which visited the United States. There he saw a picture dedicated to the opening of the Second Front. Ozerov, as a participant in the war, was struck and outraged by the fact that not a word was said in the American film about the First Front.
Returning to his homeland, the director obtained the consent from the authorities to create a domestic monumental picture of the exploit of the Soviet people during the war at the front and rear. Yuri Ozerov's film epic "Liberation" was created by the filmmakers of several countries. It consists of 5 parts, the plot of which covers the period from the Kursk Bulge to the capture of Berlin.
The scale of the picture is amazing - 51 historical figures are involved in it, and most of the prototypes were alive at the time of filming, which greatly complicated the work of selecting actors. It was necessary to find performers not only with the maximum portrait similarity, but also to obtain consent from the prototype of the character to use his image in the shootings.
The creators of the epic were advised by hundreds of participants in those events and specialists. Ozerov paid much attention to details - the costumes of the heroes had to correspond exactly to the historical period. For example, the Soviet uniforms of those years were taken from the warehouses where they were kept all these years, and Stalin’s uniform was sewn by his personal tailor.
The first film of the series was released in 1970. The show was dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the victory.
Filming the epic took 5 years.
Nikolai Ozerov, despite the fact that the shooting of the picture was under the state order of the government, tried to tell the truth about the events of the war years. He was incredibly lucky - in the film they allowed to leave an episode with General Vlasov and Stalin's son Yakov.
In 1977, the director finished work on the next epic - the film "Soldiers of Freedom."
The film “Battle for Moscow”
In 1985, a two-part film was released about two of the most important events of the war - the defense of the Brest Fortress and the battle for the capital.
The film “Battle for Moscow” is a fusion of artistic painting and documentary. There are no fictional characters in it - only real historical figures.
The film “Stalingrad”, released in 1989, completed the cycle of Ozerov ’s films about the Great Patriotic War .
“Oh sport, you are the world!”
Nikolai Ozerov has in his filmography another picture that has received the recognition of the audience - a film about the 1980 Olympics, held in Moscow. Bright, dynamic tape, saturated with the most important events, which are shown by the eyes of the contestants could not leave the spectator indifferent. And the famous footage of farewell with the symbol of the Olympics, Bear, touch the heart today.
Recent work of the director
In 1993, Ozerov completed the installation of the series “The Tragedy of the Century,” based on his previous works on the events of the Great Patriotic War. In the same year, the military drama "Angels of Death" was released. The last work of the director was an art-documentary film about George Zhukov.
Conclusion
Films of Yuri Ozerov is an unforgettable page in our history. In his paintings, the famous director tried to show the truth, albeit unpleasant, about the war years and recall the exploits that were daily performed on the battlefields.