One of the most beloved directors and scriptwriters among the majority of viewers remains Leonid Gaidai. The biography and filmography of this talented person is of interest not only to the audience of the Soviet era, but also to modern youth. This is not surprising, because his paintings can be reviewed with great interest all over again.
short biography
In the Amur Region in the city of Svobodny, 1923, on January 30, a third child was born in the family of a railway worker, Job Gaidai, who was named Leonid. From his father and mother, the boy inherited a light cheerful disposition, which is very useful to him on his chosen life path. Over time, the family moved to the Irkutsk region, where in his youth, Lenya worked at the Satire Theater and participated in performances in the local House of Culture. In 1942 he was drafted into the army and a year later he was seriously injured in his leg. Returning home, he went to study at the drama theater, graduated in 1947. After that, he successfully played in performances for two years, but realized that he wanted to try himself in directing.
In 1949, Gaidai went to Moscow to study as a director. It was there that he met the one who became his wife for life - Nina Grebeshkova. It was she who supported him during periods of creative failure. In the same student years, the filmography of Gaidai began , when he starred as an actor in the film "Liana" (1955). After another three years, the drama "Wind" was released, where Leonid again starred. But after these films, directing became the main field for him, and therefore the acting filmography of Gaidai is rather meager. So, it can be seen back in "12 chairs" in 1971 and "the weather is nice on Deribasovskaya ..." in 1992. This talented person died in November 1993.
Directorial debut
Leonid began his career as a director in 1955, a year later the film "Long Way" saw the light of day. Although the picture was not comedic, professionals discerned an excellent comedian in it and recommended that it focus on this genre. From that moment, the directorial filmography of Gaidai began. His first comedy was the work “Groom from the Other World,” but officials did not like the satire of the film and they criticized and cut the picture. The young director was shocked. Two years later, he presents to the viewer the film novel "Three Times Risen" (1960), but since it was not his genre, the work was a failure. Gaidai despaired because he did not understand what to shoot.
Good turn
Having gone to visit his parents, Gaidai found in the attic the newspaper Pravda, in which were Oleinik’s poems “Dog Barbos”. He saw a fascinating plot in this, his wife supported him in this. Soon, a short film without words was shot, in which Dunce, Coward and Experienced gained popularity. Yes, it was a breakthrough in which comedian Gaidai Leonid Iovich appeared. The filmography of the director began to interest others from this day. The next short film “Moonshiners” (1961) was immediately shown to the world; the same comedic three appeared in it. Next were shot Business People, The Leader of the Redskins, and Soulmates.
Particular recognition came to Gaidai after the release of short stories "Operation Y" in 1965. A year later, the “Caucasian Captive” cemented his success. Also, the filmography of Gaidai was replenished in 1968 with the “Diamond Hand”. All three films of this time became the highest grossing.
Justifies the title of comedian
The director’s talent didn’t stop there - in 1971 people laughed again, watching the comedy “12 Chairs” in the cinemas. By the way, 22 actors tried for the role of Ostap Gaidai, many of them were known. These are Batalov, Mironov, Basov, Evstigneev and others. As a result, Archil Gomiashvili, who at that time was unknown to the viewer, became Bender. In the episode, Korobeinikova was played by Leonid Gaidai himself.
Comedy was the hallmark of this director, and he put on two more, which received no less fame. In 1973, the audience laughed at “Ivan Vasilievich is changing his profession,” and two years later at “Can't be!”.
The eighties were also marked by the release of two comedies that became legendary - “For the Matches” and “Sportloto-82”. In the latter, a significant role in the comedy of the film was made by Pugovkin, who brilliantly presented his character.
Comedy recession
After these paintings, several more comedies were released, but they were already weaker and did not differ in the ease and irony that was present in previous works. Perhaps the point is when the shooting was carried out, because it was a period of restructuring. Recent works included Danger to Life and Good Weather at Deribasovskaya ...
Directorial filmography of Gaidai
The list of films directed by Leonid Iovich is quite impressive. Some of the works have already been mentioned in this article, below are the other films that this talented man worked on:
- "Honeymoon";
- “A chest of drawers was taken along the street ...”;
- "Incognito from Petersburg";
- "Can not be";
- “Private Investigator, or Operation Cooperation”;
- "Dog Watchdog and the extraordinary cross";
- "Seriously";
- "Long haul";
- "Funny adventure".
Recognized talent
As is customary in our society, most often a talented person receives recognition after leaving life. It happened with Gaidai. Few knew about the death of the director, but after it he was recognized as a master of satire and comedy.
Today, Leonid Gaidai belongs to the classics of the genre . We are ready to review the best films of this director again and again. These include The Twelve Chairs, The Diamond Arm, The Obsession, The Prisoner of the Caucasus, and many others.