A prominent figure in theater and cinema, the owner of his own vision and method, Fomenko Petr Naumovich left a significant mark in Russian art. His film works are inscribed on the list of the best adaptations of literary Russian classics. The creative path of the director was not easy, he had to overcome a lot before achieving self-realization.
Children's years and family
Petr Naumovich Fomenko was born in Moscow on July 31, 1932. The boy’s dad died during the Great Patriotic War, there are only a few photos of the father and son. The main concern for the child lay on the shoulders of the mother, she loved Petya very much and tried to make his childhood as happy as possible. Alexandra Petrovna came from a very intelligent, educated family from Novorossiysk. Her father was the deputy head of the cargo port. During the Civil War, the family harbored the wounded from both the Reds and the Whites. So the red commander Naum Fomenko got into their house, in which the girl passionately fell in love and left for him in Moscow. After the war, Alexandra Petrovna worked as an economist for international relations in the department of Anastas Mikoyan. She was very fond of art, she conveyed this feeling to her son, who loved music most of all his life, she became his guiding star in life and the basis of his creative method as a director.
As a child, Peter was involved in a wide variety of sports: speed skating, soccer, tennis. These hobbies also remained with him for life.
The path to the profession
From childhood, Peter was involved in playing the violin; he graduated from the Gnesins School of Music and Ippolitov-Ivanov School of Music. Mom dreamed that her son would become an outstanding musician, but at a certain moment both mother and son realized that he could not make a big career in performing art, and the young man began to look for another path. And in 1950, the first time he entered the acting department of the Moscow Art Theater School. At this time, the studio was a stronghold of the classical theater, and Fomenko, with his hooliganism and endless irony, did not fit into her graduate concept. For 2.5 years of study, Peter was able not only to make friends with many classmates, but also restore against himself almost the entire teaching staff, except Vershilov, who continued to work with Fomenko, no matter what.
The future director constantly participated in the drawings and started a lot of mischief, sometimes not at all harmless, and therefore he was expelled from the third year with the wording “for hooliganism”. Fomenko was very worried about this exile, in addition, he was faced with a sharp financial question, and he had to look for a variety of ways to earn money. But the main thing is that he needs to study somewhere in order to get a profession, and he enters the philological faculty of Moscow State Pedagogical Institute, where he gets acquainted with a whole galaxy of wonderful people. This is Yu. Vizbor, Julius Kim, Yuri Koval, Vladimir Krasnovsky, with whom he will be friends all his life and which helped him to finally decide on his future profession.
Matter of life
Even at the Moscow State Pedagogical Institute, Fomenko puts on skits, is engaged in a student theater, rehearses the “Stone Guest” and understands his true destiny.
At the end of the faculty, Fomenko Petr Naumovich enters the directing department of GITIS, where during his studies he puts on his first full-fledged performance, “Restless Legacy”, based on the play by K. Finn. His teachers were N. Gorchakov, N. Petrov, A. Goncharov.
He graduated from the institute in 1961 and is eager to work, he is sure that he has found his destiny, he is full of creative ideas and ideas, now he only needs a theater.
Theatrical wanderings
After graduating from the institute, Fomenko begins a real ordeal in search of work. He works in several theaters, runs a studio in the House of Culture, and collaborates with the student theater of Moscow State University. Pyotr Naumovich staged a performance in the theater. V. Mayakovsky's "Death of Tarelkin" based on the play by Sukhovo-Kobylin. The production is notable for its sharpness, irony, flamboyant satirism and extraordinary, all this was excessive for the Soviet theater, and the performance was banned after 50 shows, despite the resounding success of the audience. The production of "The New Mystery Buff" in the Lensovet Theater was severely censored, the performance was handed over five times, but it was not allowed to be shown.
After that, Fomenko found it even harder to find a job. He takes up any work, but this does not give financial stability. In search of a permanent job, Pyotr Naumovich leaves for Tbilisi, where he works in the theater named after Griboedova for two years.
In 1972, he moved to Leningrad, where he worked in the comedy theater until 1981. Here he puts on 14 successful performances, in parallel collaborates with theaters of Moscow. Pyotr Naumovich Fomenko, whose photo is placed on the stands of the theaters of both capitals, takes on any matter, he gets 1-2 plays a year. In 1982, he staged performances in the theater. Mayakovsky in the capital, since 1989 he works in the theater. Vakhtangov.
Director Fomenko Petr Naumovich works a lot in other theaters, in all of his creative life he staged about 50 performances in different theaters of the world, not counting the productions in his studio.
Great movie
In 1973, Soviet cinema was enriched by another master, it was then that Pyotr Naumovich Fomenko came to film directing. The real name of the creator has become synonymous with film talent. Acting simultaneously as a screenwriter and director, Fomenko in 1973 makes the film "Childhood. Adolescence. Youth ”based on the work of L. N. Tolstoy.
In 1975, he makes a picture based on the play by V. Panova “For the Rest of My Life”. Here he also acts as a co-author of the script. The four-part picture about the hard work of military doctors during the Second World War is based on Fomenko's unique method of working with actors, they do not play with him, but live and improvise in the frame. The tape received a lot of laudatory reviews and a prize at the Georgian film festival.
In 1977, Petr Naumovich Fomenko, a well-known director by that time, was making a lyrical picture, “Almost a Funny Story.” The film sounds very atmospheric music and songs to the verses of Yu. Morits, N. Matveeva, A. Velichansky. Here, the director was able to show his new facet, he makes it clear that it can be kind, soft and even a little romantic.
In 1985, the next film Fomenko - "Ride on an old car." This bright comedy, written by E. Braginsky, again showed the audience a soft and lyrical director and was his last work in large cinema.
Tv Theater Fomenko
Fomenko Petr Naumovich was able to create his own unique format by shooting television films. His film adaptations of classical works of Russian literature became an example of careful and respectful attitude to the material. At the same time, these productions are not a boring retelling, but a creative rethinking of the works. Films are distinguished by unusual musicality and an inspired play of actors. In total, Fomenko shot 16 television films. Among them are “This Sweet Old House” according to Arbuzov, “Tanya-Tanya” based on the play by O. Mukhina, “Love Yarovaya” according to Trenev and, of course, Pushkin’s magnificent adaptations.
Pushkin and Fomenko
Pushkin’s prose has become a director’s material for endless thought and creativity. Pyotr Naumovich Fomenko, whose biography for many years was associated with the film adaptations of Pushkin's novels, found great inspiration in the literary material. He twice makes films on The Queen of Spades, and they differ not only in interpretation, but also in directorial decisions. The famous film "Shot" with movie stars Leonid Filatov and Oleg Yankovsky became the trademark of Fomenko-filmmaker. In 2012, he shot the last TV show on Pushkin's “Triptych”, in which he combined “Count Nulin”, “Stone Guest” (which he could not show to the audience in his youth) and “Scenes from Faust”, the director’s innovation was fully manifested here and his deepest reverence for the source material.
Educational activities
Fomenko Petr Naumovich, in addition to directing, devoted more than 20 years to pedagogy. He graduated four courses at the Russian Academy of Theater Arts. Pupils say that Fomenko had the exceptional talent of a teacher, he inspired students, stimulated them to search, improvisation, growth. It’s not in vain that they always have their own face; you will not confuse them with anyone. With his students, he sets the favorite classics of Gogol, Pushkin, Ostrovsky, Chekhov, teaches them not only to worship the material, but also the ability to rethink texts, creating modern images.
PN Fomenko Workshop
From among the faithful students of the director, an original, author's theater of his name has developed . In 1993, Fomenko's workshop received the official status of a theater, the repertoire of which is one classic. But a director with a team of like-minded people always finds a new approach to traditional history, which is why the theater's productions are distinguished by innovation and relevance. Many of them are awarded with the highest awards and bonuses. After the director passed away in 2012, the theater was headed by Eugene Kamenkovich, and the troupe continues the traditions of the master, continues to live.
Private life
Fomenko Petr Naumovich, whose personal life was diverse and complex, was twice married and had one big romance, from which he had a single son. The first time he married in Tbilisi, the theater artist Lali Badridze. The second and last marriage with Maya Tupikova lasted almost 50 years. Despite this, Fomenko Petr Naumovich, whose family was a strong rear, allowed himself numerous hobbies. But his wife, a wise woman, understood that this was the cost of her husband’s creative nature, and forgave him for his weaknesses.
Interesting facts from the life of Peter Fomenko
In school years, Fomenko became interested in football, he chased the ball together with Tolya Ilyin, who many years later would become a famous football player. Pyotr Naumovich did not become a football player, but he was a passionate fan all his life.
Fomenko Peter Naumovich, whose nationality has repeatedly become the subject of his jokes and tales, all his life he considered himself a Russian director. Although in Soviet times, he had to feel the negative influence of his origin. He, with his characteristic irony, told how, while practicing at the Maly Theater, the strict head of the security department was well-disposed to the novice director exactly until he heard Fomenko's middle name. As soon as he found out that he was Pyotr Naumovich, he immediately drew the appropriate conclusions and began to fulfill his duties earnestly, limiting the temporary admission to the theater to only 1 month.
During the years of unemployment, after being expelled from the school-studio, Fomenko worked a lot in cultural centers near Moscow, where he staged classical works. He also found opportunities for his own interpretation. So, he directed the play “Cyrano de Bergerac” by Rostan, in which the main character moved in a wheelchair, and the beautiful Roxanne weighed more than a centner.