You can talk endlessly about Roland Bykov and still not say anything. This little man with kind sad eyes created Russian cinema. Huge energy, endless kindness, as “charisma” is now said, beat out of it a fountain and attracted people of all ages. Rolan Bykov, or rather Roland, was born in Kiev in the distant heavy 1929 year. Roland absorbed natural softness and artistry with his mother’s milk, because she was an intelligent woman, well versed in art and writing poetry, but he inherited explosive energy from his father, a former deserter, and then the commissioner, who served under the leadership of Budenny himself.
The first steps
School years and an art club revealed his creative spirit in Roland, even his classmates gave him the nickname "Artist". He constantly held mini-performances in the schoolyard and made laugh not only friends, but also strict teachers. What he will become, it was clear from childhood, but the teachers of the Moscow Art Theater and GITIS thought differently and rejected Roland for an unpresentable appearance. The problem of appearance all his life worried Bykov so much that already in his declining years he once said in an interview that he was the first person with such an appearance who achieved success in cinema.
“Pike” turned out to be more perspicacious and gladly accepted it into its arms, rightly deciding that the Russian Youth Theater would need such a characteristic actor. When the Schukin School was behind him, Roland realized that he needed to somehow earn money, because the actor’s rate at that time was only 33 rubles, and it was simply impossible to live on that money. Rolan Bykov took a very risky step, deciding to open an amateur theater. This was, of course, a jurisdiction, but the risk, as they say, is a noble cause, and Bykov, hoping for inconsistency of the Soviet bureaucratic machine, invited Yablochkina herself to the opening of the theater. Everything went perfectly, and the circle earned at full strength. The performance of the studio "Such Love" became his calling card and finally legitimized the existence of an amateur theater.
"Overcoat"
In parallel, Bykov created unforgettable images on the stage of the Theater of Young Spectators. Not only children attended the performances with his participation. The theater of the young spectator has become the home of a young graduate for the next 7 years. And then came the crucial year of 1959, when Rolan Bykov was invited to the adaptation of Gogol’s novel “The Overcoat” for the role of Bashmachkin.
The film caused a mixed reaction among critics, as the picture turned out to be too naturalistic, however, Roland himself was greeted with a bang.
Cinema
After this role, he became recognizable and in demand. Bykov worked for some time as a director in Lenkom and in 1960 moved to Mosfilm, where he tried himself as a film director. His first film, where he acted as a director - "Seven Nannies". After Rolan Bykov made after many interesting films, but the first experience showed how deeply he understands child psychology.
Mystic
One of the actor’s strange hobbies from childhood was fortunetelling; he possessed some kind of strange gift for a person to tell about his past. At one time, when the family was starving, this income was the main part of the family budget. It all ended very deplorably - little Roland had to be treated for psychological overwork. He carried an interest in mysticism through his whole life and always consulted with one gypsy - Lyalya. He re-read almost all of the literature on psychology and even himself derived a very interesting theory of the "phenomenology of childhood." She helped him better understand children's problems and create their own masterpieces for them.
Rolan Bykov somehow subconsciously understood how to talk with a young audience, how to make him laugh at adult jokes. His main secrets were kindness and childish perception of the world around him.
Little actors simply adored him and therefore each role became a real revelation for them. In all his films, Rolan Bykov starred himself, and this gave each picture unforgettable moments of cheerfulness and carelessness.
At the same time, he starred in other directors, in such cult films as “Andrei Rublev” or “Two Comrades Served”. Each such role filled the film with some secret, only Bykov subjective meaning, because we can no longer imagine these pictures without him. Sometimes he stayed in the frame for no more than a minute, as, for example, in “I Walk in Moscow”, but each such appearance caused laughter and was remembered forever, one spoken word was picked up by grateful spectators and passed from mouth to mouth. This is true popular recognition. But Rolan Bykov, whose films the whole country watched and quoted, believed that everything was still ahead, and he had not yet played the main role.
Episode master
All the “adult” movie roles were obtained by Bykov, despite all the hilarity of some images, they were very tragic, as if they were not allowed to reveal their talent to the end, as if they were breaking it off at the most interesting place. Without pathos and pomp, the actor does not play, but lives the screen life of his character. On the one hand, he is a filigree master of the episode - he knows exactly how to forever be imprinted in the minds with one phrase or grimace. Let’s recall the role of the sheriff in “The Prince and the Pauper,” his pronounced phrase through his teeth became the hallmark of the whole picture. The filmography of Roland Bykov is full of such memorable episodes. On the other hand, comic clowning, exaggerated images that make you laugh thoughtlessly at one mention.
The role of Fyodor’s father, who “appears not at self-interest, but tokma for the sake of the wife who sent me” appears at the cottage of engineer Bruns, was the highlight, without which it is impossible to imagine this film adaptation of Ilf and Petrov.
Kreks-feks-peks
His cat Basilo with broken glasses, muttering "Kreks-peks-peks", forced to burst out laughing with adults and children. A true virtuoso, he can keep the audience in suspense, amuse or make you think, but the little sadness of a great master who always thinks he is capable of more is always slipping in his images.
Oddly enough, in the beginning, Bykov didn’t even want to appear in “The Adventures of Pinocchio,” especially with his wife Elena Sanaeva, but she was able to convince him that such roles happen once in a lifetime. And so it happened, Sanaeva became famous, and Bykov for all times became the best on-screen fairy-tale character. The filmography of Roland Bykov would be incomplete without The Adventures of Pinocchio.
"Aibolit 66"
It must be said that the actor’s full talent was revealed in children's cinema. The phenomenon of Russian children's cinema is known throughout the world, because it is the quintessence of kindness and love. These films are sometimes funny, sometimes sad, but always interesting, and I want to watch them countless times. How many generations have grown up on them and now shows this amazing world to their children. Films of Rolan Bykov are unsophisticated in content, fraught with the secret of love for children, an understanding of their problems and a children's outlook on life. This big child was able to truly win the hearts of all the children of that time.
For some reason, the film Aibolit 66 was not often shown on Soviet television. Either they considered it incredibly innovative, because Bykov appears there, except for the grotesque Barmaley, in the role of the author with a strange make-up on his face (Pierrot-Petrushka); whether too much theatrical aesthetics was seen in the production. In general, not everyone “upstairs” liked the film. But when he walked, the whole country "stuck" to the television screens. The most comical was the translation of the name, when the film was shown abroad, "Oh How It Hurts - 66" sounded anecdotal. The film turned out to be more likely an adult, so many aspects of human nature were exposed.
Cat Basilio and Fox Alice
At first, Rolan Bykov’s personal life was very successful, his marriage to Lidia Knyazeva was happy, but unfortunately childless, and the couple adopted the boy Oleg. They lived together for 15 years. Lyudmila Sanaeva and Rolan Bykov met on the set of the failed film "Docker". At first, Bulls terribly resisted the inclusion of the daughter of Sanaev himself in the cast, well, he did not like all this continuity on the screen, but one glance into the wide-open eyes of the beauty was enough for him to understand that he was gone. Later he said that he was grateful to fate for this meeting, because this was the only role that he was ashamed of - the film turned out to be so unfortunate.
The crisis
Since then, they have not been separated. Rolan Bykov’s wife survived with him a heavy, black strip of excommunication from the cinema, when Rolan was hacked into several scenarios and was not allowed to shoot what he likes. She stubbornly endured his binges and did everything to bring her husband out of a severe depression.
And she was able to save her lover. It was as if Rolan Bykov was awakened from a dream and realized that life is beautiful, there is a loving, understanding person nearby who will understand, forgive and help in difficult times.
"Scarecrow"
His catch phrase perfectly described the state of the actor: "I'm beaten, I'll start over!" Under this name, Bykov's diaries were later published describing the most difficult years of creative stagnation. As if waking up from a dream, he removes the cult drama "Scarecrow", which cannot be characterized unambiguously. The cruel, moral and ethical problem of relations in society has outgrown its time, and so far the film is relevant as a reflection of human weaknesses. At a meeting of the city party committee, the film was immediately declared harmful and irrelevant, since there could not be such cruel problems in the Soviet school, but it still found a way to the audience. Andropov himself gave the green light to the rental of this film. The success was truly deafening; for a long time the film gathered entire cinemas.
From her first marriage, Lyudmila Sanaeva had a son, Pavel, who was later adopted by Rolan Bykov. He is a famous writer (many know his cult story “Bury Me Under the Plinth”), tries himself in directing. Rolan Bykov’s children were not his blood relatives, but he inherited all the best from him.
Untimely demise
The actor was full of creative plans when a serious illness knocked him down. Rolan Bykov, whose biography was full of ups and downs, fell down overnight. He was given a terrible diagnosis - lung cancer. Bykov steadfastly fought for his life, he went on an operation that gave him an extra two years of life. Until the last minute, he worked on the film "Portrait of an Unknown Soldier", but on October 6, 1998, the heart of this cheerful man with kind, sad eyes stopped forever. The filmography of Roland Bykov is rich in epochal roles, forever remaining in the memory of grateful spectators. A great man, a talented director Rolan Bykov, passed away. His biography could be replenished with many interesting works and facts, but the disease did not leave him a chance.