Vadim Mikhailov is a famous Soviet film director and screenwriter. In life, he always took an active position, was fond of very many. So, he was a translator, climber, wrote novels, fulfilled the standards of the USSR master of sports.
Director Biography
Vadim Mikhailov was born in 1931. He was born in the small town of Nevel with a population of about 15 thousand people. Now this settlement is located in the Pskov region.
His father was a military man. Often changed the location, along with him moved his family. Vadim Mikhailov studied in several cities. He graduated from school in Leningrad in 1950. At that time he was already 19 years old. The childhood of the future director was in the Great Patriotic War. At that time there was no time for lessons and classes.
Having received secondary education, Vadim Mikhailov enters the State University in Tbilisi. He graduated from the Faculty of Philology, remains to study in graduate school. At one time, he even taught at the department of Russian literature at this university.
Professional career
Vadim Mikhailov, whose biography interests his many fans, began his writing career in the journal Literary Georgia. He began to earn high-quality translations into Russian of Georgian writers. It was Mikhailov who introduced the Soviet reader to the works of Grigol Chikovani, Polykarp Kakabadze, Levan Gotua.
In parallel, Mikhailov began to actively publish in newspapers and magazines of republican significance. There he publishes his own stories and poems.
Feeling a craving for the directorial profession, Mikhailov graduated from “Lenfilm” first higher screenwriting, and then directing courses. He is engaged in the creative workshop of Yevgeny Gabrilovich , a famous playwright who wrote the scripts for Leonid Lukov’s military drama “Two Fighters”, the historical film by Gleb Panfilov “There is no ford on fire”, and Ilya Averbakh’s drama “Monologue”.
Mikhailov comprehends his directing skills thanks to Grigory Kozintsev, who directed The Ordinary People and Youth of Maxim, to Joseph Kheifits (he has performed the detective romance The Case of Rumyantsev, the melodrama Day of Happiness and the drama You Whose Old Man?), And also to Friedrich Ermler. The latter made the war film "The Great Turn."
At the same time, Vadim Mikhailov himself, whose photo began to fall on the pages of literary and film magazines, was professionally fond of mountaineering. He even received the title of master of sports of the USSR.
Directorial debut
The first film shot by Mikhailov was the melodrama "On the day of the wedding." Prior to that, he managed to produce only short films ("Doubles", "Old Romance" and "Hour of Dating").
"On Wedding Day" is a brilliant production of a play by Victor Rozov. In the village, the events of the first film, which was shot by Vadim Mikhailov, take place. The director talks about the Salov family. They have a holiday - they marry the only daughter Nyura.
Her chosen one is Mikhail Zabolotny, evacuated from the besieged Leningrad. During the war, he lost his parents, grew up in an orphanage, and in Salovy found soul mates, his new family. The only thing that worries him is youthful love. His soul yearns for the friend of Nyura Claudia, who left for Leningrad.
A few days before the wedding, Nyura accidentally meets an old friend who returned to her native places, and invites her to a celebration. A few hours radically change the lives of these three people.
The biggest director's luck Mikhailov was an invitation to the role of Mikhail Anatoly Spivak. He perfectly succeeded in the image of a young honest guy for whom love overshadowed the rest of the world. He cannot be with his beloved, because he gave the word to another and is now unable to betray her. There is simply no happy ending for the protagonist in this complicated story.
"Month of August"
The debut film was very successful. Over time, Vadim Mikhailov began to receive more and more offers of cooperation. Films with his participation as a director increasingly began to appear on Soviet screens.
In 1971, he released the melodrama "Month of August." Here again, the viewer will meet a rustic theme. The protagonist, it would seem, has everything for a happy life - a wife, children, elderly parents, good work. But he is restless at heart. He cannot understand the main thing: how to live correctly.
The main role in this picture was played by Sergey Shakurov. His hero returns to the village in which he grew up to see his parents. They suddenly fell ill. In the city, a promising work awaits him, the authorities promised an apartment, and he decides to stay in the village. Unexpectedly for yourself, family and friends.
Only mountains can be better than mountains
Mikhailov transferred his hobby for mountaineering to the screen. In 1976, he removes the psychological drama "While the Mountains Stand." Climbers become the protagonists of this picture. Their favorite pastime is the passion to which they devote all their free time.
And here is a new campaign, a new goal. However, everything unexpectedly turns into a whole series of unpleasant discoveries. In the mountains, where everyone’s life depends on the reliability of a friend, some members of the expedition begin to show their dark side. The mountains reveal each hero from his true side, which he managed to hide in ordinary life. In the mountains, this dark essence manifests itself in all its glory.
The last film that Mikhailov made was the drama Storm Warning. She is also dedicated to mountain issues. The picture was released in 1981.
In the center of the plot is a group of tourists who depart on the usual route at one of the southern tourist bases. Suddenly, during the transition of the mountain pass, a tornado falls on them. Two die, among the remaining, a real panic begins.
Mikhailov screenwriter
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Mikhailov no longer worked as a director, he only wrote scripts for films.
His first success as a screenwriter was the drama Year of the Dog, staged by Semyon Aranovich. Also, according to Mikhailov’s script, several series of detective series “Gangster Petersburg” and “Streets of Broken Lights”, films “Black Raven”, “Dealer” were shot. The last work was the painting "House by the Big River", which saw the light in 2010.
Now Mikhailov is 85 years old, he has retired from his creative career.