Roman Balayan is a bright and famous figure in the domestic cinema world. Being a master of intellectual and psychological cinema, he confidently takes the place of one of the most popular and internationally recognized directors of our time.
Childhood and career start
Balayan Roman Gurgenovich was born in the Azerbaijani village of Nerkin-Oratag (Mardakert region of Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijan) on April 15, 1941. As a child, he was left without a father who died during the Great Patriotic War. Mother was a doctor, and also took part in the productions of local theater groups. In 1948, the family moved to Grozny, but in 1951 returned. In the period from 1959 to 1961, Roman served as an actor in the Drama Theater named after M. Gorky in the city of Stepanakert (Nagorno-Karabakh). And just this year he is moving to Armenia and becoming a student of the Theater Institute of Yerevan (directing department). However, in 1964 for a while he took a break from his studies and continued it at the Kiev Theater Institute. Karpenko-Kary (on the directorial course of cinematography).
Friendship with Parajanov
Roman Balayan was firmly convinced that at 26 he would become a brilliant director. And the reason for this confidence was the fact that "at 26 Eisenstein created the film" Battleship Potemkin. " But at the “appointed time”, Roman was still a student. And it was during his student days that he met Parajanov, who at first left a very bad impression on himself. However, over time, Roman was among the admirers of the director’s talent. Balayan himself later admitted that Parajanov became for him not just a teacher and unconditional authority, but almost a god.
Subsequently, when Sergei Iosifovich was arrested (April 1973), Roman Balayan became one of the initiators of the letter of cultural figures in defense of Parajanov. He also took one of the copies of the letter to the Prosecutor General. But, unfortunately, this did not lead to anything, and Balayan had to communicate with his teacher through correspondence. By chance, Roman Gurgenovich was unable to attend the funeral of a brilliant director, and he regretted it very much. But, paying tribute to his Master, he made a documentary called “Night at the Parajanov Museum”.
Directorial debut
Despite the few filmography, there is something in his paintings, after which an attentive viewer can say with confidence that the director of the film is Balayan. Roman Gurgenovich even himself often joked on this subject, saying that his films have more friends than he does. And he said that, despite all the shortcomings of his paintings, he is the only filmmaker close to Parajanov who came out of imitation to a talented director. The only exception was the dissertation “The villain sp_ymali” (“The thief was caught”).
However, the first full-fledged directorial debut (The Romashkin Effect), according to the director himself, was not very successful. Although the viewer received the story about friends who decided to shoot an advertisement for kefir very warmly. The main role in the film was played by Mikhail Derzhavin, and his friends - Nikolai Tkachuk and Nikolai Grinko. But this film was criticized by many, and even closed. This was followed by more successful paintings - "Kashtanka" (1975) and "Biryuk" (1977).
"Flying in a dream and in reality"
After the success of "Biryuk" had to endure as much as five years of inactivity. Although there were offers, however, Balayan himself refused to simply shoot about miners and workers. Roman Gurgenovich later admitted that it was out of pure egoism, because the family was starving at that time. It was these years of calm that served as the motive for the next film. And so were "born" Flights in a dream and in reality.
The script was originally written under Nikita Mikhalkov, but once Balayan at home on TV saw Oleg Yankovsky cut a lemon. And the whole thing was the look with which he looked at everyone, there was some kind of rebellion in him, a protest to society ... After that, Balayan had to refuse Mikhalkov, but he still played a cameo role in the film - the director on the set. As a result, the film went off with a bang. The picture is about a man who could not get a job in life, as if absorbed all the pain that the country lived then. Everyone in the main character found himself, and Yankovsky himself later admitted that this was his most interesting role ...
"Kiss"
Immediately after the filming of “Flights ...”, Balayan began work on the film “Kiss” (an adaptation of the eponymous story by A. P. Chekhov), according to many viewers and film critics, who became one of the best films of the director. And again in the main role - Oleg Yankovsky, who played a noble officer, suffering from spiritual anguish. This time the company was made up of Alexander Abdulov and Oleg Menshikov (the latter had a small, but noticeable role). However, when watching a movie one feels to whom Balayan prefers. Roman Gurgenovich was so keen on Yankovsky that he brought him to the forefront, and only in the background is attention transferred to Abdulov. And somewhere “in the backyard”, with the frightened eyes of a young officer, Menshikov “weaves” ... The film was completely finished just eight months later and was warmly received by the audience.
Audience love
The directorial works of Roman Balayan always arouse interest, and then the love of the public. They are waiting impatiently. In addition, in an interview, he admitted that he was preparing a new script and wanted to remove Svyatoslav Vakarchuk (the leader of the Ocean Elsa group) in the title role. Of course, this fuels public interest even more. Well, we will look forward to his new film work ...