Vladimir Menshov | |
|---|---|
_(cropped).jpg) Menshov in 2018 | |
| Born | Vladimir Valentinovich Menshov (1939-09-17)17 September 1939 |
| Died | 5 July 2021(2021-07-05) (aged 81) Moscow, Russia |
| Education | Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography |
| Occupation(s) | Actor, director, screenwriter, producer |
| Notable work |
|
| Spouse | Vera Alentova |
| Children | Yuliya Menshova |
| Awards |
|
Vladimir Valentinovich Menshov (Russian:Влади́мир Валенти́нович Меньшо́в; 17 September 1939 – 5 July 2021)[1] was aSoviet and Russianactor andfilm director.[2][3] He was noted for depicting the Russianeveryman andworking class life in his films. Although Menshov mostly worked as an actor, he is better known for the films he directed, especially for the 1979melodramaMoscow Does Not Believe in Tears, which won theAcademy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.[4][5] ActressVera Alentova, who starred in the film, is the mother of Vladimir Menshov's daughterYuliya Menshova.[6]
Menshov was born in a Russian family inBaku, Azerbaijan SSR.[7] His father, Valentin Mikhailovich Menshov, was a sailor and later anNKVD officer; his mother Antonina Aleksandrovna Menshova (née Dubovskaya) was a housewife. Because of his father's work, the family lived inBaku,Arkhangelsk andAstrakhan.[8]
As a teenager Menshov worked as a machinist student at a factory, at a mine inVorkuta, as a sailor on a diving boat in Baku, and also as an understudying actor at the Astrakhan Drama Theater.[9] In 1961 he entered the acting department of theMoscow Art Theatre School. During the second year he married actressVera Alentova who was also studying at the same theatre school.[10] In 1965 he graduated from the acting department.[11] After graduating, he worked for two years as actor and assistant director at the Stavropol Regional Drama Theater.[9]
In 1970 he graduated from theVGIK postgraduate course in the department of feature film direction[11] (Mikhail Romm's workshop).[12]
From 1970 to 1976, Vladimir Menshov worked under contracts at the film studiosMosfilm,Lenfilm and theOdessa Film Studio.[13] He made a short thesis filmOn the Question of the Dialectic of the Perception of Art, or Lost Dreams,[14] wrote the stage version of the novelMess-Mend by Marietta Shaginyan, which was staged at theLeningrad Youth Theater,[15] and wrote the scriptI'm Serving on the Border at the request of Lenfilm.[2]
In those years his cinematic acting career began: he starred in the title role in the thesis work of his classmate Alexander PavlovskyHappy Kukushkin.[13] The film was shot at the Odessa Film Studio.[16] Vladimir Menshov also was a co-author of the script. The picture received the main prize at theMolodist-71 Kiev Film Festival[17][16] Menshov starred in a 1972 film by Alexei Sakharov calledA Man in His Place.[15] In 1973 Menshov was awarded the first prize for the best performance at theVI All-Union Film Festival in Almaty.[18][19]
As an actor, Vladimir Menshov has 117 credits. Some of the most popular films that feature him includeHow Czar Peter the Great Married Off His Moor (1976),[16]Where is the Nophelet? (1987),[20]Night Watch (2004),Day Watch (2006) andLegend № 17 (2013).[21]
Menshov's directorial debut took place in 1976, it was the filmPractical Joke.[22] Menshov's second picture,Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears became one of Russia's box-office record holders, was awarded the State Prize of the USSR, and then theOscar (1981) as the Best Foreign Language Film.[23] The film tells the story of lives of three women over two decades. It was also a box-office hit.[24]
In 1984, Menchov directed the filmLove and Pigeons based on the play of Vladimir Gurkin.[25]
Vladimir Menshov also directed the following films:What a Mess! (1995),[22]The Envy of Gods (2000), andThe Great Waltz.[13] TheGreat Waltz was not finished.[26]
He wrote screenplays for the filmsI Serve on the Border (1973),The Night Is Short (1981),What a Mess! (1995),The Great Waltz (2008),[13] was the producer of several films, among which:Love of Evil (1998),Chinese Service (1999),Quadrille (1999),The Envy of Gods (2000),Neighbor (2004),A Time to Gather Stones (2005),Shawls (2006), andThe Great Waltz.[9]
In 2004, Menshov was the host of theChannel One showLast Hero.[27]
Vladimir Menshov was the general director and art director of "Film Studio Genre", which is a subsidiary of Mosfilm.[14]
In 2011 as the chair of the Russian Academy Award committee he refused to co-sign the decision to nominate Nikita Mikhalkov's filmBurnt by the Sun 3: The Citadel as theRussian submission for the 2011 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.[28]
He expressed support for theannexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation[29] and was blacklisted inUkraine in 2015 as a result.[30]
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Vladimir Menshov – Honored Artist of the RSFSR (1984),[14] People's Artist of Russia (1989),[22] winner of the State Prizes of the RSFSR (1978,[22] for the filmRally) and the USSR (1981,[22] for the filmMoscow Does not Believe in Tears).
At the elections to the State Duma in 1995, Menshov was included in the federal list Trade Unions,Industrialists of Russia, Labor Union. In 1999, he was a member of the presidium of the All Russia party. He ran for the post of vice-governor of the Moscow region together withAnatoly Dolgolaptev. In April 2001, he signed a letter in support of the recently elected Russian presidentVladimir Putin's policy on Chechnya.[32][33]
In 2003, Menshov joined theUnited Russia party.[34] In an interview withEsquire magazine in 2010, he stated that he joined it by accident and regrets it and treats the party's activities with irony, but does not leave its ranks in order to avoid scandal.[35] However, in the2016 legislative election, Menshov became a trusted representative of United Russia.[36]
In 2007, answering a question about a possible third term for Vladimir Putin's presidency, Menshov said that he was "sharply negative" about this scenario and criticized his colleagues who said there were no alternatives to the current head of state.[37] During the2018 presidential election, Menshov became one of Putin's trusted representatives.[38][39] However, in 2016, Menshov claimed that he always voted for the communists[40] and positively assessed theSoviet Union.[41]
In 2011, Menshov gave an interview about his political views, where he stated: "Over the years, it has become completely clear to me: if you take the path ofanti-Sovietism, you will certainly come to outrightRussophobia."[42]
Menshov supported theannexation of Crimea by Russia[43] and expressed his opinion on the need for "reunification" withDonbass,[44] and gaveZakhar Prilepin 1 million rubles in aid "for Donbass." In 2017, theSecurity Service of Ukraine banned Menshov from entering the country for a period of 5 years.[45]
Menshov planned to run for theState Duma in the2021 legislative election from theA Just Russia party on its federal party list.[46]
Menshov married actressVera Alentova in 1962. They had a daughter,Yuliya Menshova.
He died at age 81, as a consequence ofCOVID-19.[47]
| Year | Title | Notes | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | Practical Joke | [16] | |
| 1979 | Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears | [16] | |
| 1984 | Love and Pigeons | [16] | |
| 1995 | What a Mess! | [16] | |
| 2000 | The Envy of Gods | [48] |
