Valentin Yezhov | |
|---|---|
Валентин Ежов | |
| Born | Valentin Ivanovich Yezhov (1921-01-21)21 January 1921 |
| Died | 8 May 2004(2004-05-08) (aged 83) |
| Occupation | Screenwriter |
| Years active | 1953—2000 |
| Spouse(s) | Olga Yezhova (1951—1971) Victoria Fyodorova (1972—1973) Natalia Gotovtseva (1973—2004) |
Valentin Ivanovich Yezhov (Russian:Валентин Иванович Ежов; 21 January 1921 — 8 May 2004) was a Soviet and Russian screenwriter, playwright, writer and professor atVGIK.[1][2]
Valentin Yezhov was born in Samara, Russian SFSR into aRussian family. His father Ivan Vasilyevich Yezhov came from the Belye Kolodezi village (nowOzyorsky District, Moscow Oblast). As aRed Army soldier he took part in battles against theCzechoslovak Legion and was heavily wounded in action. While in a hospital he met Anna Ivanovna Maskalina, a senior nurse who later became his wife. Valentin was apremature child born after seven months of pregnancy. He was named after the character of theFaust opera that made a lasting impression on his parents.[3]
In six years the family moved to the town ofOzyory and then — to Moscow. In 1938 Yezhov graduated from school and joined the army. Shortly before theGreat Patriotic War he enrolled into the School for Junior Airmen (known simply as ShMAS), then fought at theRussian Far East as part of thenaval aviation forces. He demobilized in 1945 and returned to Moscow where he enteredVGIK to study screenwriting under Joseph Manevich.Alexander Dovzhenko took his place later on; it was Dovzhenko's only screenwriting course.[4]
Yezhov started working in cinema in 1953 and quickly turned into one of the most prolific screenwriters of the Soviet Union. He wrote and co-wrote over 50 screenplays, both for short and feature films. He worked in almost every genre, including documentaries. 1959 saw the release of the war dramaBallad of a Soldier directed byGrigory Chukhray. The screenplay was co-written by Chukhray and Yezhov, both war veterans. The film gained a lot of praise and gathered a handful of international awards, including the Special jury prize at the1960 Cannes Film Festival,[5] the 1961BAFTA Award for Best Film and the 1961Bodil Award for Best Non-American Film. It was also nominated for the 1961Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. Both Yezhov and Chukrai were awarded aLenin Prize for their work.[2]
The following years Yezhov worked with such acclaimed directors asGeorgiy Daneliya,Larisa Shepitko andAndrei Konchalovsky. Along withRustam Ibragimbekov he co-wrote a screenplay that was later made into a 1970Ostern movieWhite Sun of the Desert byVladimir Motyl. It turned into one of the box office leaders with 34.5 million viewers and quickly gained a cult status despite lacking any awards or attention from critics. It became a good tradition for Russian cosmonauts to watch the film before the space flights.[6] In 1998 it was awarded theState Prize of the Russian Federation byBoris Yeltsin as a culturally significant piece of art.[7]
In 1978 an epic historical dramaSiberiade was produced by Andrei Konchalovsky based on the screenplay written by him and Yezhov. The movie was shown at the1979 Cannes Film Festival where it received a lot of praise and eventually won theGrand Prix award.[8] It became Konchalovsky's most recognizable work ever since and opened him gates toHollywood where he fled in just a year after the ceremony.
In addition to his screenwriting career, Yezhov also wrote several theatrical plays (Nightingale Night, Alyosha, Gunfire Beyond the Dunes), worked as a professor and educator at VGIK. Among his students whereValentin Chernykh who produced the screenplay for the Oscar-winning movieMoscow Does Not Believe in Tears andSergei Bodrov. Member of theCommunist Party of the Soviet Union since 1951.[2]
In later years Yezhov worked withSergei Bondarchuk on theRed Bells dilogy,Ion Popescu-Gopo on the sequel to hisMaria, Mirabela fairy tale and other Soviet and foreign film directors. He produced a total of six films together with a film director Viktor Sadovsky, including the 1991 biographical dramaMy Best Friend, General Vasili, Son of Joseph Stalin about the acclaimed Soviet sportsmanVsevolod Bobrov and his friendship withVasily Stalin.
After thedissolution of the Soviet Union he turned to screenwriting only once, in the 2000 short filmDr. Andersen that went unnoticed. In 1993 Yezhov andRustam Ibragimbekov published a novelization of theirWhite Sun of the Desert screenplay.[9] In 2001 they also published a prequel —White Sun of the Desert. Full Version[10] which they hoped to make into a movie or TV series, but apparently this never happened despite the efforts made by Ibragimbekov after his friend's death.[11][12]
Valentin Yezhov died in Moscow on May 8, 2004. He was buried at theTroyekurovskoye Cemetery.[13] He was survived by his third wife, a writer Natalia Vsevolodovna Gotovtseva. Between 1972 and 1973 he was briefly married to the Soviet and later American actressVictoria Fyodorova who left Russia shortly after their divorce.[14]
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