July 25 marks the 86th anniversary of the birth of writer, director and actor Vasily Shukshin. A lot has been said, written, filmed about his life and work. However, Vasily Makarovich still remains largely an unknown person. Serious researchers say that his real image is hidden under the thick makeup of legends and myths, the birth of which Shukshin himself had a hand in. This is also the opinion of Dmitry Maryin, candidate of philological sciences, teacher of Altai State University and editor-in-chief of the nine-volume collected works of Vasily Shukshin, published in Barnaul last year.

He played with a biography

Dmitry Vladimirovich, recently Altai scientists have taken a serious step in studying the life and work of Shukshin. However, legends and myths in his biography are still missing.

Dmitry Maryin:  Moreover, he himself not only did not seek to debunk them, but, on the contrary, gave rise to them. Shukshin underwent a lot of things in childhood and at times felt a sense of inferiority — the son of an “enemy of the people”, a village origin. When he served in the Navy, he wrote home that the guys surrounded him mostly by the city — he "kept quiet with his village." Do not forget that in 1947, Vasily Makarovich dropped out of college, the education remained unfinished for a long time. All these points, according to a number of scientists, gave rise to a desire for decompensation and inventing an autobiography. And there is a certain paradox. In the official autobiographies, which he submitted when entering VGIK, for work, etc., fictional details are found. But in the works of art - in the series "From the childhood of Ivan Popov" - contain surprisingly accurate, truthful facts about the writer's biography.

Shukshin's myths begin in his childhood. A friend of Vasily Makarovich, cameraman Anatoly Dmitrievich Zabolotsky, writes in his memoirs that Shukshin’s father was arrested in 1933 on a denunciation of a fellow villager, a Polish exile in love with his wife, Maria Sergeyevna. Almost a novel motive ... This myth with slight differences repeats the biographer Korobov. However, the famous Altai local historian Vasily Fedorovich Grishaev once examined the archives of the KGB and raised the documents of the so-called “Srostinsky case”. Of these, it appears that in the case of the anti-Soviet conspiracy fabricated by the authorities in the village, 80 people were arrested, almost all the men who were part of the collective farm. Among them was the thresher driver Makar Shukshin. By force or deceit, but a confession was knocked out of him. And he wrote them, judging by the text, from other people's words. That is, in fact, everything turned out to be simultaneously trite and scary.

The myth of how Shukshin entered VGIK is still being circulated. Vasily Makarovich once wrote that he got to the institute by accident, had a poor idea of \u200b\u200bwhere he had submitted the documents. And they all picked it up. In fact, in VGIK in the personal file of Shukshin there is a note in which he asks the admissions committee to report special tests at the directing department. This request, together with a statement and an autobiography, was sent from Srostok before leaving for the capital. He knew perfectly well where he was going!

Another myth that Vasily Makarovich himself supported was that he was uncouth in his youth, that he had not read Leo Tolstoy.

Dmitry Maryin:This is also untrue - entrant Shukshin passed all the exams “good” and “excellent”. By the way, a guy from a remote Altai village received four for his composition about Mayakovsky, and Andrei Tarkovsky, who came with him, received only three! At the same time, there is no sense in doubting literacy, well-readness, general erudition of Tarkovsky. His brother-in-law, the famous film director Alexander Gordon, writes, for example, that Andrei and his friends had such a game: imagine what a particular room looks like in the Tretyakov Gallery and accurately describe all the paintings hanging there. Tarkovsky never lost in this game!

The myths born by Vasily Makarovich were broadcast, as a rule, by those people who themselves did not participate in the events described. Director Alexander Mitta in his memoirs in detail reproduced scenes of Shukshin's admission to VGIK. But the fact is that Mitta did not act with Shukshin! He later transferred to the second year from the architectural institute. Alexander Naumovich, apparently, simply reproduced what Shukshin himself once told him.

There are myths that are gradually being revealed, but there are such "white spots" that we still cannot clarify. It is not clear how the villager Shukshin received a passport. And this is largely a key story. After all, collective farmers did not rely on passports in those years. And before receiving this document, our fellow countryman bore his mother's surname - Popov. At the end of April 1947, Vasily, also Popov, dropped out of college, and in early May Vasily, already Shukshin, got a job as a locksmith and rigger in the Moscow Soyuzprommekhanizatsiya trust. It is significant that the young guy did not leave his mother's surname and did not take the surname of stepfather Kuksin. He returned his family name, which was forbidden in the family (the mother even forbade her son to visit the relatives of his father, “the enemy of the people.” By the way, after the arrest of husbands in 1933, only two women in Srostka returned their maiden names. One of them was Maria Sergeevna, mother of the future writer). It was a clear protest, a male act. But how did he get a passport in a couple of weeks?

And who was that kind person who helped to do this?

Dmitry Maryin:As suggested by the rector of the Literary Institute, Professor Alexei Varlamov, who authored Shukshin’s biography in the ZhZL series, it helped that Shukshin’s mother worked in a hairdresser and Srostka was a district center. Maria Sergeyevna must have sheared many bosses. Some of them may have helped with a passport.

The second riddle: where was Shukshin these two weeks, what did he do, how did he get to Moscow? A legend is known, which was told by a philologist from Kazan, Professor Boris Nikitchanov. Allegedly, he met in Kazan at the Shukshin market, which was part of the local thieves' gang and admitted to the scientist that he wanted to know this side of life in order to write about it later. "Someday I will be a famous writer, remember my last name!" - said Shukshin. The story is very dubious: the legend of Nikitchanov appeared after the release of the painting "Red Viburnum" and is clearly inspired by the film. In addition, the professor confidently dated history to 1946, and at that time Vasily Popov was still studying at the Biysk Automobile College.

There are legends associated with women of Vasily Makarovich. It is difficult to say how many of them he actually had. People who knew him well give a few more female names. Of course, these are the touches to the portrait, some of which are not related to serious science. Nevertheless, there are still many mysteries in Shukshin’s biography. He played with a biography. It is no coincidence that the American shukshinoved John Givens, analyzing the biography of Vasily Makarovich, uses the term of the Silver Age "life creation".

More like listening than talking.

Now they like to do series about famous personalities. Who do you think could play Shukshin?

Dmitry Maryin:The answer is simple: Sergey Bezrukov! Recently, he plays all the "wonderful people". But seriously ... I spoke once on this subject with the director of the VGIK Center for Creativity, film director Oleg Shuher. We met Oleg Borisovich when he came to Altai on the Shukshin days in 2013. Then met more than once in Moscow. Shucher shared some ideas of the biographical film about Vasily Makarovich. Shukshin should appear at the very end of the film, just a few minutes. An unusual solution for a biopic ... I kept wondering: what's the point? Perhaps it is precisely in the fact that Shukshin is surrounded by many legends. And what was the real Vasily Makarovich, we do not know yet.

What is the relationship between Shukshin and Tarkovsky and Vysotsky?

Dmitry Maryin:Together with Andrei Tarkovsky, they studied on the same course, visited the same companies. Vasily Makarovich went to visit Tarkovsky. Of course, between them, creative personalities, there was an element of rivalry. Indirectly, this is confirmed by the memoirs of Anatoly Zabolotsky and Vasily Belov. Tarkovsky still at VGIK showed the makings of an extraordinary directorial talent. From the first year, Shukshin actively starred in graduate student work. In the letters of his student days, he admitted that he wanted fame and achieved it. They were both course leaders. Subsequently, became one of the best domestic filmmakers. An element of rivalry and, let’s say, increased attention to the work of another probably also persisted in adulthood.

With Vysotsky, Shukshin was little acquainted. They crossed paths for some time in Levon Kocharyan’s circle on Bolshoi Karetny, in which there were many famous people. Vladimir Semenovich in later interviews claimed that Shukshin offered him to star in the film “Such a guy lives” and even promised a role in the film about Stepan Razin ... But, as Vysotsky’s friends recall, he had such a trait - think of something, think out something brag. Shukshin himself neither in letters, nor in autographs, nor in journalism does Vysotsky's name ever mention.

Once you said a wonderful phrase: "In relation to his women, Vasily Makarovich was a real peasant. Everyone, as he could, was supported financially - by his mother, and his eldest daughter, sister, and, naturally, his last family." And what was Shukshin in relation to his friends and how many were there?

Dmitry Maryin:The closest friends are Zabolotsky and Belov. With them, Shukshin was most outspoken in letters. The second circle of close people included a second cousin Ivan Popov, who lived in Novosibirsk, and the Leningrad writer Gleb Goryshin, with whom Vasily Makarovich became friends on the set of the film "Such a guy lives." There were those whom Shukshin clearly sympathized with, for example, actor Alexei Vanin and the spouses Grigoryev, who greatly helped him in the early period of his work.

In general, he was a rather reserved person and liked listening more than talking. I tried to avoid big and noisy companies on the set, since the late sixties I completely stopped drinking alcohol. Shukshin wrote a lot at night, so his favorite drink was coffee. From food, by the way, he loved dumplings and chicken cooked in sour cream.

What were the relationships of Shukshin with the Soviet regime?

Dmitry Maryin:I do not agree with those who are trying to make Shukshin a dissident. Soviet power did a lot for him. Shukshin sometimes used some features of the then ideology. Upon admission to the All-Russian State Institute of Cinematography, for example, he slightly increased his experience as a candidate member of the CPSU. In journalism, he did not hesitate to indicate his belonging to the Communist Party. There are letters in which Vasily Makarovich appeals to high party leaders in search of justice. Shukshin made good money, in material terms he didn’t live in poverty, which he did not hide. In letters to Vasily Ivanovich Belov reproached his friend that he did not know how to earn money.

It was not power that crushed him, but his own colleagues. At artistic councils, claims to Shukshin films were expressed by venerable screenwriters and directors Alexander Shtein, Rostislav Yurenev, Sergey Yutkevich, Tatyana Lioznova and others. The leadership of Mosfilm, contrary to popular belief, on the contrary, often helped him break through the paintings. So it was with Kalina red.

"No one but art cares about man"

In your opinion, are there any followers of the Shukshin tradition among modern writers?

Dmitry Maryin:It is difficult to answer unambiguously. Writers who come to the Shukshin days often emphasize that they are following in the footsteps of Vasily Makarovich. In fact, many of them openly try to imitate, which never leads to literary discoveries.

Shukshin cannot be pushed into any one literary direction. During his lifetime, he was considered a woodland writer or, as they would say now, a soil worker. To some extent this is so - Vasily Makarovich opposed the worship of everything foreign, painfully experienced the oblivion of patriarchal traditions. But his work was much wider than this direction.

In my opinion, he was between city and village prose and walked his own way. On the one hand, he knew the life of the village very well, on the other, he lived a lot in Moscow.

Shukshin has a lot of catchphrases. Well, for example: "We are always afraid of someone, we are afraid of someone. Each nit will be of himself ... to build a great creature, and then die from fear." Or the famous formula "Morality is the truth." You read not only his works of art, but also a large amount of documentary material. Anything sunk into the soul?

Dmitry Maryin:In working notes you can find many aphoristic thoughts. About love, Shukshin once wrote: “We need to love. Just as we unwittingly block the blow, we need to love - involuntarily. We were born with this. This is our instinct.” In my opinion, a surprisingly accurate wording. She helps to understand a lot in the relationship of Vasily Makarovich with his women.

Many of his phrases are updated over time. In one of the letters to Ivan Popov, Shukshin argues as follows: “I think a lot about our business and come to the conclusion: nobody but art cares about people. The state needs soldiers, workers, office workers ... etc. And so that "That's all. But people should be kind. Who will teach them this, except for art. Who will tell you that a simple kind person is much more interesting and better than any general club or a high-ranking official." And this, unfortunately, is true. The state at all times has its own priorities, and the Man with his spiritual needs, alas, is not in the foreground.

Vasily Makarovich posed the famous question: "What is happening to us?" Did he give an answer in his writings?

Dmitry Maryin:  How to say ... I don’t know whether he found the answer to the end, but Shukshin came to the conclusion that people began to pay too much attention to material issues. He pointed to the growing difference between what professional ideologists said to people and what was happening in real life. For him, a hereditary peasant, this was one of the consequences of the collapse of the patriarchal way of life and its replacement with Western standards. He was not a retrograde, understood the need for change, and in his own way believed in progress.

But Shukshin linked the loss of patriarchy with the loss of national identity and deeply, painfully experienced it. Actually, in our time, these trends have become apparent - the weakness and conventionality of family ties, the rejection of traditional values. In the nineties, we got to the point that it was a shame to defend our own country, that the West recognized the right to truth only. It was not by chance that Shukshin was worried about the Cossack way of life, the traditions that shaped it. He tried to incorporate the Cossack archetype into his life. But, by and large, this did not work either in the family or in art.

Which of Shukshin’s works is most relevant now? I read the other day, "Until the Third Cocks" - the impression is that the story was written yesterday.

Dmitry Maryin:Why is the classic valuable? The author conveys the feelings of man, which after hundreds, and sometimes thousands of years, remain relevant. A person changes clothes, vehicles and tools, but he himself does not change. But the archetype remains the same. Man loves just as much, hates the same, suffers and hopes the same. Shukshin’s talent was that he saw in his characters some archetypal moments that were, are and will be, as long as humanity exists. This is given to few writers.

Objectives:  get acquainted with the work of V. M. Shukshin; analyze Dean from his stories; continue to build speaking skills.

Equipment: a textbook, a disc recording the actor’s reading of the story “Cut”, excerpts from the movie “Kalina Krasnaya”, an interactive whiteboard and a presentation for the lesson.

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Lesson. Theme: “The work of V. M. Shukshin. Analysis of the story "Cut".

Objectives:   get acquainted with the work of V. M. Shukshin; analyze Dean from his stories; continue to build speaking skills.

Equipment : a textbook, a disc recording the actor’s reading of the story “Cut”, excerpts from the movie “Kalina Krasnaya”, an interactive whiteboard and a presentation for the lesson.

During the classes

1. Organizing time.
2. Checking homework.
3. The story of the teacher about V. M. Shukshin.

Vasily Makarovich Shukshin  lived a short life. A significant part of it went to the wanderings and “universities of life”. Creative Shukshin as a prose writer, playwright, actor and director was only 20 years old.

The future famous writer was born in the villageBiotic splices  district of Altai Krai in a peasant family. His father was arrested when the boy was 4 years old, and rehabilitated posthumously in 1956. Shukshin was raised by his mother, a woman who was almost illiterate, but naturally kind and intelligent, with a strong nature, sensitive to the word, to music, to song, and her stepfather, who died at the front. Various gifts were transferred from mother to Shukshin.

Shukshin’s childhood was difficult: on the collective farm and at home, he performed all the peasant work. From childhood addicted to reading. There is evidence that he studied at the Biysk Automobile College for some time, then, according to him, “worked in Kaluga on the construction of a turbine factory, in Vladimir at a tractor factory, on construction sites of the Moscow Region”.

In the late 1940s years Shukshin was drafted into the army and served in the Navy. After early demobilization due to illness, he returned to his native Srostki and was the director of the evening school, at the same time taught Russian language and literature. At this time, he decided to graduate. But for this it was necessary to complete the secondary. Shukshin externally passed the exams and, having a matriculation certificate in his hands, in 1954 entered the directing department of VGIK.

Shukshin wrote that at first it was very difficult for him to study at the institute. His classmates knew more than he did, and they knew that it was impossible not to know.

By the beginning of the 1960s, when Shukshin graduated from the institute, he decided in full voice to declare himself as prosaic works. By this time, the writer had already starred in the films “Two Fyodor”, “Alyonka”, he considered the appearance of the stories “Pravda”, “Bright Soul”, “Stepkin Love”, “Exam” and the collection “Rural People” as his debut in films.

4. Questions to the class.

What did you know before about the stories of V. M. Shukshin? Have you read them? Have you seen the movie Kalina Red? Tell us about him. (Answers of the students).

5. Presentation presentation “V. M. Shukshin and his films. " (Slides are accompanied by teacher comments).

In 1964-1974, Shukshin created 4 films (“Stoves, benches”, “Your son and brother”, “Strange people”, “Kalina red”). Shortly before his death, the writer wrote the script "Kalina red", then released a famous film with the same name. He brought Shukshin deserved success and national recognition as a screenwriter, and as a director, and as an actor.

6. We look through an excerpt from the film "Red Viburnum."(The passage lasts 5-7 minutes. Show the deepest episodes).

7. Questions to the class.

How do you think the main character of the picture, Yegor Prokudina? (Proud, tough, harsh, but deeply philosophical).

Did Shukshin manage to create a large-scale, contradictory, multifaceted and truly popular image of a stumbled man? (Yes, it was possible. The hero of Shukshin is very controversial. But at the same time, he realizes that he is doing wrong. He decides to correct his fate, to start it anew, from scratch. However, the hero fails to turn his life differently).

Why is Yegor Prokudin unable to do this? (His dark past constantly prevents him from living. It returns to him, who has already forgiven the hero from the outside - from that criminal world).

8. Fizminutka.

9. Work with the textbook. Reading works. Work on issues.

10. Summarizing the lesson.

1) What are we talking about today? What kind of writer was considered?

2) What did you like (or didn't like) in the works of V. M. Shukshin?

3) Tell us about the heroes of the works of Vasily Makarovich.

11. Homework.

To make illustrations for the work of V. M. Shukshin “Cut”. Read another story by this author. Prepare a characterization chart for the characters.

Lesson. Theme: “The work of V. M. Shukshin. Analysis of the story "Cut".

Objectives: to get acquainted with the work of V. M. Shukshin; analyze Dean from his stories; continue to build speaking skills.

Equipment: a textbook, an actor’s record of reading the story “Cut”, excerpts from the movie “Kalina Krasnaya”, an interactive whiteboard and a presentation for the lesson.

During the classes
Organizing time.
Checking homework.
The story of the teacher about V. M. Shukshin.

Vasily Makarovich Shukshin lived a short life. A significant part of it went to the wanderings and “universities of life”. Creative Shukshin as a prose writer, playwright, actor and director was only 20 years old.
The future famous writer was born in the village of Srostki of the Biysk region of the Altai Territory into a peasant family. His father was arrested when the boy was 4 years old, and rehabilitated posthumously in 1956. Shukshin was raised by his mother, a woman who was almost illiterate, but naturally kind and intelligent, with a strong nature, sensitive to the word, to music, to song, and her stepfather, who died at the front. Various gifts were transferred from mother to Shukshin.
  Shukshin’s childhood was difficult: on the collective farm and at home, he performed all the peasant work. From childhood addicted to reading. There is evidence that he studied at the Biysk Automobile College for some time, then, according to him, “worked in Kaluga on the construction of a turbine factory, in Vladimir at a tractor factory, on construction sites of the Moscow Region”.
  In the late 1940s, Shukshin was drafted into the army and served in the navy. After early demobilization due to illness, he returned to his native Srostki and was the director of the evening school, at the same time taught Russian language and literature. At this time, he decided to graduate. But for this it was necessary to complete the secondary. Shukshin externally passed the exams and, having a matriculation certificate in his hands, in 1954 entered the directing department of VGIK.
Shukshin wrote that at first it was very difficult for him to study at the institute. His classmates knew more than he did, and they knew that it was impossible not to know.
By the beginning of the 1960s, when Shukshin graduated from the institute, he decided in full voice to declare himself as prosaic works. By this time, the writer had already starred in the films “Two Fyodor”, “Alyonka”, he considered the appearance of the stories “Pravda”, “Bright Soul”, “Stepkin Love”, “Exam” and the collection “Rural People” as his debut in films.

4. Questions to the class.

What did you know before about the stories of V. M. Shukshin? Have you read them? Have you seen the movie Kalina Red? Tell us about him. (Answers of the students).

5. Presentation presentation “V. M. Shukshin and his films. " (Slides are accompanied by teacher comments).
  In 1964-1974, Shukshin created 4 films (“Stoves, benches”, “Your son and brother”, “Strange people”, “Kalina red”). Shortly before his death, the writer wrote the script "Kalina red", then released a famous film with the same name. He brought Shukshin deserved success and national recognition as a screenwriter, and as a director, and as an actor.

6. We look through an excerpt from the film "Red Viburnum." (The passage lasts 5-7 minutes. Show the deepest episodes).

7. Questions to the class.

What do you think the main character of the picture, Yegor Prokudina? (Proud, tough, harsh, but deeply philosophical).

Did Shukshin manage to create a large-scale, contradictory, multifaceted and truly popular image of a stumbled man? (Yes, it was possible. The hero of Shukshin is very controversial. But at the same time, he realizes that he is doing wrong. He decides to correct his fate, to start it anew, from scratch. However, the hero fails to turn his life differently).

Why is Yegor Prokudin unable to do this? (His dark past constantly prevents him from living. It returns to him, who has already forgiven the hero from the outside - from that criminal world).

8. Fizminutka.

9. Work with the textbook. Reading works. Work on issues.
10. Summarizing the lesson.

1) What are we talking about today? What kind of writer was considered?
  2) What did you like (or didn't like) in the works of V. M. Shukshin?
  3) Tell us about the heroes of the works of Vasily Makarovich.
11. Homework.
  To make illustrations for the work of V. M. Shukshin “Cut”. Read another story by this author. Prepare a characterization chart for the characters.

V. M. Shukshin and his films

In 1964-1974, Shukshin created 4 films (“Stoves, benches”, “Your son and brother”, “Strange people”, “Kalina red”). Shortly before his death, the writer wrote the script "Kalina red", then released a famous film of the same name. He brought Shukshin deserved success and popular recognition as a screenwriter, and as a director, and as an actor. Particular luck fell to the protagonist - Yegor Prokudin. Shukshin managed to create a large-scale, contradictory, multifaceted and truly popular image of a stumbled man who realized that it was necessary to make an attempt to correct his fate, to start it anew, from scratch. However, the hero does not succeed in turning life differently. The final of the film hints that Egor was able to change internally, that his thieves' past does not forgive betrayal of human destiny, peasant morality, and original moral values. It returns to the hero who has forgiven for stealing from the outside, from the side of the criminal world with which he once linked his fate.

Check yourself

1. What did you know before about the stories of V. M. Shukshin? Have you read them? Have you seen the movie Kalina Red? Tell us about him.

2. Read the story of the writer of Criticism. Think about why in it the funny, the humorous combines with the sad, the sad.

Vasily Makarovich Shukshin lived a short life. A significant part of it went to the wanderings and “universities of life”. The creative life of Shukshin as a prose writer, playwright, actor and director was only 20 years old.

The future famous writer was born in the village of Srostki of the Biysk region of the Altai Territory into a peasant family. His father was arrested when the boy was 4 years old, and rehabilitated 1 posthumously in 1956.

Shukshin was raised by his mother, a woman who was almost illiterate, but naturally kind and intelligent, with a strong nature, sensitive to the word, to music, to song, and her stepfather, who died at the front. Various gifts were transferred from mother to Shukshin.

Shukshin’s childhood was difficult: on the collective farm and at home, he performed all the peasant work. From childhood addicted to reading. There is evidence that he studied at the Biysk Automobile College for some time, then, according to him, “worked in Kaluga on the construction of a turbine factory, in Vladimir on a tractor factory, on construction sites of the Moscow Region”. He tried many professions: he was a handyman, a rigger, a painter’s apprentice, and a loader. In the late 1940s, Shukshin was drafted into the army and served in the navy. After early demobilization due to illness, he returned to his native Srostki and was the director of the evening school, while teaching Russian language and literature. At this time, he decided to graduate. But for this it was necessary to complete the secondary. Shukshin externally passed the exams and, having a matriculation certificate, in 1954 entered the directing department of VGIK (All-Union State Institute of Cinematography). He ended up in the studio of the wonderful director M. Romm, who had a great influence on Shukshin both as an artist and as a person. M. Romm Shukshin entrusted the taste, mind and intuition with his first stories and reviews, which he began to compose at the institute. Subsequently, Shukshin wrote that at first it was very difficult for him to study at the institute. His classmates knew more than he did, and they knew that it was impossible not to know. Shukshin studied, according to his admission, abruptly, with passes. By the beginning of the 1960s, when Shukshin graduated from the institute, he decided in full voice to declare himself as prosaic works. And although the writer at that time had already printed one story and starred in the films “Two Fedor”, “Alyonka”, he considered the appearance of the stories “Pravda”, “The Bright Soul”, “Stepkin Love”, “Exam” and the collection “ Villager".

Shukshin's first book was uneven, but criticism greeted her kindly. The critic considered the philosophical thoughtfulness of characters who reflect on the simplest and at the same time the most difficult issues of life to be a feature of Shuksha's prose. The men at Shukshin think about what life is, why it is given, and how to live.

"Strange people" - the heroes of Shukshin

The heroes of Shukshin are the so-called "cranks", "strange people." Their peculiarity was that they fell out of ordinary life. With all their looks and souls, they opposed treasury, vulgarity and thereby expressed their protest against the restriction of freedoms, rights, against stagnation and stupidity. Their behavior was defiant, vibrant, unusual and cocky. But, in comparison with Leskov’s “eccentrics”, Shukshin’s “eccentrics” are often directly comedic, their “spontaneous twist” is absurd and ridiculous. For example, one of the heroes wanted to paint a stroller with flowers, the other thought of giving his wife a funny telegram, the third did not understand why he bought a microscope for the entire salary. Being strange people, the characters of Shukshin become somewhat like crazy people, focused on one thought, but without visible and dangerous deviations in the psyche. Monya Kvasov strives at all costs to create a perpetual motion machine, Roman Zvyagin is incredibly surprised that the three-bird takes away the negative Gogol's hero Chichikov. This is not to say that the heroes of Shukshin are exclusively positive characters. Their oddities manifested themselves in different ways - sometimes in a moral-positive, then in a negative quality. They could be creators, they could be destroyers. There was a lot in them both from "blind willfulness" and from "crafty village foolishness." But the main thing they have is self-esteem. Therefore, the heroes of Shukshin often live in their own world, full of contradictions, which was born due to the mismatch of reality and dreams. Not satisfied with the actual life, they lived in the imagined one, in the one that their imagination painted. It was this fictitious life that was real for them.

V. M. Shukshin and his films

In 1964-1974, Shukshin created 4 films (“Stoves, benches”, “Your son and brother”, “Strange people”, “Kalina red”). Shortly before his death, the writer wrote the script "Kalina red", then released a famous film of the same name. He brought Shukshin deserved success and popular recognition as a screenwriter, and as a director, and as an actor. Particular luck fell to the protagonist - Yegor Prokudin. Shukshin managed to create a large-scale, contradictory, multifaceted and truly popular image of a stumbled man who realized that it was necessary to make an attempt to correct his fate, to start it anew, from scratch. However, the hero does not succeed in turning life differently. The final of the film hints that Egor was able to change internally, that his thieves' past does not forgive betrayal of human destiny, peasant morality, and original moral values. It returns to the hero who has forgiven for stealing from the outside, from the side of the criminal world with which he once linked his fate.

1 Rehabilitated - in this case - found to be unjustly convicted.

Check yourself

1. What did you know before about the stories of V. M. Shukshin? Have you read them? Have you seen the movie Kalina Red? Tell us about him.
2. Read the story of the writer of Criticism. Think about why in it the funny, the humorous combines with the sad, the sad.