The Secrets Of Solonotsin
Anatolii Solonitsin was a very rear and unic actor. He didn`t fall under any type of roles of the soviet cinema. And you can`t say that he created characters. It`s better to say that characters were creating him. First, everything was in the movie then in life.
Solonitsin was born in Samara. His father, Alexei Feodorovich, was a reporter in "Izvestia", his mother came from actor family. His younger brother, Alexei Solonitsin, is a writer and tele-journalist now.
The career of Solonotsin was hard. He didn`t suit to that period. At that time other characters were popular, such as love-character Strizhenov, Tikhonov, simpleton Kononov and comic Pugovkin…
Solonotsin tried to enter the Drama Institute three times and failed. He suffered badly and even thought of committing suicide. Every time having failed he worked, because he was too ashamed to come back home. First time he went to Ivanovo to root up stumps. The water in the marshes was poisoned and he lost his hair. After the second failure he took part in a geological expidition to Issik-Kul. After the third he worked as a locksmith at a factory.
Finally he succeded to enter a drama studio in Sverdlovsk (his brother studied there at the university). After graduating he went on working in the theater there. But he played seldom and his the only biggest role was in "The Humiliated and Abused" by Dostoevskii. Since then Solonitsin became aware that the main theme of his work would be the theme of suffering and realizing it as a redemption.
He found his faith very soon and the acquaintance with Tarkovskii helped it. And again his brother was an initiator. Alexei found at "The Cinema Art" the script of "Andrei Rublev" and began to convince: "Tolya, you should go and try!" Solonitsin refused, saying: "I`m not so nuts to go to Moscow and say: give me the leading part!. By the way they have already found the actor". But any way he went. At that time his father`s friend from Nizhnii Novgorod, who was a student of local lore, history and economy, had sent him the documents that one of his ancestors -Zakhar Stepanovich Solonitsin - had been an icon-painter in 18-th century. Having read it Anatolii forgot about all hesitations and decided to go.
When Solonitsin came to Moscow Tarkovskii let him try without any enthusiasm, because the actor on this role had been already chosen - Stanislav Lubshin. But having looked at Solonitsin - he hesitated. He gathered icon-restorers and showing the trials asked: "Who is Rublev?" Everybody pointed on one face. It was the face of Solonitsin.
Solonitsin performed the character of Andrei Rublev in the way Tarkovskii saw it. But when the film was on everybody said it was a wonderful movie but they remembered Burliaev not Solonitsin. As if he hadn`t expressed Rublev properly. But this role hadn`t been supposed to be passionate. The monk was a contamplative person, he lived in his inner world.
He used to work with unknown directors. His first short-length film was with Gleb Panfilov, in sverdlovsk film studio. After the famous scene with a passer-by in "The Mirror" he told his colleagues: "I`m going to Marshino, I have a role in a detective movie. And the director is Nikita Mikhalkov." Everybody were in a shock state:"Are you nuts? After "The Mirror" you`re going to a mother`s darling". Solonitsin said:"You`re wrong. It`s a very good detective and the director will be distinguished". In this way Solonitsin determined the film "One Among Strangers, the Stranger Among One`s People".
Another movie "The Ascent " by Shepitko. Solonitsin says:"Now I play a role of a criminal in a film about war. The director Larisa Shepitko is an incredible woman. And the film is amaizing." It is true. "The Ascent" is the top of our cinema and one of the best roles of Solonitsin, despite the fact that the film`s about war and was shot by a woman.
Tarkovskii used to say:"If I had a chance, you would play only in my films." He offered:"Let me arrange your marriage. I have a woman, she is american, very rich, and she is mad about you. It`ll solve all the problems." Anatolii just laughed. He loved Leningrad and didn`t want to leave it. And he didn`t like Moscow, even hated it. As if he had felt that would die there. He was fed up with that fuss in Moscow. But in Leningrad there wasn`t any work. Tarkovskii invited him to Moscow to play "Hamlet" in "Lencom".
After Solonitsin played at Zarkha`s movie, Tarkovskii said:"You and Zarkha closed the theme of Dostoevskii in our cinema". Tarkovskii wanted to shoot "Idiot" by Dostoevskii himself. Solonitsin was supposed to play Dostoevskii and Lebedev. Tarkovskii wanted Solonitsin to make a plastic operation. And Anatolii was ready to do it, he was ready to end his career, he thought that after performing Dostoevskii he wouldn`t be able to play anything else. But this project was burried. As always.
Tarkovskii was leaving for good. He came to say good-bye. He tried to joke. He brought a jar of honey from Paradzhanov and said:"It`s mountain honey, it`ll help you." They had tea, talked a little, then he went. With his thoughts Tarkovskii was all there. He wrote "The Nostalgia" special for Anatolii. And all the time living there he hoped that someday he would be back and would shoot this film with Solonitsin. Tarkovskii couldn`t even thought that as they had appeared at the cinema together they would be gone together. Anatolii died in 1982 and Andrey in 1986. Before his death Tarkovskii said: "I`m dying from the same disease as Solonitsin". Tarkovskii hoped to realise all his plans there on the West, but his point of view about art wasn`t appreciated there either. We`d lost our best director.
Solonitsin understood art at the same way. They spent a lot of time together talking and discussing. Anatolii talked about God only to him, he couldn`t duscuss this theme with anybody else.
In winter 1981 in Mongolia Solonitsin fell hard. He suffered from the pain and sometimes couldn`t suppress crying.
He was burried at Vagankovo. First the administration refused and said that there were no room. But Solonitsin`s friends (Kononov, Kaidanovskii, Bykov, Basov and others) collected money and bought the place at the cemetry. The sculpter Alexei Bystrov made the monument - Anatolii Solonitsin in monk`s clothes like white candle.
Nickolai Kirillov
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