Boris Barnet - actor, director, screenwriter,stuntman. Most of his films today are little known. Many of Barnet’s films have been sustained in the spirit of socialist realism and, in the opinion of contemporary critics, are “commissioned”, “primitive” films. Some pictures were removed from the big screen in Soviet times.
early years
Barnet Boris Vasilyevich was born in 1902 (18June) in Moscow. His ancestors were entirely artisans. Barnet owned a small printing house, which was passed from grandfather to father, from father to son. However, Boris Barnett never entered the family business. Not only because he decided to link his life with art, but also because in 1917 the Bolsheviks came to power and nationalized the printing house.
In 1920, Boris Barnet volunteered for the Red Army. He came to the Southeastern Front, served in the hospitals as an orderly. Two years later, after being wounded, he was sent to Moscow for treatment.
Film-making
Future actor and director graduated from the Military Schoolphysical education, after which he was enrolled in the staff of the institution as a boxing teacher. He also performed in the ring. At one of the matches on Boris Barnet, director Lev Kuleshov drew attention and invited him to the role of one of the characters in his film.
This film work was for Boris Barnett, photowhich are presented in the article, debut and played a significant role in his fate. After filming Kuleshov’s movie, the hero of this article decided to become a professional actor. He graduated from the State Technical College of Cinematography, then wrote the script and took it to the department of Mezhrabpomfilm. The novice writer did not pay money, but he liked the script. A few months later, Boris Barnett wrote the script for the film "Miss Mend."
Director career
В двадцатых годах Борис Барнет снял несколько movies. In this case, did not leave the profession of an actor. He created the film "The Girl with the Box", which conveyed the atmosphere of the times of NEP. The picture contains irony, lyrics and an eccentric buffoon. In the early 1930s, a Soviet director produced several documentaries. Among them: "Piano", "Living things", "Manufacture of musical instruments." All these are pictures that only film critics know today.
In 1933, Boris Barnett made the film Outskirts,tells about the First World War. The film shows the life of a provincial town in the last years of the Russian Empire. The director used innovative editing techniques in those days, he presented a military theme with a completely unexpected side for the viewers of the time. Lyrical and epic motifs are peculiar in his picture. In 1934, the Barnett film received the Mussolini Cup, the main award at the Venice Festival (until 1942).
During the war
A year before the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, Boris Barnet made a film“The Old Rider” as written by Nikolai Erdman and Mikhail Volpin. The film tells about a jockey running from failures in a professional field in his native village. The film premiered in early 1941. Critics spoke of the Barnet film positively, calling it the first real sound comedy in the USSR. This film was released on the big screens only in 1959.
During the war, Boris Barnet, like the restfilmmakers, worked on the creation of films designed to raise the heroic spirit of Soviet citizens. At that time, the painting “Once at Night” was created, which hardly anyone remembers today. In 1942, Barnett made the comedy Glorious Little. And already two years after the end of the war, he created the “Intelligence feat”, which enjoyed popularity among Soviet viewers for more than one year. It was this film that laid the foundation for the traditions of heroic adventure films in the USSR.
Films of the 50s
Films that created in the fiftiesBarnett, critics rated not so high. In 1959, he shot the drama "Annushka". This film is one of the few that enjoyed spectator success. In 1957, the painting "The Wrestler and the Clown" was created. Jean-Luc Godard spoke about this work of the Soviet director very commendable. The last rise of Boris Barnet, the filmography of which includes more than forty works, came at the beginning of the sixties. It was then that the comedy “Alenka” based on the story by Sergei Antonov came out.
Last years
In the 60s, Boris Barnett worked a little.He often moved from town to town. In 1963, he filed a letter of resignation from Mosfilm. And after some time, the director was invited to the Riga Film Studio, where work began on the film "Ambassadors Conspiracy".
Boris Barnet died tragically duringpreparatory period for the filming of this film. Soviet director committed suicide on January 8, 1965. In a suicide letter, he wrote about fatigue, about old age and that he had lost faith in himself, without which it is impossible to work or live. Boris Barnet is buried in Riga at the Forest Cemetery.
The Soviet director and screenwriter was married three times. From the last marriage, he left his daughter Olga Barnet - an actress, known for the films "Solaris", "Poirot's failure".
