Andrei Konchalovsky

Andrei Sergeyevich Konchalovsky (; né Mikhalkov; born 20 August 1937) is a Russian film and theatre director, screenwriter, and producer. His filmmaking career spans over 60 years in Soviet, Hollywood, and contemporary Russian cinema. Early in his career, he was a screenwriting collaborator of Andrei Tarkovsky. His film credits include ''Uncle Vanya'' (1970), '' Siberiade'' (1979), '' House of Fools'' (2002), '' The Postman's White Nights'' (2014), ''Paradise'' (2016), and '' Dear Comrades!'' (2020). During the 1980's, he resided in the United States, where he directed films such as '' Maria's Lovers'' (1984), '' Runaway Train'' (1985), '' Shy People'' (1987), and '' Tango & Cash'' (1989). He also directed the 1997 miniseries adaptation of the ancient Greek narrative ''The Odyssey''.

His films have won numerous accolades, including the Cannes Grand Prix Spécial du Jury, a FIPRESCI Award, two Silver Lions, three Golden Eagle Awards, and a Primetime Emmy Award. He is the laureate of several civil honours in Russia and abroad, including the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", a National Order of the Legion of Honour, a French Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters, a Cavalier of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic and a People's Artist of the RSFSR.

Konchalovsky is a member of the Mikhalkov family. His father is Sergey Mikhalkov, the lyricist of the Soviet and Russian national anthems, and his brother is filmmaker Nikita Mikhalkov.

Early life and ancestry

Konchalovsky was born Andrei Sergeyevich Mikhalkov on 20 August 1937 in Moscow, Russia, then part of the Soviet Union. The Mikhalkov family has centuries-old artistic and aristocratic heritage tracing their roots to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania; in 2009, Konchalovsky testified that a great-grandfather resided in Lithuania. His mother was poet Natalia Konchalovskaya, and his father was writer Sergey Mikhalkov. Konchalovsky's brother is filmmaker Nikita Mikhalkov. Konchalovsky is frequently referred to as Andron, but as he stated several times, Andron was just a diminutive used by his grandfather and never was his official name; he prefers the name Andrei.

Career

Konchalovsky studied for ten years at the Moscow Conservatory, preparing for a pianist's career. In 1960, however, he met Andrei Tarkovsky. Konchalovsky made two films with Tarkovsky: '' Ivan's Childhood'' and ''Andrei Rublev''.

His first own full-length feature, '' The First Teacher'' (1964), was favourably received in the Soviet Union and screened by numerous film festivals abroad. His second film, '' Asya Klyachina's Story'' (1967), was suppressed by Soviet authorities. When issued twenty years later, it was acclaimed as his masterpiece. Thereupon, Konchalovsky filmed adaptations of Ivan Turgenev's '' A Nest of Gentle Folk'' (1969) and Chekhov's ''Uncle Vanya'' (1970), with Innokenty Smoktunovsky in the title role.

In 1979 he was a member of the jury at the 11th Moscow International Film Festival. His epic '' Siberiade'' upon its 1979 release was favourably received at Cannes, particularly for its scene featuring the binding and abuse of a Siberian Lynx, and made possible his move to the United States in 1980.

His most popular Hollywood releases are '' Maria's Lovers'' (1984), '' Runaway Train'' (1985), based on a script by Japanese director Akira Kurosawa (who had written it as an adaptation of Dostoevsky's " House of the Dead"), and '' Tango & Cash'' (1989), starring Sylvester Stallone and Kurt Russell. In 1985, Ned Tanen wanted to hire Konchalovsky to direct ''The Godfather Part III'', but the other executives at Paramount Pictures concluded the film could not be made without Francis Ford Coppola and Mario Puzo's involvement. In the 1990s, Konchalovsky returned to Russia, although he occasionally produced historical films for U.S. television, such as his adaption of ''The Odyssey'' (1997) and the award-winning remake, '' The Lion in Winter'' (2003). In a 2023 SAG-AFTRA Foundation interview, Emily Blunt stated that she auditioned for a role in the latter film, and said of Konchalovsky that "he was vile... he was really horrible," and that he was "really cruel during the audition and loved taking me down a peg or two." Blunt claimed that he promoted a "very misogynistic sort of vibe, and I was a shell of my former self by the time I came out."

Konchalovsky's full-length feature, '' House of Fools'' (2003), with a cameo role by Bryan Adams as himself, set in a Chechen psychiatric asylum during the war, won him a Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival.

In 2010, Konchalovsky released a longtime passion project of his, '' The Nutcracker in 3D'', a musical adaptation of Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky's ballet. A musical film, it mixed live action and 3D animation, and starred Elle Fanning, John Turturro, Nathan Lane, and Richard E. Grant. The film was scored with music from the ballet, with additional lyrics by Tim Rice. The film was universally panned by critics and audiences.

In the same year, Konchalovsky also featured in ''Hitler in Hollywood'', a bio-doc about Micheline Presle which evolves into a thrilling investigation of the long hidden truth behind European cinema. This mockumentary thriller uncovers Hollywood's unsuspected plot against the European motion picture industry. The film won the FIPRESCI Prize at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival and was nominated for a Crystal Globe award in July 2010.

In 2012, Konchalovsky wrote, directed and produced ''The Battle for Ukraine'', which provided an in depth analysis of how Ukraine to this day struggles to escape from the close embrace of its former big brother, Russia. This extensive study lasted for almost three years and involved an array of Ukrainian, Russian and American historians, politicians and journalists, as well as the ex-President of Poland Aleksander Kwaśniewski, the ex-President of Slovakia Rudolf Schuster, the ex-President of Georgia Eduard Shevardnadze, the seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations Kofi Annan, the ex-Prime Minister of Russia Viktor Chernomyrdin, and the businessman Boris Berezovsky.

2013 saw Konchalovsky co-produce a story previously untold on film. Film-maker Margy Kinmonth invited Charles III, at the time the Prince of Wales, to make a journey through history to celebrate the artistic gene in his family and reveal an extraordinary treasure trove of work by royal hands past and present, many of whom were accomplished artists. Set against the spectacular landscapes of the Royal Estates and containing insights into works by members of the British royal family down the centuries and The Prince of Wales's own watercolours, '' Royal Paintbox'' explores a colourful palette of intimate family memory and observation.

His film '' The Postman's White Nights'' won the Silver Lion at the 71st Venice International Film Festival. The script is centered around the true story of Aleksey Tryaptisyn, a real life Russian Post

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