Budimir Alekseyevich Metalnikov (; 27 September 1925 – 1 September 2001) was a Soviet and Russian film director and screenwriter.
Early years
Metalnikov was born in Moscow into an educated
Russian
Russian(s) may refer to:
*Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*A citizen of Russia
*Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages
*''The Russians'', a b ...
family of
chemical engineer
A chemical engineer is a professional equipped with the knowledge of chemistry and other basic sciences who works principally in the chemical industry to convert basic raw materials into a variety of Product (chemistry), products and deals with ...
s.Pavel Sirkes. «True Nostalgia» ' interview with Budimir Metalnikov in the international culturological web magazine Foreign Backyard, №3/1, 2010 (in Russian) His father Aleksei Petrovich Metalnikov came from peasants. He was working as the chief engineer at the Apatit enterprise when he was arrested in 1937. Budimir's mother Zinaida Georgiyevna Metalnikova was also arrested shortly after. The 12-year-old Budimir and his 3-year-old sister Marina were taken to the
NKVD
The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (, ), abbreviated as NKVD (; ), was the interior ministry and secret police of the Soviet Union from 1934 to 1946. The agency was formed to succeed the Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU) se ...
reception center for children of
enemies of the people
The terms enemy of the people and enemy of the nation are designations for the political opponents and the social-class opponents of the power group within a larger social unit, who, thus identified, can be subjected to political repression. ...
situated in the
Danilov Monastery
Danilov Monastery (also ''Svyato-Danilov Monastery'' or ''Holy Danilov Monastery''; ) is a walled monastery on the right bank of the Moskva River in Moscow. Since 1983, it has functioned as the headquarters of the Russian Orthodox church and the o ...
. The children were then separated and put into different orphanages; Metalnikov never managed to find his sister, despite all his attempts. In 1939 he was sent to
Kirovohrad
Kropyvnytskyi (, ) is a city in central Ukraine, situated on the Inhul River. It serves as the administrative center of Kirovohrad Oblast. Population:
Over its history, Kropyvnytskyi has changed its name several times. The settlement was k ...
to study in one of the
vocational school
A vocational school (alternatively known as a trade school, or technical school), is a type of educational institution, which, depending on the country, may refer to either secondary education#List of tech ed skills, secondary or post-secondar ...
s to be an electrician. After a while he received a letter from his aunt along with some money and returned to Moscow where he continued studying.
In 1942 Metalnikov was enrolled to the
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...
. After some studying in the infantry school and serving in the airborne brigade he was sent to fight at the
Karelian Front
The Karelian Front ) was a front (a formation of Army Group size) of the Soviet Union's Red Army during World War II, and operated in Karelia.
Wartime
The Karelian Front was created in August 1941 when Northern Front was split into Karelian ...
. He was heavily wounded during one of the battles and spent many months in hospitals. In October 1944 he was sent home as war-disabled. On his return he entered an evening school, but soon left it to study screenwriting at
VGIK
The Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography, officially the S. A. Gerasimov All-Russian University of Cinematography (, meaning
''All-Russian State Institute of Cinematography named after S. A. Gerasimov''), a.k.a. VGIK, is a film school in Moscow, ...
under
Yevgeny Gabrilovich
Yevgeny Iosifovich Gabrilovich (; 29 September 1899 – 5 December 1993) was a Soviet and Russian writer, playwright and screenwriter. He wrote for 29 films between 1936 and 1988.A Home for Tanya'' directed by
Lev Kulidzhanov
Lev Aleksandrovich Kulidzhanov (19 March 192417 February 2002, also Lev Aleksandri Kulijanyan) was a Soviet and Armenian film director, screenwriter and professor at the Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography. He was the head of the Union of Cin ...
in 1959. Seen by 25.2 million people at the time of release, it competed for the
Palme d'Or
The (; ) is the highest prize awarded to the director of the Best Feature Film of the Official Competition at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festiv ...
at the 1959 Cannes Film Festival. His next screenplay was made into '' A Simple Story'' movie by the director Yuri Yegorov and released in 1960 to even a greater success: with 46.8 million viewers it became one of the box office leaders and the 48th most popular Soviet movie of all time. It featured an ensemble cast of the acclaimed Russian actors:
Nonna Mordyukova
Noyabrina Viktorovna Mordyukova (Russian: Ноябри́на (Но́нна) Ви́кторовна Мордюко́ва; 25 November 1925 – 6 July 2008) was a Soviet and Russian actress and People's Artist of the USSR (1974). She was the star o ...
Vasily Shukshin
Vasily Makarovich Shukshin (; 25 July 1929 – 2 October 1974) was a Soviet Russian writer, actor, screenwriter and film director from the Altai region who specialized in rural themes. A prominent member of the Village Prose movement, he beg ...
. Mordyukova's character was partly inspired by her own personality and was written specially for her.
1969 saw the release of the biographical film ''
Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer during the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music made a lasting impression internationally. Tchaikovsky wrote some of the most popular ...
'' directed by
Igor Talankin
Igor Vasilyevich Talankin () (3 October 1927 – 24 July 2010) was a Soviet and Russian film director and screenwriter. His film ''Splendid Days'' (1960, co-directed with Georgiy Daneliya) won the Crystal Globe (Karlovy Vary International Film Fes ...
and co-written by Budimir Metalnikov and Yuri Nagibin. It featured
Innokenty Smoktunovsky
Innokenty Mikhailovich Smoktunovsky (; born ''Smoktunovich'', 28 March 19253 August 1994) was a Soviet and Russian stage and film actor. He was named a People's Artist of the USSR in 1974 and a Hero of Socialist Labour in 1990.
Early life
Smo ...
in the leading role of the famous Russian composer
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer during the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music made a lasting impression internationally. Tchaikovsky wrote some of the most popula ...
. In 1972 the movie was nominated for two
Oscars
The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence i ...
:
Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
The Academy Award for Best International Feature Film (known as Best Foreign Language Film prior to 2020) is one of the Academy Awards handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to a ...
Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film
The Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film is a Golden Globe Award presented by Dick Clark Productions to reward theatrically-released feature film not in the English language.
It was first introduced at the 7th Golden Globe Awards f ...
.
Between 1955 and 2001 Metalnikov wrote screenplays to 20 Soviet and Russian movies, including three movies directed by himself. He had been also working as an educator at High Courses for Scriptwriters and Film Directors since 1966.
He mainly specialized in social dramas and village dramas in particular. The themes featured in his screenplays were similar to the
Village Prose
Village prose (, or Деревенская литература) was a movement in Soviet literature beginning during the Khrushchev Thaw, which included works that focused on the Soviet rural communities. Some point to the critical essays on col ...
movement, but usually with an emphasis on the relationships between people rather than
collective farming
Collective farming and communal farming are various types of "agricultural production in which multiple farmers run their holdings as a joint enterprise". There are two broad types of communal farms: agricultural cooperatives, in which member-o ...
and other problems of the Soviet countryside. His works are distinguished by their romantic tone and humor. A conflict between rural community and townspeople is also a running theme in many of his movies.
Among the other themes he explored was
science fiction
Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...
. In 1973 he directed ''The Silence of Dr. Evans'', a drama about a contact between humans and an advanced alien society based on the original screenplay, with
Sergei Bondarchuk
Sergei Fyodorovich Bondarchuk (25 September 192020 October 1994) was a Soviet and Russian actor and filmmaker of Ukrainian origin who was one of the leading figures of Soviet cinema in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. He is known for his sweeping p ...
in the leading role of Dr. Martin Evans. In this film Metalnikov focused on a number of philosophical topics, including moral values of the human society. In 1987 he co-wrote a screenplay for another science fiction movie ''
The End of Eternity
''The End of Eternity'' is a 1955 science fiction novel by Isaac Asimov with mystery and thriller elements on the subjects of time travel and social engineering. Its ultimate premise is that of a causal loop, a type of temporal paradox in w ...
Isaac Asimov
Isaac Asimov ( ; – April 6, 1992) was an Russian-born American writer and professor of biochemistry at Boston University. During his lifetime, Asimov was considered one of the "Big Three" science fiction writers, along with Robert A. H ...
and directed by Andrei Yermash. The movie was noted for many stylistic similarities to ''Stalker'' by
Andrei Tarkovsky
Andrei Arsenyevich Tarkovsky (, ; 4 April 1932 – 29 December 1986) was a Soviet film director and screenwriter of Russian origin. He is widely considered one of the greatest directors in cinema history. Works by Andrei Tarkovsky, His films e ...
, with the soundtrack also written by
Eduard Artemyev
Eduard Nikolayevich Artemyev (; rus, Эдуа́рд Никола́евич Арте́мьев, p=ɨdʊˈart ɐrˈtʲemʲjɪf; 30 November 1937 – 29 December 2022) was a Soviet and Russian composer of electronic music and film scores. Outside ...
.
Budimir Metalnikov died on September 1, 2001. He was buried at the
Vagankovo Cemetery
Vagankovo Cemetery () is located in the Presnensky District of Moscow, Russia. It was established in 1771, in an effort to curb 1770–1772 Russian plague, an outbreak of bubonic plague in Central Russia. The cemetery was one of those created ou ...
Wikimedia Commons
Wikimedia Commons, or simply Commons, is a wiki-based Digital library, media repository of Open content, free-to-use images, sounds, videos and other media. It is a project of the Wikimedia Foundation.
Files from Wikimedia Commons can be used ...
Filmography
Awards and honors
*
Order of the Badge of Honour
The Order of the Badge of Honour () was a civilian award of the Soviet Union.
It was established on 25 November 1935, and was conferred on citizens of the USSR for outstanding achievements in sports, production, scientific research and socia ...
(1975)
* Honored Art Worker of the RSFSR (1978)
*
Order of the Patriotic War
The Order of the Patriotic War () is a Soviet Union, Soviet military Order (decoration), decoration that was awarded to all soldiers in the Soviet armed forces, security troops, and to Partisan (military), partisans for heroic deeds in the Easte ...
, 2nd class (1985)
*
Order of Friendship of Peoples
The Order of Friendship of Peoples () was an order of the Soviet Union, and was awarded to persons (including non-citizens), organizations, enterprises, military units, as well as administrative subdivisions of the USSR for accomplishments in s ...
(1985)
*
Order of the Red Banner of Labour
The Order of the Red Banner of Labour () was an order of the Soviet Union established to honour great deeds and services to the Soviet state and society in the fields of production, science, culture, literature, the arts, education, sports ...
Literature
''Budimir Metalnikov (2006)''. I Will Tell You ... Memoirs. — Moscow: Russkiy impuls, 464 pages.