Gennady Shpalikov
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Gennady Fyodorovich Shpalikov (; 6 September 1937 – 1 November 1974) was a prominent Soviet Russian poet, screenwriter and film director.


Early years

Born in the town of
Segezha Segezha (; ; ) is a town and the administrative center of Segezhsky District of the Republic of Karelia, Russia, located north of Petrozavodsk on the Segezha River and on the western shore of Lake Vygozero. Population: History The town was ...
,
Karelian ASSR The Karelian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, Karelian ASSR for short, sometimes referred to as Soviet Karelia, East Karelia or simply Karelia, was an autonomous republic of the Russian SFSR within the Soviet Union, with its capital in Petr ...
into a
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 military background. His father Fyodor Grigorievich Shpalikov came from peasants of the
Orenburg Governorate Orenburg Governorate () was an administrative-territorial unit (''Governorate'') of the Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of ...
; he finished the Kuibyshev Military Engineering Academy in Moscow and was assigned to build a
pulp and paper The pulp and paper industry comprises companies that use wood, specifically pulpwood, as raw material and produce pulp, paper, paperboard, and other cellulose-based products. Manufacturing process In the manufacturing process, pulp is introd ...
enterprise in Segezha. In 1939 his family returned to Moscow. With the start of the
Great Patriotic War The Eastern Front, also known as the Great Patriotic War (term), Great Patriotic War in the Soviet Union and its successor states, and the German–Soviet War in modern Germany and Ukraine, was a Theater (warfare), theatre of World War II ...
they were evacuated to the
Kirghiz SSR The Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic (Kirghiz SSR), also known as the Kyrgyz Soviet Socialist Republic (Kyrgyz SSR), KySSR or Kirgiz Soviet Socialist Republic (Kirgiz SSR), was one of the constituent republics of the Soviet Union (USSR) from 1 ...
along with the Academy and remained there until 1943. Fyodor Shpalikov was sent to the
front line A front line (alternatively front-line or frontline) in military terminology is the position(s) closest to the area of conflict of an Military, armed force's Military personnel, personnel and Military technology, equipment, usually referring to ...
; he received an
Order of the Red Star The Order of the Red Star () was a military decoration of the Soviet Union. It was established by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of 6 April 1930 but its statute was only defined in decree of the Presidium of the ...
in 1944 and was declared missing in action in Western
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
in 1945. Gennady was raised by his mother Ludmila Nikiforovna Perevertkina, also from peasants of the
Voronezh Governorate Voronezh Governorate was an administrative-territorial unit ('' guberniya'') of the Tsardom of Russia, the Russian Empire, and the Russian SFSR, which existed from 1708 (as ''Azov Governorate'') to 1779 and again from 1796 to 1928. Its capital wa ...
. Her brother was an acclaimed Soviet
colonel general Colonel general is a military rank used in some armies. It is particularly associated with Germany, where historically General officer#Old European system, general officer ranks were one grade lower than in the Commonwealth and the United States, ...
Semyon Perevertkin who led the
79th Rifle Corps The 79th Rifle Corps () was a rifle corps of the Red Army in World War II that became part of the Soviet Army during the Cold War. World War II The corps was formed in July 1943 as a headquarters with no troops assigned, and subordinated to th ...
of the
3rd Shock Army The 3rd Shock Army () was a field army of the Red Army formed during the Second World War. The "Shock" armies were created with the specific structure to engage and destroy significant enemy forces, and were reinforced with more armoured and ar ...
during the fight for Reichstag and later served as a Deputy Director of the
Ministry of Internal Affairs An interior ministry or ministry of the interior (also called ministry of home affairs or ministry of internal affairs) is a government department that is responsible for domestic policy, public security and law enforcement. In some states, the i ...
between 1956 and 1960.
Shpalikov's ex-wife: I tried really hard, but wasn't able to fall in love with Gena...
' interview with Natalya Ryazantzeva, April 2015 (in Russian) In 1947 Shpalikov himself was sent to study in the
Kiev Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...
's military cadet school which he finished in 1955. Same year he published his first poems. He then enrolled to the Moscow Military Commanders Training School, but was discharged after receiving a
meniscus Meniscus may refer to: *Meniscus (anatomy), crescent-shaped fibrocartilaginous structure that partly divides a joint cavity *Meniscus (liquid) In physics (particularly liquid statics), the meniscus (: menisci, ) is the curve in the upper sur ...
injury during the training in 1956.
I'm walking the street of Moscow. Gennady Shpalikov
' documentary by
Russia-1 Russia-1 () is a state-owned Russian television channel, first aired on 14 February 1956 as Programme Two in the Soviet Union. It was relaunched as RTR on 13 May 1991, and is known today as Russia-1. It is the flagship channel of the All-Russia ...
, 2008 (in Russian) Shpalikov then successfully applied to the screenwriting faculty of
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, ...
which he finished in 1961. During the studies he met
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 ...
and
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 Cinema of the Soviet Union, Soviet, Cinema of the United St ...
who became his close friends.
, September 2, 2009 (in Russian) In 1959 he married Natalya Ryazantseva, another aspiring screenwriter (''
Wings A wing is a type of fin that produces both lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-drag ratio, which compares the bene ...
'', ''
The Long Farewell ''The Long Farewell'' () is a Soviet film drama directed by Kira Muratova. It was filmed in 1971, but it was put on a shelf and was only released on the screens in perestroika in 1987. Plot For a long time, Yevgenia Vasilyevna was busy only ...
'', '' The Voice''), but they divorced in just three years.


Career

In 1960 Shpalikov, still a VGIK student, was offered to write a screenplay for the new film by
Marlen Khutsiev Marlen Martynovich Khutsiev (4 October 192519 March 2019) was a Georgian-born Soviet and Russian filmmaker best known for his cult films from the 1960s, which include '' I Am Twenty'' and '' July Rain''. He was named a People's Artist of the US ...
. Originally titled Ilyich's Gate, the movie was dedicated to the
Khrushchev Thaw The Khrushchev Thaw (, or simply ''ottepel'')William Taubman, Khrushchev: The Man and His Era, London: Free Press, 2004 is the period from the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s when Political repression in the Soviet Union, repression and Censorship in ...
and the new generation of the
Sixtiers The Sixtiers (, ; "people of the 60s") were а new generation of young intellectuals who reawakened literature and a sense of Ukrainian nationalism within the Soviet intelligentsia. The Sixtiers entered the cultural and political life in Ukraine d ...
, being inspired by the
French New Wave The New Wave (, ), also called the French New Wave, is a French European art cinema, art film movement that emerged in the late 1950s. The movement was characterized by its rejection of traditional filmmaking conventions in favor of experimentat ...
. Ryazantzeva, Tarkovsky and Konchalovsky all played small parts in it. A long episode that featured many popular poets of the time was filmed with the support of
Yekaterina Furtseva Yekaterina Alexeyevna Furtseva (; 7 December 1910 – 24 October 1974) was a Soviet politician and member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU). She was the second woman to be elected member of the CPSU Presidium ( 20th term) and ...
who suggested to make it a two-part feature and raised the film's budget.Josephine Woll.
Being 20, 40 years later
' Finished by the end of 1962, it was screened in the
Moscow Kremlin The Moscow Kremlin (also the Kremlin) is a fortified complex in Moscow, Russia. Located in the centre of the country's capital city, the Moscow Kremlin comprises five palaces, four cathedrals, and the enclosing Kremlin Wall along with the K ...
in March 1963 to a grand scandal.
Nikita Khrushchev Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and the Premier of the Soviet Union, Chai ...
compared the movie to ideological diversion, criticized it for ''ideas and norms of public and private life that are entirely unacceptable and alien to Soviet people'' and for showing young people ''wandering around the city doing nothing''.''
Georgiy Daneliya Georgiy Nikolozis dze Daneliya, Romanization of Georgian, : (25 August 19304 April 2019) was a Soviet and Russian film director and screenwriter. He was named a People's Artist of the USSR in 1989 and a laureate of the State Prize of the Russi ...
(2007)''. Chito-Grito. — Moscow: Eksmo, 768 pages. It was suggested to rewrite the screenplay and cut down the movie, although Shpalikov protested and tried to avoid changing his script at every possibility, so the final reedited version of the film was released only in 1965 under the name of ''I Am Twenty'', also to poor reviews. With 8.8 million viewers it became a commercial failure. Nevertheless, it was awarded a Special Jury Prize at the 1965
Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival (, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival held in Venice, Italy. It is the world's oldest film festival and one of the ...
. Only in 1988 the restored version was released under its original title, ''called a crucial big screen work of art of the early 1960s'' by the commission under the Union of Cinematographers of the USSR. In 1962
Georgiy Daneliya Georgiy Nikolozis dze Daneliya, Romanization of Georgian, : (25 August 19304 April 2019) was a Soviet and Russian film director and screenwriter. He was named a People's Artist of the USSR in 1989 and a laureate of the State Prize of the Russi ...
invited Shpalikov for a joint effort, and together they wrote a comedy film ''
Walking the Streets of Moscow ''Walking the Streets of Moscow'' (''I Walk Around Moscow'', ) is a 1964 Soviet romantic comedy film directed by Georgiy Daneliya and produced by Mosfilm studios. It stars Nikita Mihalkov, Aleksei Loktev, Yevgeny Steblov and Galina Polskikh. Th ...
''. Similar to Ilyich's Gate in tone and message, it seemed suspicious to the Artistic Council at first as they saw it as another movie about young people wandering around the city doing nothing. But after Daneliya assured one of the head officials at the
State Committee for Cinematography Goskino USSR () is the abbreviated name for the USSR State Committee for Cinematography (Государственный комитет по кинематографии СССР) in the Soviet Union. It was a central state directory body for Sovi ...
that they had nothing tricky on their minds, the work became easy, fast and fun. When the film was ready, the Council was still unsure what to make of it. Daneliya and Shaplikov then came up with a ''meaningful'' episode (a floor polisher who works at the house of a big writer and criticizes beginning writers on this account). According to Daneliya, the pun was obvious, but the Council ''was smarter than we thought and pretended they didn't notice anything''. The movie was given a green light and released to a big success, turning into one of the cult films for the Soviet youth, along with the title song composed by Shpalikov as an improvisation during the shooting of the required episode. ''Walking the Streets of Moscow'' was officially selected for the
1964 Cannes Film Festival The 17th Cannes Film Festival took place from 29 April to 14 May 1964. Austrian filmmaker Fritz Lang served as jury president for the main competition. On this edition, the ''Palme d’Or'' was renamed "''Grand Prix du Festival International du ...
. The term lyrical comedy often used to describe Soviet films was coined by the authors during their fight with the Artistic Council who couldn't understand why the comedy didn't make them laugh. The end of the
Khrushchev Thaw The Khrushchev Thaw (, or simply ''ottepel'')William Taubman, Khrushchev: The Man and His Era, London: Free Press, 2004 is the period from the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s when Political repression in the Soviet Union, repression and Censorship in ...
also marked the start of Spalikov's demise. 1966 saw the release of two movies based on his screenplays: ''I'm from Childhood'' by Viktor Turov and ''A Long Happy Life'' — the only film Shpalikov both wrote and directed. The latter was written with Inna Gulaya in mind, his second wife since 1962 who eventually played the main part. The film went almost unnoticed by the Soviet viewers and press, although it won the first prize at the
Bergamo Bergamo ( , ; ) is a city in the Alps, alpine Lombardy region of northern Italy, approximately northeast of Milan, and about from the alpine lakes Lake Como, Como and Lake Iseo, Iseo and 70 km (43 mi) from Lake Garda, Garda and Lake ...
Film Festival. Same happened to the 1971 drama ''You and Me'' by
Larisa Shepitko Larisa Yefimovna Shepitko (, ; 6 January 1938 – 2 July 1979) was a Soviet film director and screenwriter of Ukrainian origin. She is considered one of the best female directors of all time, with her film '' The Ascent'' being the second film ...
: it was well received at the
32nd Venice International Film Festival The 32nd annual Venice International Film Festival was held from 25 August to 6 September 1971. There was no jury because from 1969 to 1979 the festival was not competitive. John Ford, Marcel Carné and Ingmar Bergman were awarded with the Care ...
, but failed miserably at the Soviet box office. In addition to screenwriting, Shpalikov was also a prominent poet and songwriter. Few of his poems were published during the lifetime, yet many of them found their way through bard songs and evenings of poetry. Sergey Nikitin wrote melodies for many of his poems.


Death

Shpalikov was a heavy drinker according to both of his wives. He had trouble controlling emotions, often disappeared for days and weeks without a trace, even when he was in the middle of an urgent work. Inna Gulaya and her mother tried to put him into a clinic multiple times, but every time he ran away from there.''Tatiana Bulkina (2011)''. A Bow to the Soviet Cinema. — Moscow: Publishing House Moscovia, 384 pages. By the start of the 1970s he had almost completely lost hope of finding a job, despite much unpublished material on his hands, including screenplays, poems and a big unfinished novel. Depression could be felt in his letters and diaries of that time. Gulaya, being worried for their daughter Daria Shpalikova (born 1963), decided to divorce him after all. In 1974 Gennady committed suicide by hanging in
Peredelkino Peredelkino (, ) is a dacha complex situated in Odintsovsky District of Moscow Oblast, Russia. History The settlement originated as the estate of Peredeltsy, owned by the Leontievs (maternal relatives of Peter the Great), then by Princes Dolg ...
. The suicide note said: ''No, it's not cowardice — I just can't live with you anymore. Do not grieve. I'm tired of you. Remember, Dasha. Shpalikov''. 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 ...
. In 2009 a monument was placed at the entrance to the
Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography 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, ...
showing Gennady Shpalikov,
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 ...
and
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 ...
together.Photo of the monument
at
Panoramio Panoramio was a geo-located tagging, photo sharing mashup active between 2005 and 2016. Photos uploaded to the site were accessible as a layer in Google Earth and Google Maps. The site's goal was to allow Google Earth users to learn more about ...
 According to Sergei Solovyov, these people defined the face of the national and world cinema during the second half of the 20th century.


Selected filmography


References


External links

*
Russian Film: What Was and What Is
by David Gurevich
To Our Fortune or Misfortune
poem, verse translation
Russian Poetry Translated Into English
by Olga Dumer
Translations of Russian and English Poetry
by Natasha Gotskaya {{DEFAULTSORT:Shpalikov, Gennady 1937 births 1974 suicides 1974 deaths Soviet screenwriters Soviet male screenwriters Soviet poets Russian male poets 20th-century Russian male writers Burials at Vagankovo Cemetery People from the Republic of Karelia