Kuleshov Lion Vladimirovich

Main article: Cinema of Russia

Lev Vladimirovich Kuleshov is a person who had a huge influence on the development of Russian cinema.

Biography

Having received secondary education at the Tambov real school, Lev Kuleshov entered the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. But he never finished it, recalling later: "I finished my studies only later, in life,"

In 1916 he got a job at the film studio of the famous Alexander Khanzhonkov. There he was engaged in the manufacture of scenery, and also played episodic roles in film productions.

In 1918, Kuleshov himself began to shoot documentaries dedicated to the October Revolution and the Civil War, organized training film workshops. Among the students of his workshops are future stars of Soviet directing: Vsevolod Pudovkin, Mikhail Romm. And one of his students - Alexander Khokhlov - later became not only a director and a film teacher, but also Kuleshov's wife. All their lives they lived together,

In the 1920s, Kuleshov not only teaches, but also shoots a lot. For example, the classic film "The Extraordinary Adventures of Mr. West in the Land of the Bolsheviks" (1924),

From 1944 to 1946 he was the director of VGIK. In 1946, he took the post of deputy director for creative affairs, also heading the department of film directing. He led the creative workshop at the directing department.

In 1946 he received a doctorate in art history for his previously written famous textbook "Fundamentals of Filmmaking," translated into many languages ​ ​ of the world.

The innovative techniques invented by this Soviet cinematographer had a great influence on the development of domestic cinema. Many well-known directors subsequently used (and still use) his famous techniques (for example, the "Kuleshov effect"). The contribution that this person made to Russian cinema was very accurately described by one of his students: "We make pictures - Kuleshov made cinematography."

The first rector of VGIK, film director Lev Kuleshov, is in the country. Photo: Alexander Steshanov, 1958, Moscow Region, MAMM/MDF.