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“America is obsessed with creating commodity” – Russian film guru
Published: 15 September, 2010, 12:06
Edited: 23 October, 2010, 21:21
TAGS: Celebrity, Movies, Russia
“I was failing in Hollywood… thank God!” recalls Andrey Konchalovsky – the man behind “Tango and Cash” and “Runaway Train” –– one of the few Russian directors whose name is familiar in the West.
“I think the most important mistake America made is to equal time to money,” veteran Russian filmmaker said in an exclusive interview with RT.
But, first and foremost, what made him exchange Hollywood for Russia, back in the eighties?
“I was failing in Hollywood, thank God!” If I would be more successful in Hollywood and made more commercial movies and had more offers in commercials, maybe I would stay there and maybe I would become a commercial director. And I’m very happy it didn’t happen.”
“Those who cannot make big money are compelled to make real art,” Konchalovsky told RT’s Valeria Paikova.
“Americans are extremely laborious people and very inventive, very technologically-obsessed. And I think it’s very important because this is a nation that has very young culture, 200 years-250 years old. It’s nothing when you compare it to human civilization. American culture, I’d say, is the most advanced in all senses including the harmful part of it. America is obsessed with creating commodity. Everything is commodity. If you can sell it, it becomes art, as well. And today even more than, let’s say, 25 or 50 years ago…”
Duet For One by Andrey Konchalovsky (kinopoisk.ru)
“Americans try to make commodity out of time – ‘time is money’. But time has no price, and the most expensive time is time when you contemplate. It can be sitting on the seashore, it can be church, it can be meditation, it can be just listening to music, but contemplation is absolutely priceless. It should be important for people to be so generous as to give time to their own spiritual balance. That’s why I think the most important mistake America made is to equate time to money.”
Has he ever dreamt of having his own star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame?
“Well, I wouldn’t mind, but I am not going to give up everything to have it… I prefer to have another child,” replied the father of seven, Konchalovksy. “I wouldn’t mind having the eighth. That’s the real star!”
Comparing the earnings of Hollywood movie stars and their Russian counterparts, Russians seem to be way underpaid! Does Konchalovsky agree with this, and how interested is he in making money?
“It’s a strange trend to compare salaries. I think it’s all not very healthy. Theatre is one of the areas where actors are all underpaid. They can make much more money shooting series, television or some kind of rubbish, etc, etc. So why are they going to theatre? Why are they going on stage to be underpaid? Because they value time not as money, they value their own time more precious than money. That’s why a theatre actor for me deserves not only respect but also adoration.”
The Nutckracker in 3-D (image from kinopoisk.ru)
He’s worked with A-list American and Russian actors. Who is more obsessed with their celebrity status?
“People are vain, everyone should be vain – it’s normal. Those who are not obsessed with their success are either mad or childish, which is basically the same. A mature person wants to be successful. In America it’s even more important because it guarantees your next job; in Europe less, in Russia even less…You can fail completely, everyone is going to be very happy, and you can have another job!”
Having no job is nothing to fret about for Konchalovsky, whose current cinematic challenge is a classic fairytale set to the music by Tchaikovsky – “The Nutckracker”
Shot in 3-D and staring Elle Fanning and John Turturro, the film is scheduled to be released later this year.
Valeria Paikova, RT
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6 comments
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This is an inspiring story. We need to know that great film directors such as Andrey Konchalovsky are living and working in Russia. And he is a father of seven children! Great story. His analysis of American culture of commodification of time into money is brilliant. I do hope this and similar themes are expressed in his films.
RT I got completely shut down once I posted about Medvedev and Putin and MONEY. I misspelled Medvedev, typing too fast and not paying attention. American you know, not as bright as the rest of the human population . . only 200 years old or is it 250? I do believe the HUMAN is quite old and not separate, however, in the IMAGINATION we are all one as the saying goes. It has been called the "God Head" in ancient tongues, but as an American I cannot speak of these historical facts since reading is not as old as America, oops I mean the other way around, I think. Children are the greatest of all art, however, with the masters of money deciding that LIFE is truly valuable and a COMMODITY, there is definitely a new script necessary for HOLLYWOOD. Yes, get over Hollywood since it is what it is: incestuous imagination and this means what it says. Americans who consider ourselves as simply one of the ordinary who can co-create great creative genius simply because it is what it is: clear imagination. AND, we are not in an ego-sick relationship with our dark side . . . It belongs to every human, too, Russian, American, French, et al. Human you know, all of us. Simply in a word, imagination. Einstein understood and he was no genius, just curious, according to his own definition of self.