Georgy Nikolaevich Danelia (1930-2019) – Soviet and Russian film director, screenwriter and memoirist. People's Artist of the USSR. Laureate of State Prizes of the USSR and the Russian Federation.
Danelia shot such famous films as “I Walk Around Moscow”, “Mimino”, “Afonya” and “Kin-Dza-Dza”, which became classics of Soviet cinema.
Danelia’s biography contains many interesting facts, which we will discuss in this article.
So, here is a short biography of Georgy Danelia.
Biography of Danelia
Georgy Danelia was born on August 25, 1930 in Tbilisi. His father, Nikolai Dmitrievich, worked at Moscow Metrostroy. Mother, Mary Ivlianovna, initially worked as an economist, after which she began making films at Mosfilm.
Childhood and youth
The love of cinema was instilled in George by his mother, as well as his uncle Mikhail Chiaureli and aunt Veriko Andzhaparidze, who were People's Artists of the Soviet Union.
Almost all of Danelia’s childhood was spent in Moscow, where his parents moved a year after the birth of their son. In the capital, his mother became a successful stage director, as a result of which she was awarded the Stalin Prize, 1st degree.
At the beginning of the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945), the family moved to Tbilisi, but after a couple of years they returned to Moscow.
After graduating from school, Georgy entered the local architectural institute, which he graduated in 1955. After receiving his diploma, he worked for several months at the Institute of Urban Design, but every day he realized that he wanted to connect his life with cinema.
The following year, Danelia decided to take the Higher Directing Courses, which helped him gain a lot of useful knowledge.
Childhood and youth
Georgy Nikolaevich Danelia was born in the heart of sunny Georgia - Tbilisi. This happened in August 1930. Father Nikolai Danelia worked as a railway engineer, and mother Mary Andzhaparidze worked as an assistant at Mosfilm. It was his mother who instilled in her son a love of cinema. Georgy Danelia’s choice of future profession was also influenced by his uncle and aunt: Veriko Andzhaparidze and Mikhail Chiaureli, People’s Artists of the USSR.
Directed by Georgy Danelia
When their son was one year old, his parents moved to Moscow. Here, my father was soon appointed foreman and then chief engineer of the capital’s Metrostroy, and my mother rose in the career hierarchy to director and received the Stalin Prize, 1st degree.
Georgy Danelia in his youth
Georgy Danelia did not immediately decide on his future profession. First, the young man entered an architectural university and after graduation even got a job as an architect at a design institute. But soon Danelia realized that what attracted him most was cinema. Therefore, Georgy Nikolaevich quit designing and entered directing courses at Mosfilm.
Movies
Danelia appeared on the big screen as a child. When he was about 12 years old, he played a cameo role in the film “Georgiy Saakadze”. After that, he appeared a couple more times in feature films as minor characters.
Georgy Danelia’s first directorial work was the short film “Vasisualiy Lokhankin”. Over time, the guy got a job as a production director at Mosfilm.
In 1960, Danelia’s full-length film “Seryozha” premiered, which won several film awards. Four years later, he presented the famous lyrical comedy “I Walk Around Moscow,” which brought him all-Union fame.
In 1965, Georgy Nikolaevich directed the no less popular comedy “Thirty Three,” where the main role went to Evgeny Leonov. It was after this film that the director’s humorous talent was involved in the film magazine “Wick,” for which the man shot about a dozen miniatures.
After that, the films “Don’t Cry!”, “Completely Lost” and “Mimino” appeared on the big screen. The latter work gained enormous fame and is still considered a classic of Soviet cinema. The audience was delighted with the performance of Vakhtang Kikabidze and Frunzik Mkrtchyan.
During that period of biography, Danelia also filmed the tragicomedy “Afonya,” which told about the life of an ordinary plumber.
An interesting fact is that in 1975 the film was the leader at the box office - 62.2 million viewers. In 1979, the “sad comedy” “Autumn Marathon” was released, where the main male role went to Oleg Basilashvili.
In 1986, Georgy Danelia presented the fantastic film “Kin-dza-dza!”, which still does not lose its popularity. The use of science fiction in tragicomedy was new for Soviet cinema. Many phrases of the heroes quickly became popular among the people, and the famous “Ku” was used by many as a greeting with friends.
Interestingly, Danelia considered his best work to be the film “Tears Fell,” which did not gain much popularity. The key character was played by Evgeny Leonov. When the hero got a fragment of a magic mirror, he began to notice the vices of people that he had not previously paid attention to.
In the 90s, Georgy Danelia made 3 films: “Nastya”, “Heads and Tails” and “Passport”. For these works in 1997 he was awarded the State Prize of Russia. Danelia also co-wrote the comedy “Gentlemen of Fortune” and the New Year’s film “The Frenchman”.
In 2000, Georgy Nikolaevich presented the comedy “Fortune”, and 13 years later he directed the cartoon “Ku! Kin-Dza-Dza!". An interesting fact is that from 1965 until his death, actor Yevgeny Leonov starred in all of the master’s films.
Biography of Georgy Danelia
Georgy Nikolaevich Danelia is the director of such films as “I Walk Around Moscow”, “Kin-Dza-Dza”, “Mimino”, Autumn Marathon and many others. Every Soviet viewer is familiar with these films, but not each of them knows that the screenwriter of these films, which have long become classics, is a talented person whom these films made famous.
Theater
In addition to directing, Danelia showed interest in music, graphics and painting. Two academies - the National Cinematographic Arts and Nika - chose him as their academician.
Over the years of his creative biography, Georgy Danelia has received many awards in a variety of categories. He won a number of awards, including Nika, Golden Aries, Crystal Globe, Triumph, Golden Eagle and many others.
Since 2003, the man held the position of chairman of the Georgy Danelia Foundation, which set itself the goal of helping the development of Russian cinema.
In 2015, the foundation launched a new project, “Cinema in the Theater,” which consisted of stage adaptations of popular films. The authors of the project decided to launch the reverse process of film adaptation of theatrical plays.
Personal life
During his life, Danelia was married three times. His first wife was the daughter of Deputy Minister of the Oil Industry Irina Gisburg, whom he married in 1951.
This marriage lasted about 5 years. During this time, the couple had a girl, Svetlana, who in the future will become a lawyer.
After this, Georgy married actress Lyubov Sokolova, but this marriage was never registered. Later the couple had a boy, Nikolai. Having lived with Lyubov for about 27 years, Danelia decided to leave her for another woman.
Georgy Danelia and Lyubov Sokolova
For the third time, Georgy Nikolaevich married actress and director Galina Yurkova. The woman was 14 years younger than her husband.
In his youth, the man had a long affair with the writer Victoria Tokareva, but it never came to a wedding.
In the 21st century, Danelia published 6 biographical books: “The Stowaway”, “The Toasted Man Drinks to the Bottom”, “Chito-Grito”, “Gentlemen of Fortune and Other Film Scripts”, “Don’t Cry!” and “The cat is gone, but the smile remains.”
On the birthday of your favorite director! Today he would have turned 89 years old... Georgy Danelia - about his films, humor and the bad habit of making comedies.
“ The director on the set must be ready, like a boxer in a fight: he must expect a blow all the time... Defend himself, dive and... strike himself.” [source]
“ After Seryozha, it was scary to shoot the next film. Of course, I wanted the same success, prizes at the festival, articles in newspapers... But I realized: if I count on success, I will never film anything. There is no need to think about the results. You have to shoot what you like and what you won’t be ashamed of later.” [source]
“Seryozha”, film series “Mosfilm”, 1960, dir. G. Danelia, I. Talankin
“ I put so much effort into working on a painting that I can’t do anything else at the same time. If I, say, start writing a script, then even the time when I eat seems lost, I feel sorry for it.” [source]
“ The poet has the undoubted right to write a poem dictated by his mood. In my opinion, the director has the same right. But for some reason the director’s work is treated differently: each film is necessarily treated as the only one and everything is exhaustive. This is not true". [source]
“ Women are always women , they are not divided into old and young.” [source]
“Autumn Marathon”, film series “Mosfilm”, 1979, dir. G. Danelia “ I always think about the viewer . And every person who got up and left the hall is a blow to me.” [source]
“ I myself know the shortcomings of each of my films . And if a critic hits them, that’s okay, I accept that. And if he starts to scold what I consider a virtue, it hurts me... However, only until I start the next job. From that day on, the previous film seems to be foreign to me, and I don’t care how they treat it, good or bad.” [source]
“Mimino”, film series “Mosfilm”, 1977, dir. G. Danelia
“ Laughter is a contagious thing. And a comedy, if you want to determine whether it is funny or not, must be watched in front of an audience, and not with colleagues.” [source]
“ The film “Kin-dza-dza” is a picture about human stupidity that follows you everywhere, no matter where you live. When the first “Kin-dza-dza” first came out, it was not so popular. And now there are fans all over the world. Why? Yes, because something that is happening nearby is very reminiscent of the planet Plyuk.” [source]
“Kin-dza-dza!”, film series “Mosfilm”, 1986, dir. G. Danelia
“ The most unpleasant thing for me is filming. Because there is more administrative work here than creative work.” [source]
“ I’ve only made one comedy in my life— “Thirty-Three.” Gaidai made comedies - and did it brilliantly. They scolded him and said that this was an automatic repetition of silent films. And yet no one has managed to do anything like this. His job was to make it funny all the time. I throw away shots that are needed only to be funny. The humor that interests me often comes from character.” [source]
“Thirty Three”, film series “Mosfilm”, 1965, dir. G. Danelia
“ When my work is praised , I won’t hide it, of course, it’s nice, but I feel like a stowaway on a tram: now the controller will come in, fine me, disgrace me and ask me to get out!” [source]
“ You can return to any road. If it's right." [source]
“ I myself often look for explanations why the films of Soviet filmmakers are so beloved. Maybe the fact is that they contain the energy of goodness?! Although, take, for example, my painting “Tears Fell.” In terms of direction, it’s a great job, but for some reason it’s not as popular. Probably not a very good film. But those like “Afonya” or “Thirty Three” are loved. They are simple, good things flow from there.” [source]
“Afonya”, film series “Mosfilm”, 1975, dir. G. Danelia
“ Sometimes they wonder why actors are loved so much and always go to meet them halfway. It’s not the actors they love, it’s their heroes that they love. And they don’t want to understand that the actor and the one he plays are not the same person.” [source]
“ In old age, everything is seen as through binoculars - the further away, the better.” [source]
