Sergei Bodrov Sr. - the director’s films, his biography and personal life

From tigers to "Crocodile"

Almost all the men in the village where the future director’s relatives lived were engaged in hunting and fishing; Each house had three guns, and bears and tigers roamed the area.

Sergei’s best friend was from a family of hereditary tiger catchers; his grandfather lost his arm during one of his meetings with a “striped” predator, but Bodrov was not attracted to the task of tracking down forest inhabitants. He liked riding horses much more.

For some time, Sergei dreamed of becoming a professional jockey, but his high growth forced him to abandon this profession. I wanted to become a fireman or forester. I thought about becoming a journalist, but due to the fact that Sergei Bodrov Sr. stutters, and quite strongly, he was afraid to take this path.

After graduating from school, Bodrov went to Moscow, where he became a student at the Energy Institute, enrolling in the faculty of aircraft . From his first year, Sergei became interested in card games and one day found himself at the center of a scandal - the stakes in the game turned out to be so high that Bodrov could not pay for his loss. To get rid of the debt, Sergei went home and stole all her savings from his grandmother.

He paid off his gambling debt and vowed not to gamble again, but the situation got out of control - the “gamblers” were expelled from the student body. Bodrov was about to join the airmobile forces, but a long-standing stutter, the cause of which the medical board doctors considered a jaw injury, left him outside the Soviet army.

The brownie was ashamed to return, and the young man remained in Moscow. In order to somehow survive, Sergei Bodrov got a job as a lighting technician at a Moscow film studio .

The creative atmosphere that surrounded the filming process captivated the young man so much that he began to write stories. The works of the young author were published by Literaturnaya Gazeta. The editors of the publication advised Bodrov to study further, describing the advantages of distance learning.

Having listened to such advice, Sergei Bodrov entered the screenwriting department of VGIK. He combined his studies at the institute with work as a correspondent for the Krokodil magazine. The editors of the magazine received letters from readers from all over the Soviet Union; To answer many of them, I had to go to the authors’ place of residence.

Sergei Bodrov perceived such trips as another opportunity to spy on something interesting for the plots of his works.

After receiving a higher education diploma, Sergei Bodrov got a job as a screenwriter at Mosfilm. Such famous Soviet films as “Balamut”, “My Anfisa”, “The Beloved Woman of Mechanic Gavrilov” were shot based on his scripts.

Bodrov Sergey VladimirovichSergey Bodrov Sr.

Russian film director. Screenwriter. Producer. Father of actor and film director Sergei Bodrov Jr. Nominee for the Golden Globe Award. Two-time nominee for the international Oscar award. State Prize Laureate. Author of collections of stories and feuilletons.

Sergei Bodrov was born on June 28, 1948 in the city of Khabarovsk. After school, he came to Moscow where he entered the faculty of electrical equipment of aircraft at the Moscow Power Engineering Institute. However, he soon found himself expelled from the university, but not wanting to return home, the young man got a job as a lighting technician at the Mosfilm film studio. The creative atmosphere had a beneficial effect on the young man, and Sergei began writing stories that were published in Literary Gazette along with the prose of Grigory Green, Arkady Arkanov, and Leonid Likhodeev.

On the advice of the editors, he entered the correspondence department of the screenwriting department of the All-Russian State Institute of Cinematography in the workshop of Kira Paramonova and Natalya Fokina. While studying, he got a job as a special correspondent for the Krokodil magazine.

After graduating from university in 1974, he began working as a screenwriter at the Moscow Film Studio, making his debut in the film magazine “Fitil”. Based on Bodrov’s script, the film “Balamut” was shot in 1978 by Vladimir Rogov. The main roles in the comedy about student life were played by Vadim Andreev, Natalya Kaznacheeva and Nikolai Denisov. A year later, the lyrical melodrama “My Anfisa” was released on the screens about the love of the young man Nikita, the son of intelligent parents and a simple girl painter Anfisa. In the film by Eduard Gavrilov, the main role was played by Marina Levtova.

Bodrov made his debut as a director with the film “Sweet Juice Inside the Grass” in 1984. His works include such films as “Unprofessionals”, “Katala”, “I Wanted to See Angels”, “Prisoner of the Caucasus”, “Bear Kiss”, “Mongol”, “Daughter of the Yakuza”, “Seventh Son”. At the end of the 1980s, the director’s filmography was replenished with the social drama “SIR”, which won three international awards: Montreal, Brussels and Berlin festivals.

Sergei Vladimirovich also wrote scripts, based on which he made films himself and others. Based on his scripts, other directors have made more than twenty films, including: “Balamut”, “The Beloved Woman of Mechanic Gavrilov”, “Don’t Go, Girls, to Get Married”, “The Frenchman”, “Sisters”.

Bodrov's film about the Chechen war, Prisoner of the Caucasus, was awarded the Nika Prize for the best film of the year in 1999 and the Felix European Film Academy Award for the screenplay. Also, this film became a nominee for the international film award “Golden Globe”. Sergei Vladimirovich was twice nominated for an Oscar for the films “Mongol” and “East-West”.

Since the 1990s he has lived and worked in the USA. In the 2000s - 2010s he filmed in the West. He created the films “Nomad”, “Daughter of the Yakuza”, “Seventh Son”. In addition to his work in cinema, Sergei Bodrov is the author of several collections of stories and feuilletons.

Three wives and grandchildren

Arriving in Belokamennaya, Sergei Bodrov met a student of the art history department, Valentina, in the capital. The romantic relationship between the young people grew into more sublime feelings, and they soon got married. In this marriage, Sergei Bodrov had a son, Sergei, who became an equally famous director, but died tragically in 2002.

Sergei and Valentina lived together until 1977, then they lived separately, then Bodrov Sr. returned to the family again. Officially, this marriage broke up in 1984.

The second wife of Sergei Bodrov was Aizhan Bekkulova, a Kazakh artist. In this marriage, the director had a daughter, Asya. The girl maintained friendly relations with her stepbrother and was very worried after his death.

In the early 90s, Bodrov Sr. met US citizen Caroline Cavalero, who first helped Sergei write scripts for films, and later became his wife. The couple lived in Russia for some time and then left for America. The director's third marriage also broke up there.

The director maintains relationships with his daughter and grandchildren (children of Sergei Bodrov Jr.) , but tries not to advertise them too much, so that the children do not become the center of media attention.

Habit of getting married

Sergei Bodrov Sr. is a producer, screenwriter, film director, and journalist. He has dozens of films and several Nika awards to his credit. Based on the scripts of Sergei Vladimirovich, such films as “Prisoner of the Caucasus”, “SIR”, “Katala” were shot.

The director's first wife was art critic and teacher at Moscow State University Valentina. In 1971, the couple had a son, Sergei, who later became an actor and starred in “Brother.” Alas, the birth of a child did not save the marriage. In 1976, the couple separated.

For the second time, Sergei Vladimirovich married Clara Vysotskaya. There were no children in this marriage. The director’s third wife was an artist from Kazakhstan, Aizhan Bekkulova, who was also the owner of her own art salon. The couple had a daughter, Asia. However, this marriage did not last long.

Soon Sergei Vladimirovich met the American producer, director and screenwriter Carolyn Cavaliero. He moved to America to be closer to his lover, but this did not strengthen the relationship.

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Traveling director

Since 1983, Sergei Bodrov Sr. has worked closely with the Kazakhfilm film studio. First he wrote the script for the war film “The Long Milky Way”, and in 1984 he made his directorial debut - Bodrov directed the children’s television film “Sweet Juice Inside the Grass”. The first film for adults he directed was “Non-Professionals”.

Also in the era of Soviet cinema, Sergei Bodrov made such popular films as “I Hate You”, “Katala”, “White King, Red Queen”.

In Russian cinema, the director loudly declared himself after the release of “Prisoner of the Caucasus” in 1996. In this drama, Sergei Bodrov Jr., the director’s son, starred for the first time alongside Oleg Menshikov in the title role.

The film was nominated for an Oscar film award and also received the Kinotavr Grand Prix.

After such a resounding success, Sergei Bodrov Sr. left for the USA. But at first the Russian was not offered directorial work in Hollywood, so he had to return to writing scripts. The skills did not disappear anywhere, and first Alexander Rockwell directed the drama “The One in Love”, followed by Regis Warnier - the film “East-West”, the scripts for which were created by Bodrov Sr.

Sergei Bodrov's return to the director's chair went unnoticed. The films “Let's Do It Quickly” and “Bear Kiss” did not cause a stir.

Then the father took the death of his son seriously and did not take up work for a long time. But then he created two amazing films - the military drama “Nomad” and the historical drama “Mongol”, dedicated to the life of Genghis Khan.

Sergei Bodrov Sr.’s track record also includes directorial work in the films “Daughter of the Yakuza”, “Seventh Son”, which starred world-famous actors Sergei Garmash, Julianne Moore, Jeff Bridges. The budget of the last film was more than $120 million, and filming took place in the USA and Canada.

Bodrov Sr. himself does not consider himself an American film director, but a person working in Africa, Asia, and America.

Having traveled around the world quite a bit (Sergei Bodrov Sr. worked in Russia, Kazakhstan, Japan, Germany, Thailand, France), the director has recently been living in Los Angeles. At the same time, he enthusiastically follows new trends in Russian cinema and the work of young directors.

Filmography of Sergei Bodrov Sr.

Year	Movie title	Role in creation	Notes
1960	First date	Actor	Episode
1974	Voices of War	Director	Short film
1974	Wick	Screenwriter	Newsreel No. 139
1978	Screwtape	Screenwriter
1979	My Anfisa	Screenwriter
1981	Mechanic Gavrilov's beloved woman	Screenwriter, actor	As a sailor
1983	Young people	Screenwriter
1983	Long Milky Way	Screenwriter
1984	Very important person	Screenwriter
1984	Sweet juice inside the grass	Director, screenwriter
1984	Yurka - son of the commander	Screenwriter
1985	Girls, don't get married	Screenwriter
1985	My home is on the green hills	Screenwriter
1985	Non-professionals	Director, screenwriter
1986	Alien white and pockmarked	Actor	Episode
1986	I hate you	Director, screenwriter	TV movie
1988	Help, brothers!	Screenwriter
1988	Frenchman	Screenwriter
1989	Katala	Director, screenwriter
1989	SIR	Director, screenwriter
1989	Crazy	Screenwriter
1989	...And all the love	Screenwriter
1989	Son	Screenwriter
1990	Our man in Sanremo	Screenwriter
1991	bird of paradise	Screenwriter
1992	White king, red queen	Director, screenwriter
1992	I wanted to see angels	Director, screenwriter
1994	Loving someone	Screenwriter, associate producer
1995	Notes from the Underground	Assistant director
1996	Prisoner of the Caucasus	Director, screenwriter, producer
1999	Running free	Director
1999	East-West	Screenwriter
2001	Let's do this quickly	Director, screenwriter, producer
2001	Sisters	Screenwriter
2002	bear kiss	Director, screenwriter, producer
2004	Shiza	Screenwriter, producer
2005	Nomad	Director
2007	Mongol	Director, screenwriter, producer
2007	Drunken sailor	Director, screenwriter, producer	Documentary
2008	Bucks	Screenwriter, producer
2008	Human rights stories	Director, screenwriter, producer	Cinema almanac (segment “Voice”)
2008	Mustafa Shokay	Screenwriter
2008	Morphine	Actor	Episode
2009	42. One breakthrough of imagination	Director	Cinema almanac (1 short story)
2010	Daughter of the Yakuza	Director, screenwriter, producer
2014	Seventh Son	Director
2014	Listening	Producer	Short film
2014	Darkhan	Producer	Documentary
2015	Knight of Cups	Actor	As Sergei

On June 28, 1948, the famous screenwriter and film director Sergei Vladimirovich Bodrov was born.

He is not only famous for his works “Mongol”, “Prisoner of the Caucasus”, etc. The man also has several awards, such as an Oscar and a Golden Globe . In addition to the above, Sergei Bodrov, father of Sergei Bodrov Jr.