Life and work of Shukshin

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Vasily Shukshin is a Russian writer who lived in the 20th century. He was a man of uneasy fate. Shukshin was born in 1929 in the small village of Srostki (Altai Territory). It was a difficult time. In childhood, the future writer lost his father. He was repressed. My stepfather died in the war. Shukshin studied at an automotive technical school, worked as a mechanic in different cities of the Soviet Union. Served in the army. So passed his first post-war years.

The path to calling

The future writer completed his secondary education only in the early 50s. He never graduated from the automotive college. Shukshin received his certificate in his native village. In Srostki, Vasily Makarovich worked as a teacher and even was the director of the school.

How did it happen that after several years spent in his native village, Shukshin went to Moscow to enter VGIK? What thoughts tormented him during these years? Feelings that stirred the soul, Shukshin would later describe in his famous village stories. With the proceeds from the sale of the cow, the future actor and director left for the capital. He followed his heart.

First creative achievements

Feeling a writer's gift, Shukshin applies for the screenwriting department, but enters the directing department. The famous teacher wasMikhail Romm, author of the films "Nine Days of One Year" and "Ordinary Fascism". It was this venerable director who advised the young Shukshin to print his stories. Literary success did not come immediately. Only in the early 60s did some works appear.

The first directorial work went unnoticed, but Vasily Makarovich quickly gained recognition as an actor. Shukshin's work began with an episode in the film Quiet Flows the Don. Two years later, the actor starred in his first major role. He was invited by the outstanding director Marlen Khutsiev (film "Two Fyodors"). Shukshin's acting career developed successfully. Directors often approached him with job offers. Approximately twice a year, films with the participation of the actor were released in the Soviet Union.

Cinematography and Literature

Director's work of Shukshin officially begins in the 60s. Vasily Makarovich gets a job at the Gorky film studio. Shukshin is considered a promising writer. Vasily Makarovich made his first film based on his own stories. The film "Such a guy lives" received good reviews from the public and critics. This cheerful comedy was awarded prizes at festivals in Leningrad and Venice.

The next ten years, Shukshin's work as a director was not particularly productive. His film about the uprising of Stepan Razin was rejected by the State Film Committee. However, this time has not gone unnoticed. Vasily Makarovich made two films and published a collection of short stories "Villagers". In addition, during these ten years he married twice and becamefather of three daughters.

Private life

Shukshin's first marriage was unsuccessful. His wife, Maria Shumskaya, was a fellow villager of the writer. They registered their marriage in Srostki, but returned separately from the registry office, since then they have lived separately, he is in the capital, she is in the village.

The personal life of the writer was difficult. In Moscow, he became addicted to alcohol. Because of this addiction, the second marriage of the writer with Victoria Sofronova broke up. In this family, the first child of Shukshin was born - a girl. In the third marriage with actress Lydia Fedoseyeva, Vasily Makarovich had two daughters - Maria and Olga.

The main characters are people from the village

Shukshin's literary work is connected with the Soviet countryside and its inhabitants. The heroes of his stories surprised readers and critics with their strangeness. The characters in the books of Vasily Makarovich cannot be called unambiguously positive or negative. They are capable of both good and bad. Shukshin's heroes are impetuous, impulsive. They often do illogical things. These people are independent and deeply unhappy. They commit rash acts with grave consequences because their soul is trampled underfoot by treason, betrayal and injustice.

The life and work of Shukshin are interconnected. The writer is from the village. He knew firsthand the prototypes of his heroes. Often the characters in Shukshin's stories cannot understand what is happening to them. Why are they unhappy? And they themselves can not explain and justifytheir actions. It's all about the human soul. She knows how to live right. Such intuitive understanding is in conflict with the reality of the unfortunate fate of the village fool, drunkard or ex-convict.

Temple as a symbol

The church is often mentioned in Shukshin's stories. It acts as an ex alted symbol of purity and morality. And, as a rule, it is subject to destruction. In The Master, the village drunk Semka the carpenter is trying to save the local church. But all his attempts fail. And in the essay "Strong Man" the hero destroys the temple in order to get bricks for the construction of a barn. The life and work of Shukshin tell about the moral fall.

Attention to everyday life

Stories of Vasily Makarovich critics often reproached for life writing. This means that, in their opinion, Shukshin paid too much attention to peasant everyday life. It would seem that there is every reason for such accusations. The writer depicts in detail the unsightly life of his characters, but this technique is artistically justified. Village people are not accustomed to think about their fate in philosophical terms. They just live, work, eat and sleep, doing their daily routine. And only a restless soul from time to time makes itself felt. The heroes of Shukshin themselves often do not understand the causes of suffering, and therefore react sharply and violently to them.

Different essays - one issue

Varietyfolk characters in the work of Shukshin is clearly manifested in the story "And in the morning they woke up." This is one of the most famous works of the writer. In the work, the author tells about the morning awakening of people who find themselves in a sobering-up station. Everyone remembers yesterday and tells the audience their story. Among them are people from all walks of life: a plumber, a tractor driver, an ex-con and even a professor.

The central place in Shukshin's work is occupied by the novel "I came to give you freedom." This work is dedicated to a historical event - a peasant uprising led by Stepan Razin. The hero of the novel is somewhat reminiscent of eccentrics from the writer's village stories. Stepan Razin is the same strong, independent, restless person with a heightened sense of justice.

Characteristics of characters

Vasily Shukshin, whose biography and work are studied in many schools and universities, wrote mainly in the genre of a story. Most of his writings show similar issues. The writer does not idealize his characters. As a rule, the villagers in his stories are far from examples of loftiness of character and purity of thoughts. The author rarely explains the actions of the characters. In each of Shukshin's stories there is a life situation, standard or unique.

Vasily Shukshin's work is very diverse. However, all of his characters are somewhat similar. Their common feature is unfulfillment. It manifests itself in different ways. In the story "Cut off" the village peasant Gleb Kapustin loves to humiliate fellow villagers who have achieved success. He is a smart and erudite person. However, he does not find useful application for his qualities, working at a rural sawmill. Hence the dissatisfaction. Gleb does not drink, does not smoke. He finds an original outlet for his wounded vanity, humiliating people who are more fortunate in life than he is.

The life and work of Vasily Shukshin reflect the throwing of his heroes. Kolya Paratova (the story "Husband's wife saw off to Paris") is humiliated by her husband Valentina. She constantly reproaches that he, having no profession, earns little. Kolya intuitively feels the way out and strives to return to the village. After all, the city has other values, not everything is measured by money. But the child is holding back. Kolya begins to drink, threatens his wife with violence. Finding himself at a dead end in life, he commits suicide.

Cinema centerpiece

Vasily Shukshin, whose biography and work attract the attention of all art lovers, entered the history of Russian literature. He didn't make many films. His directorial work is directly related to literary creativity. The central cinematographic work is “Kalina Krasnaya”.

This film tells the story of Yegor Prokudin. A recidivist thief, he was recently released from prison. Egor goes to the village to visit Lyuba. He met her in absentia, through prison correspondence. It turned out that in the village Yegor found not only love, friendship and work to his liking. For the first time in his life, he understood what it means to live correctly, according to God's laws. But the past does not let Yegor go. His accomplices find him. Prokudinrefuses to return to his former life. For this he is killed.

In many of Shukshin's works there is a motif of the village as salvation. It is in her that Yegor Prokudin finds happiness. Kolya Paratov is rushing to the village from the story “The wife of her husband saw off to Paris”. In villages, people are closer to nature. The modern consumer society has not yet touched their souls. But the village is just a symbol of lost happiness. Rural residents are tormented by the same internal problems as city dwellers. The great Russian writer Vasily Makarovich Shukshin told us about this.