Row Alexander Arturovich: biography, filmography, family

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

They say that truly brilliant works do not lose their relevance over the years. This applies to many things: paintings, books, songs and even films. Almost eighty years have passed since the great Soviet storyteller Row Alexander Arturovich made his first film. And although several generations of viewers have grown up over all this time, they all continue to love the good fairy tale films made by him.

The director's parents

As paradoxical as it may sound, the parents of the great Soviet director, who managed to revive old Slavic fairy tales on the screen, were foreigners. The storyteller's father was an Irish engineer sent to work in the Russian Empire, Arthur Howard Rowe. Here he met a beautiful Greek woman from the local diaspora, and soon the lovers got married. From this marriage in the spring of 1906 a son was born - Row Alexander Arturovich.

The family of the future director, unfortunately, turned out to be weak. When the boy was barely eight years old (according to other sources, ten), his father left his wife and son and returned to Ireland. Since then, his young Sasha has taken care of his mother, whose he alth did not allow her to work.

Alexander Rowe: early years

To support himself and his mother, young Rowe took on any job. At first he was an assistant to a clergyman, later he began to trade in every little thing, from greenery to combs and needles. However, Sashenka's mother, seeing the mind and assertiveness of her son, understood that he was capable of more. Therefore, she made every effort to ensure that Rowe entered the local technical school after seven years.

Some biographers claim that Alexander Rowe was attracted to the career of a clergyman. Others believe that he planned to go to work in the speci alty received at his trade and economic technical school. Despite these disagreements, biographers agree on one thing: all Rowe's plans were turned upside down by the Blue Blouse propaganda theater, where the guy got a job while studying.

Once in the world of theater, Row Alexander Arturovich was literally bewitched by it. So the future director immediately took his documents from the technical school and transferred to the school for cinematographers named after Boris Tchaikovsky.

The future director studied at the film school until 1930. For the next four years, he continued to receive his education at the Yermolova Drama College.

First film work

In parallel with his studies at the Drama College, Rowe started working as an assistant director Yakov Protazanov at the Mezhrabpomfilm film studio (now Gorky's film studio). Since 1937, he himself began to work as a director at the same film studio. And a year later, he shoots his first picture - the fairy tale "By the Command of the Pike".

Shooting a film like this, Rowe Alexander Arturovich took a big risk, because nothing like this had ever been done before him. It used to be customary to film fairy tales with the help of animation. However, his first-born - the movie fairy tale "By the Pike's Command" - was liked by absolutely everyone. Both children and adults with pleasure went to watch a wonderful film several times.

In the meantime, the director was already ordered a new film, which was supposed to tell the audience about the eternal struggle between evil and good and about love for the native land. This is how the idea of a new movie fairy tale "Vasilisa the Beautiful" appeared, which was released in 1939 and again became a kind of hit of that time. Rowe has since specialized in fairy-tale themes in films.

Row Alexander Arturovich: selected filmography

In total, Alexander Row shot as many as sixteen films over the years. The seventeenth - "Finist - the Clear Falcon" - was filmed after his death according to the script of his composition.

The most famous works of a director named Row Alexander Arturovich are the films "Kashchei the Immortal", "Mary the Artisan", "Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka", "The Kingdom of Crooked Mirrors", "Fire, Water and … Copper Pipes”,“Barbara-beauty, longscythe” and, of course, Rowe’s most famous film, beloved not only in the USSR, but all over the world – “Morozko”.

A little-known fact, but among the directorial works of Alexander Arturovich there are also documentaries ("Artek" and "Crimea"), as well as a film-ballet, shot together with Rostislav Zakharov, - "Crystal Slipper".

Row and his actors' relationship

The relationship between the great storyteller and his "apprentices" deserves special attention. As many actors recall, director Rowe did not like strangers on the set. Therefore, he preferred to work with his team. He shot many actors in almost every movie fairy tale.

Rowe's most beloved actor and friend was Georgy Millyar, whom the director met during the filming of his debut film. After that, Millyar became practically the hallmark of the director. He played with him and Baba Yaga, and Koshchei, and the devil, and other evil spirits.

Rowe discovered some of his stars himself. For example, Alexei Katyshev, the performer of the role of Vasenka (“Fire, water and … copper pipes”), and Andrei, a fisherman's son (“Barbara-beauty, a long braid”). Once the director saw a young assistant sound engineer with amazing eyes and a kind smile. After that, he approved him for the main role in his new movie fairy tale, despite the fact that the guy had neither the appropriate education nor film experience.

During filming, Alexander Rowe never told the actors how to act. He justset them the task: play one or the other. And how to do it and by what methods, it was left to the discretion of the actors themselves.

Death of the great storyteller

In the last days of the outgoing 1973, the great meter of Soviet cinema was gone. He died before he could finish work on the film Finist - the Clear Falcon. Only the script remained, according to which Rowe's student, Gennady Vasiliev, made a film dedicated to the memory of his great teacher.

Row Alexander Arturovich: personal life

Rowe's first wife was actress Elena Savitskaya. However, the director's family life with such a bright and restless woman did not work out. Since two talents could not build something in common.

But life did not stand still, and a little later Alexander Rowe met his betrothed. She became the second wife of the director - this is Elena Georgievna Rowe. This courageous woman was for him a real fighting girlfriend who gave all her time and strength to her beloved husband. I went with him to the shooting, made sure that he ate on time and did not get sick. Friends and actors recall that the Rowes were very hospitable people.

Almost all his life, Rowe has been making movie fairy tales for the younger generation. Unfortunately, he never had any children of his own. Row Alexander Arturovich liked to joke sometimes: wife, children are actors. And indeed, he treated his subordinates in this way: he loved them and cared for them. And the artists themselves treated the storyteller as a father. For him, they did dangerous stunts on the set,they risked their he alth, broke their legs - all just to make the film the way their director saw it.

Rowe Alexander Arturovich was a man of difficult fate. The biography of this wonderful person and incredible professional is worthy of imitation. Despite all the problems that he had to face, he was able to maintain the childlike purity of his soul, which he then invested in his films. And even if for many years this most talented director has not been among the living, his films have remained and will delight many more generations.