Elem Klimov

Elem Germanovich Klimov ( _ru. Элем Германович Климов; Stalingrad, current Volgograd, 9 July 1933 – 26 October 2003) was a Soviet Russian film director. He studied at VGIK, and was married to film director Larisa Shepitko.

He is best known in the West for his final film, 1985's "Come and See" ("Иди и смотри"), a powerful tale of a teenage boy in German occupied Belarus during the Great Patriotic War, but he also directed dark comedies, children's movies, and historical pictures.

His first film, the 1964 "Welcome, or No Trespassing" (known in the UK as "No Holiday for Inochkin") was a satire on Soviet bureaucracy in the guise of a children's summer camp adventure story. It was almost prevented from being released until Nikita Khrushchev (who was booted out of office just 12 days later) saw the film, liked it, and asked why it wasn't being shown in theatres.

Klimov's second film, "Adventures of a Dentist" (1965), was a dark (and in some ways Tatiesque) comedy about a dentist who is derided (and eventually has his life ruined) by his colleagues for his natural talent of painlessly pulling out teeth. The implication, that society inevitably ostracizes those who are gifted, horrified censors who told him to change it. When Klimov refused, the film was given the lowest classification: "category three", which meant that it was shown in only 25-78 movie theatres.

Next, Klimov began making a film about Rasputin called "Agony". The process took him nine years and many rewrites. Although finished in 1975, the final film was not released until 1984, partly because of its orgy-scenes and partly because of its relatively nuanced portrait of Tsar Nicholas II.

In 1976, Klimov finished a film begun by his teacher Mikhail Romm before the latter's death called "And Still I Believe...".

In 1979, Klimov's wife Larisa died in a horrible car crash while at work directing a film based on a famous Russian novel by Valentin Rasputin called "Farewell to Matyora". This event had a profound impact on Klimov - all his films after this were tragedies. He finished the film that his wife had worked on and also directed a 25-minute tribute to her called "Larisa".

In 1986, fresh from the success of his film " Come and See", and with the changes brought by perestroika in the air, Klimov was chosen by his colleagues to be First Secretary of the new, revamped Film-maker's Union. His reign saw the belated release of hundreds of previously banned films and the reinstatement of several directors who had fallen out of political favour. However, Klimov was frustrated by the obstacles that still remained in his way. He gave up his post in 1988 to Andrei Smirnov, saying that he wanted to make films again. Plans for an adaptation of "Master and Margarita" and a film about Joseph Stalin never materialized, however, and eventually Klimov lost interest in making films, saying that there was no topic left to film. He died on October 26, 2003.

External links

* [http://www.kinoeye.org/04/04/woll04.php An overview of Elem Klimov's career at kinoeye.org]
* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/russia/article/0,2763,1077293,00.html The Guardian's Obituary]
* [http://www.cinematheque.bc.ca/may_june_06/klimov.html Pacific Cinematheque's detailed overview of Klimov's career]
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