Sentimental Ballads of Serious Men
© Oxana Birak. Kiev channel "Inter". December 15, 2000
© Translated by Katherine Kofman
***
fragments from the film "Captain Frakass"
***
Oxana Birak: How great it is to leave your own house behind one fine early morning and follow
the bright caravan of strolling players. To walk along stony roads, to spill cranberry juice - no, rather, to
shed blood - on the wooden stage; to feel the hay smell of the inns. To make your life a fairy adventure.
To change masks more often than worn out shoes, than girls in the roadside taverns. Because you are a
strolling actor, a gifted offspring of mediocre, but noble ancestors. You have the whole world in your
knapsack, and the whole mankind in your box with make-up. Grimace, play hiding your face behind the
mask; you'll be rewarded for it.
Ballad 12 About A Noble Actor; or The Masks Of Oleg Menshikov.
OB: I was embarrassed, I was confused, "Do I need this interview at all!?" The interview with
inaccessible and ambitious Oleg Menshikov, shining like a star in the August sky. He is too eccentric and
aloof. And he has a bad character, of course, like all the actors. God, save me from such a guy. "Well, - I
thought, - genius came to Kiev, made everybody happy with his performance. They drive him in a black
limousine. He can spend only 15 minutes on an interview, but that depends on his mood though. He
never takes his black glasses off, apart from the time when he goes to bed."
***
The following footage is shown: Oleg Menshikov exits the car, then he is at the press-conference;
O.M. sits at the table with many microphones, Oxana Mysina is next to him; then a close-up of O.M.
wearing dark glasses, he is lost in thoughts
***
OB: "No, I won't be able to go through 26 minutes of looking at the dark glasses. Of course,
he is a genius, but his genius is extravagant." That's what I thought. But my first phrase, unexpected even
for me, and the unexpected reaction of serious Menshikov predetermined our mood and the spirit of the
interview.
OB: Oleg, I am surprised to see you without the glasses.
Oleg Menshikov: (first listens very seriously, then breaks into a smile) Really?
(laughs)
OB: His laughter was very joyful and open. And I thought, "God, I've never met a more
sentimental person!"
OM: (smiles) Well, actually I believe, after a number of years every person becomes
more sentimental. Because… mmm… everything becomes so obvious. The things you've never noticed
before turn out to be the most precious ones. And… their names are very simple. I won't try to name
them, but they are common. And you get to value and appreciate them more and more.
OB: Does sentimentality help you in your work?
OM: Well, you know, in the acting it's… how can I put it… In a certain period of work on a role it
is of help, and then… I guess, sentimentality impedes, because… while talking to the audience it is…
dangerous to be sentimental. I mean, you should achieve the opposite effect: sentimentality is better in a
spectator than in an actor, when the contact is happening.
***
fragments from the film "Mama" and the shooting of the film
***
OB: Menshikov is, of course, a star, unquestioning and undisputed. His popularity is stable. And
he didn't act in "The Reefers", or "Interdevochka", or other hits. He's been popular since he was a
student, after he acted in Mikhalkov's "Kinfolk". His mates from Tabakov's Theatrical Studio told
Mikhalkov about a boy of genius and brought him to the shooting area. Long live the student fellowship!
Where there is no actor jealousy yet. There was a long, almost wordless close-up in the film (the fragment
of "Kinfolk"). Keeping silence he said so much then, that everywhere everyone started talking about
Menshikov, endowing him with the title of an intellectual young man - his first mask. Vying with each other
critics debated, "Where does this look, this intensity come from?" Maybe it comes from childhood?
OM: You know, my childhood memories are rather strange… well… because I don't remember
myself being a child very well. People, who say that they remember themselves at the age of five or
three, amaze me. For me, it begins somewhere in the institute… Although there are some flashes of
memories, of course… I don't know, some smells, feelings, that's how it happens. But I can't say that I
remember myself.
OB: You cannot be indifferent towards Menshikov, it is simply impossible! Moreover, the
feelings towards him tend to go from one extreme to another: critics adore him, journalists - longing for a
sensation - openly dislike him. Well, of course! There was not a scandal, not a mistake! "He is always like
a black box," they say offendedly. And the key to the box is in a duck; and the duck - as we know - is in a
trunk; and the trunk is on the oak-tree, which grows behind the seven seas. [A common feature of
Russian fairy tales.] He is concise in his newspaper interviews, avoiding long numerous questions by
giving brief answers. Why? Think yourself. You walk, for example, along the street; it's raining and you
are in a bad mood, lost in thoughts; then suddenly someone runs into you with a microphone and goes,
"What's your girlfriend's name? How long have you been sleeping with her? And what does your wife
think about it? And by the way, who is she anyway?" (a fragment from "The Pokrovskie Gate": Kostik
is walking along the street late at night) Have you imagined it? Then you don't need any
comments.
OB: Well, almost everyone says, "We read in the papers that Menshikov is secretive with
the press, he never attends any parties." People know very little about you. [If you only saw the
expression of Oleg's face, when O.B. was talking about his secrecy. He was very displeased!] But
still, please, answer this question: can you do something crazy? And did you do something crazy in your
life?
OM: Well, I'll answer the first question as well, I… (unbending a little) What does it mean
"secretive"? How secretive? You know, I think, many people want to know many things about me. Well, it
would be abnormal, if I began telling things about me to everyone who wants to know more. So I guess, I
am very open with close people. And I think this judgement about me is wrong. As for doing something
crazy: of course, more than once… I won't… (at this moment there was quite a loud knock at the door.
O.M. said rather harshly and discontentedly, "Can't you see we are not going to open, huh?!")
OB: (loudly) The interview!
OM: Yes… and… I hope, I'll do these crazy things again and again, because as soon as these
things are over, it means that the new stage of our life begins, and it's called… well (laughs) we all know
how it's called, yes…
***
a fragment from "The Pokrovskie Gate". O.M. recites a poem
***
OM: (looking thoughtfully at the ceiling) Well… you know, love, love, love, love, love…
love - in fact there is a slight difference for me - that is love and amorousness. Love is the ability - as
strange as it may sound, but that's what I think about it now - the ability to devote myself to… mmm…
another person's life. It's…I don't know if you understand me or not… If you love a person, you should
value the things she values… not to love yourself like "oh, how wonderful my love is! What beautiful
presents I give her!" Where I invite her, for example (laughs), where I go… No, you should do
everything to make your beloved person's life… so to speak, precious for this very person. Well, to cut it
short, to live for this person! That's it… I guess this is love. And amorousness is… And it is hard to love, it
is very hard. The other day I watched a program where a famous actor… And I thought, "It is so correct!"
Love is the science. It is really so, one should learn to love, not everyone has this gift - to be able to
love… But everyone can learn. And to fall in love… Oh my God, it can happen every single day. And it is
a wonderful feeling! It makes you want to soar, to embrace the whole world, to shout in the space, to fly
from one star to another. It is wonderful! But it's different…
OB: And no one needs point-blank questions or any mental striptease in an interview. He can
be secretive because he has already told us everything about himself and his love from the screen. You
can see the close-up of his love and his soul right in front of you, just look behind the mask, which is
gauzy… You should do a very simple thing - understand. And he did everything he could. But there is
always a place for rumours in the life of a person who doesn't want to tell much about himself. From time
to time we see in a tabloid - "There was an affair! And it was so wild! With Tatiana Dogileva. And also with
this actress, and with that actress as well." Reviewing his work in "The Barber Of Siberia" and "East-
West" they discussed his affairs with Ormond and Bonnaire. And then our tabloids go again, "Doesn't he
have a girlfriend?" And they brand, "Well, well, well, Oleg Menshikov is a gay! Who could have thought!
What!? You didn't know!?" My oh my, even if it were the truth. In this case we should admire his talent
much more. On the screen he plays the love for a woman in such a way that every man gets envious and
no woman can resist.
***
a fragment "And we spent a night in a shed, our first night" from "Burnt By The Sun"
***
OM: Of course, like it happens to everybody, people left - it is always tragic. I… actually, I
can't… it is always hard for me to part with close people, and I… in this case I can do something really
crazy, so to speak, the things opposite to those we do when we are happy. So when I realize that I can
lose - the reason doesn't matter - a person, I can do a crazy thing. Because I believe that every meeting
in life happens on some purpose. If two people met, then they… they should say something to each
other. It doesn't happen without any reason at all, and if it happens because of our pride, or vanity, or
misunderstanding, or reluctance to understand, then it - this break - is wrong, it is unnatural. And they
should try to, so to speak, stay together even after this breaking up. That's the most important thing.
OB: And one more thing. Sensation! A quote from an article covering the 2000 Idol Awards
ceremony: "There was a party after the official ceremony. Everybody congratulated one another. Oleg
Menshikov was the one who attracted special attention, as this time he was not alone. He appeared with
a pretty blonde whose name was Alina Vlasova. That was a rare event, because the idol never
demonstrated objects of his heart's affection. And by the way the couple exchanged glances one could
see there was definitely something there." Oh, well, thank God, it finally happened!
An old theatre: the wooden stage, bright rags - somewhere in the country in the remote days, Russian or
French. What did an actor who played evil characters get? Hissing and booing, tomatoes and stubs,
thrown onstage from the audience. Oh please! That's just a mask - a scoundrel, not an artist. Menshikov's
new mask is the mask of a hero, superman, neurasthenic. He got it after playing psychopathic geniuses
Caligula, Esenin and crazy God's Clown - Nizhinsky in the theatre. But look attentively at Oleg Menshikov.
His Caligula doesn't evoke anything but sympathy. Oleg Menshikov plays a lyrical tragedy, not some
villainy. It comes not from the director, it comes from Menshikov's nature oozing through the evil make-up.
Cinema-men who had the advantage of a close-up could see him more clearly. And they saw - Saveljev
in "Captain Frakass", Mikhalkov in "The Barber Of Siberia", a film, that almost all the critics called a flop of
the two 'M' - Mikhalkov and Menshikov.
OM: How can it be a flop if I saw myself that after the final credits a sobbing audience gave us a
standing ovation that lasted 20 minutes? I saw it myself. And it happened everywhere during the tour of
the film. Well, OK, if that's what we call a flop, what do we (laughs) call a success then? The other
thing is that critics, as you say it yourself, they didn't just criticize, they pour so much - sorry - shit on "The
Barber Of Siberia", that…
OB: I am quoting.
OM: (smiles) Yes. Yes, I understand. Yes, that there is no more talentless director in our
country (laughs while saying it). Such a shame. Well, you know, it is our usual problem that we go
to the cinema to see something we expect to see. But the point is we came to see the things Mikhalkov
wanted to show us. So don't demand, "I would do it that way". Then go and do it! And this is what
Mikhalkov did. Efros said it very well: "They tell me, "That's not my Chekhov. I reply, "Of course, it's not
your Chekhov, it's my Chekhov, I staged the play." So if you don't like this name - Mikhalkov - in general,
then don't watch these films. And… I think Nikita Sergeevich did exactly the thing he wanted to do. He
defined the rules of the genre and he followed them… Once during a press-conference someone asked
him about the genre, and together they decided that as strange as it may sound but it was an opera.
Everything is a bit higher there, and this barber is there… So I think this film… There are films that
provoke such reaction although they are unbelievably successful among unprofessional spectators.
(fragments from "The Barber Of Siberia") Considering the volumes of sales, the reactions of
people in the streets, the questions concerning "The Barber Of Siberia". It is the last our film that… mm…
is in everybody's head, the lines I mean…
OB: In the memory.
OM: Yes, in people's memory… Well, I kind of forgot what I was talking about… (laughs) Yes, I
interrupted myself.
OB: Yes, what you are saying is right. More about you in this film. What did you feel? And how did
you work with Ormond?
OM: You know, working with Julia, as well as with Sandrine in "East-West"… That is a
remarkable story, but monotonous, because the lack of knowledge of the language impedes… the
contact. With Julia it was OK somehow, she is English, I know English a bit, so we understood each other
somehow. With Sandrine it was a total disaster: English is neither her nor my native language. And the
film, the episodes develop not just during the shooting, but also while talking to each other, laughing
together, joking… even keeping silence together. And keeping silence together was the only thing we
could do, you know… (laughs) So, of course, if it were different, our relationship would have been
different as well, it would have been better. No, no, I am not saying our relationship was bad, I mean it
could have been much better. It was a very interesting period in my life, very interesting. And I guess, it
was the hardest work in my life. Well, in Wargnier's film I had to speak French, it was very hard for me; it
was torture to play in French not knowing the language at all. But there that was the only problem. And
here I had dozens of them: fencing, language… I had to look after myself - I gave up drinking, gave up
smoking. Well, because, so to speak, it was my first experience of the kind. You know, when they write
that American actors dedicate a year to playing a role. Now I understand what it means to dedicate
myself to a role, to make all my habits depend on my work on this role. And I think it is great, it disciplines
a lot, and… I'll tell you more… you know, all the criticism I heard about myself, I stopped reading all that
at some point. (laughs) One of the major reproaches was my age. But I'll tell you this, if I'd been
younger, I would actually have played the same way, because Mikhalkov would have created the same
story.
OB: To fill the soul like a cup and then pour it out in acting, one should swim through the sea of
partings, cross the ocean of loses, deserts of painful break-ups, do countless crazy things and still save a
dream in the heart.
OM: A dream… well… My dream is to achieve something. To find myself, you know, to settle
down. To find home. I don't mean a place to live, but some home, you know… To create some comfort,
all that stuff, but I guess all this (sighs) happens in the right time.
***
fragments from the films "The Pit", "Prisoner Of The Mountains", "Captain Frakass")
***
OB: Menshikov belongs to a type of men who gain a lot from searching for hazard. Thanks to
this search and this hazard we have this Menshikov - wearing the gauzy and illusive mask of Baron de
Sigognak, shining in his crazy and romantic behaviour.
***
fragments from the film "Captain Frakass"
***
OB: What features cannot you stand in people at all?
OM: (very seriously) You know, I've become, or rather, learned to be quite calm about it
lately. I started to… forgive more. I used to point out some things I could not stand, I stopped talking to
these people etc. Well, I was young (smiles). And now I think… you know, I think it's lies. When a
person is lying, it is the most annoying thing. That's all I can think of now… It's lies.
OB: OK, and what about the most wonderful features then, that can make you fall in love with this
person or become friends with?
OM: You know, I don't know if it's a feature or not… There are people who can create the feeling
of a holiday around them. Everything that happens to them they view as a great asset. Even if it is bad, if
they lost something, if someone was hurt. But still they can dispose themselves to positiveness. I admire
that. That's a rare quality, but I know such people.
***
fragments from the film "The Pokrovskie Gate"
***
OB: It is great that our Earth is round. And all the stony roads will finally take you home.
Going away you approach it, you save it in your bag with a red wig and a wooden dagger. Because no
matter what kind of makeup it is, your face is behind it. Whatever you wear, your heart is under these
clothes. Play, actor! See you.
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LIFE. TV APPEARANCES
