Nikita Mikhalkov
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Nikita Sergeyevich Mikhalkov (Никита Сeргеевич Михалков in Cyrillic) was (born in 1945, Moscow), is a Russian filmmaker and actor.
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The Mikhalkov family
Mikhalkov was born into a distinguished artistic family. His father, Sergei Mikhalkov, is a well known writer of children's literature (he also wrote the lyrics to the Soviet national anthem), his mother, Natalia, is a poet, and his older brother is the filmmaker Andrei Konchalovsky (in the West, he is best known as a director of Tango And Cash movie with Sylvester Stallone and Kurt Russell).
Biography
Early Acting Career
Mikhalkov studied acting at the children's studio of the Stanislavsky Theatre and later at the Chuksin School of the Vakhtangov Theatre. While still a student, he appeared in Georgy Danelia's film I Walk in Moscow (1964) and his brother Andrei Konchalovsky's film Home of the Gentry (1969). He was soon on his way to becoming a star of the Soviet stage and cinema.
Begins Directing
While continuing to pursue his acting career, he then went to VGIK, the state film school in Moscow, where he studied directing under filmmaker Mikhail Romm, teacher to his brother and Andrei Tarkovsky. He directed his first short film in 1968, I'm Coming Home, and another for his graduation, A Quiet Day at the End of the War in 1970. Mikhalkov had appeared in over twenty films, including his brother's Uncle Vanya (1972), before he co-wrote, directed and starred in his first feature, At Home Among Strangers in 1974, a Red Western set just after the 1920s civil war in Russia.
Gains international reputation
Mikhalkov established an international reputation with his second feature, A Slave of Love (1976). Set in 1917, it followed the efforts of a film crew to make a silent melodrama in a resort town while the Revolution rages around them. The film was highly acclaimed upon its release in the U.S.
Mikhalkov's next film, An Unfinished Piece for Player Piano (1977) was adapted by Mikhalkov from Chekhov's early play, Platonov, and won the first prize at the San Sebastian Film Festival. In 1978, while starring in his brother's epic film Siberiade, Mikhalkov made Five Evenings, a love story about a couple separated by World War II, who meet again after fifteen years. Mikhalkov's next film, Oblomov (1980), is based on Ivan Goncharov's classic novel about a lazy young nobleman who refuses to leave his bed. Family Relations (1981) is a comedy about a provincial woman in Moscow dealing with the tangled relationships of her relatives. Without Witnesses (1983) tracks a long night's conversation between a woman and her ex-husband when they are accidentally locked in a room.
International Success
Incorporating several short stories by Chekhov, Dark Eyes (1987) stars Marcello Mastroianni as an old man who tells a story of a romance he had when he was younger, a woman he has never been able to forget. The film was highly praised, and Mastroianni received the Best Actor Prize at the Cannes Film Festival and an Academy Award nomination for his performance. Mikhalkov's next film, Close to Eden (1992, a.k.a. Urga), set in the little known world of the Mongols, who live on the border between Russia and China, was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Mikhalkov's Anna: 6-18 (1993) documents his daughter Anna as she grows from childhood to maturity.
Recent Career
Mikhalkov has continued his acting career, appearing in such films as The Call, Song to Manchuk, The Red Tent, Flights of Fancy, Station for Two, Cruel Romance, and many of his own films, including At Home Among Strangers, A Slave of Love, An Unfinished Piece for Player Piano and Burnt by the Sun. He has built up a reputation as an actor's director.
Filmography
DIRECTOR
- Devochka i veshchi (1967) (short film)
- And I Go Home (1968) (short film)
- A Quiet Day During the End of War (1970) (short film)
- At Home Among Strangers (1974)
- A Slave of Love (1976)
- An Unfinished Piece for a Player Piano (1977)
- Five Evenings (1978)
- Oblomov (1980)
- Family Relations (1981)
- Without Witness (1983)
- Dark Eyes (1987)
- Hitch-hiking (1990)
- Close to Eden (1992) (aka Urga)
- Remembering Chekhov (1993)
- Anna: 6 - 18 (1993)
- Burnt by the Sun (1994)
- The Barber of Siberia (1998)
ACTOR (among other films)
- I Step Through Moscow (1964) - G. Danelia
- A Nest of Gentry (1965) - A. Konchalovsky
- The Red Tent (1969) - M. Kalatozov
- The Postmaster (1972) - S. Soloviev
- At Home Among Strangers (1974) - N. Mikhalkov
- A Slave of Love (1975) - N. Mikhalkov
- An Unfinished Piece for a Player Piano (1976) - N. Mikhalkov
- Siberiade (1978) - A. Konchalovsky
- The Hound of the Baskervilles (1980) - I. Maslennikov
- Portrait of the Artist's Wife (1982) - A. Pankratov-Biely
- A Railway Station for Two (1983) - E. Riazanov
- A Cruel Romance (1984) - E. Riazanov
- Humiliation and offense (1991) - A. Echpai
- Burnt by the Sun (1994) - N. Mikhalkov