Aleksandr Gordon facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Aleksandr Gordon
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Gordon in 2007
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| Born |
Alexander Vitalievich Gordon
26 December 1931 |
| Died | 7 December 2020 (aged 88) |
| Nationality | Russian |
| Occupation | Filmmaker, author |
| Years active | 1956–2020 |
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Notable work
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Sergey Lazo (1968 film) Scenes from Family Life (1979 film) |
Aleksandr Vitalyevich Gordon (Russian: Алексaндр Витaльевич Гордoн) (born December 26, 1931 – died December 7, 2020) was a Soviet filmmaker and a Russian author. He was known for directing many films and for writing several books.
Contents
About Aleksandr Gordon
Aleksandr Gordon went to a famous film school called the All-Russian State Institute of Cinematography (VGIK). He studied directing there. One of his classmates was the well-known director Andrey Tarkovskiy.
Gordon and Tarkovskiy worked together on their first two short films in 1956 and 1959. They both directed and wrote these films. Gordon also acted in both of them. He was a member of the Russian Cinematographers Union, a group for filmmakers, starting in 1953.
While at film school, Gordon married Marina Arsenyevna Tarkovskaya, who was Andrey Tarkovskiy's younger sister. She was a writer and a linguist. They had two children, Mikhail and Ekaterina. Mikhail became a writer, filmmaker, and biologist. Ekaterina became an actress.
His Work as a Filmmaker
Gordon directed nine feature films in the Soviet Union. Four of his films from the 1960s and 1970s are especially well-known. From 1964 to 1970, he worked at the Moldova Film studios. There, he directed films like The Last Night in Paradise and Sergey Lazo.
Later, in the 1970s and 1980s, he made action-packed crime films. These were quite rare for the Soviet Union at that time. Some of these films include Skirmish in a Blizzard and Ransom. These movies often showed exciting conflicts between criminals and everyday people.
Until his death, Gordon worked at the Mosfilm studios. In the mid-1980s, he helped with Russian voice-overs for Andrey Tarkovskiy's films that were made outside of Russia. These films were Nostalghia and The Sacrifice. Gordon directed his last feature film, Football Player, in 1990.
In 1994, he and his wife wrote a documentary film. It was about Andrey Tarkovskiy's time in the Siberian taiga, a large forest area. This trip helped Andrey decide to become a filmmaker.
His Books
After the Soviet Union ended, Aleksandr Gordon stopped directing films. He started writing books instead. His first book, "Unquenched Thirst," came out in 2006. It was a memoir about his memories of Andrey Tarkovskiy.
His second book, "Hungarian Flying Shot," was released on his 80th birthday. This book was a fictional story about his time in the army. His last book, "Tucherez, or the Incredible is Likely," was published in 2016. It was a fantasy conversation between two famous filmmakers, Sergei Eisenstein and Andrey Tarkovskiy. The book also included stories from Gordon's own life and thoughts about the world.
Aleksandr Gordon passed away in December 2020.
His Films and Work
As a Director
Feature Films
- The Last Night in Paradise (1964)
- Sergey Lazo (also known as Conspiracy in Vladivostok) (1967)
- Theft (1970)
- Skirmish in a Blizzard (1977)
- Scenes from Family Life (also known as Stay With Me!) (1979)
- The Man Who Closed the City (1982)
- Double Passing (1984)
- Ransom (1986)
- Football Player (1990)
- Meeting with the Doukhobors of Canada (1991 documentary)
Short Films
- The Killers (1956, co-directed with Tarkovskiy and Marika Beiku)
- There Will Be No Leave Today (1959 TV film, co-directed with Tarkovskiy)
- Stone Kilometers (1962)
- Demagogue (1969, part of a TV series called Fuse)
- Behind the Wheel, Korobkin (1973 educational film)
- Simple arithmetic (1981, part of Fuse)
- The wrong ones were attacked (1989, part of Fuse)
- Come again? (1989, part of Fuse)
- Masquerade (1990, part of Fuse)
- The fate of the resident (1992, part of Fuse)
Lending His Voice
- Nostalghia (1983 Tarkovskiy film)
- The Sacrifice (1986 Tarkovskiy film)
As a Writer for Films
- The Killers (co-written with Tarkovskiy)
- There Will Be No Leave Today (co-written with Tarkovskiy and Irina Makhovaya)
- Andrei Tarkovsky's Taiga Summer (1994 documentary, co-written with Marina Tarkovskaya)
As an Actor
- The Killers (as George the bartender)
- There Will Be No Leave Today (as a sapper)
His Books
- Unquenched Thirst. Memories of Andrei Tarkovskiy (2006)
- Hungarian Flying Shot (2011)
- Tucherez, or the Incredible is Likely (2016)
