Aleksei Yuryevich German ( rus, Алексей Юрьевич Герман, p=ɐlʲɪkˈsʲej ˈjʉrʲjɪvʲɪdʑ ˈɡʲermən; 20 July 193821 February 2013) was a Soviet Russian film director and screenwriter.

Biography

German was born in

Leningrad Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

(now

St. Petersburg, Russia Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

) in 1938; his father was the writer

Yuri German Yuri Pavlovich German (russian: Ю́рий Па́влович Ге́рман) ( – January 16, 1967) was a Soviet and Russian writer, playwright, screenwriter, and journalist. Life German was born in Riga (then part of the Russian Empire ...

. He studied under Grigori Kozintsev until 1960, and then moved on to working in theatre before joining the

Lenfilm Lenfilm (russian: link=no, Ленфильм) is a Russian production company with its own film studio located in Saint Petersburg (the city was called Leningrad from 1924 to 1991, thus the name). It is a corporation with its stakes shared betwee ...

studio as an

assistant director The role of an assistant director on a film includes tracking daily progress against the filming production schedule, arranging logistics, preparing daily call sheets, checking cast and crew, and maintaining order on the set. They also have to tak ...

. He made his directing debut with '' Sedmoy Sputnik'', co-directed with Grigori Aronov in 1967. Over the course of his career, many of his projects met with production difficulties or official opposition; in 50 years, he managed to complete just six feature films, his final film being the science fiction film ''

Hard to Be a God ''Hard to Be a God'' (russian: Трудно быть богом, translit=''Trudno byt' bogom'') is a 1964 science-fiction novel by the Soviet writers Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, set in the Noon Universe. Premise and themes The novel follow ...

'', completed by his son, Alexei German after his death, debuted at the

Rome Film Festival International Rome Film Fest is a film festival that takes place in Rome during the month of October. The name in Italian is Festa del Cinema di Roma. Sections The Rome Film Festival official program is divided into several sections: Cinema d'Og ...

in 2013. ''

Trial on the Road ''Trial on the Road'' (russian: Проверка на дорогах, translit=''Proverka na dorogakh'') is a 1971 black-and-white Soviet film set in World War II, directed by Aleksey German, starring Rolan Bykov, Anatoly Solonitsyn and Vladim ...

'' (1971) is the film that made Alexei German famous. It was banned for fifteen years and was shelved by the Ministry of Culture of the Soviet Union until its release (1986) during the

Gorbachev Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet politician who served as the 8th and final leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to the country's dissolution in 1991. He served as General Secretary of the Comm ...

era. In 1987, at the Rotterdam International Film Festival (Netherlands), Alexei German, as a director, received a KNF Award for his three films, ''Trial on the Road'', ''Twenty Days Without War'', and ''My Friend Ivan Lapshin''. German was married to the screenwriter Svetlana Karmalita; they had a son,

Aleksei Alekseivich German Aleksei Alekseivich German (russian: Алексей Алексеевич Герман, born 4 September 1976) is a Russian film director. His last name is pronounced with a hard "g" and in English is sometimes spelled Guerman or Gherman to avoid c ...

, who is also a film director. German died of heart failure 21 February 2013.

Style

Most of German's films are set during the

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secreta ...

era and the Second World War, and they depict the time period in a critical light. His films, shot mostly in

black and white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...

or very muted color, have a distinctive "murky" look and are often described as looking "aged." He was known for his obstinacy as a director, for featuring protagonists who could be categorized neither as heroes nor antiheroes, and for casting actors against type. Dolin, Anton (March/April 2012
No Surrender
filmcomment.com

Filmography

As director

*1967 – ''Sedmoy sputnik ( The Seventh Companion)'' *1971 – ''Proverka na dorogakh (

)'' *1976 – ''Dvadtsat dney bez voyny (

Twenty Days Without War ''Twenty Days Without War'' (russian: Двадцать дней без войны, translit=''Dvadtsat' dney bez voyny'') is a 1976 Soviet film based on a story by Konstantin Simonov, directed by Aleksey German and starring Yuri Nikulin and Lyudmi ...

)'' *1984 – ''Moy drug Ivan Lapshin (

My Friend Ivan Lapshin ''My Friend Ivan Lapshin'' (russian: Мой друг Иван Лапшин, translit=''Moy drug Ivan Lapshin'') is a 1985 Soviet crime drama directed by Aleksei German and produced by Lenfilm, based on a novel by Yuri German adapted by Eduard Vo ...

)'' *1998 – ''Khrustalyov, mashinu! (

Khrustalyov, My Car! ''Khrustalyov, My Car!'' (russian: Хрусталёв, машину!, Khrustalyov, mashinu!) is a 1998 Russian comedy-drama film directed by Aleksei German and written by German and Svetlana Karmalita. It was produced by Canal+, CNC, Goskino, ...

)'' *2013 – ''Trudno byt' bogom (

)'' (original title ''History of the Arkanar Massacre'')

References

External links

*
War and Remembrance: The Films of Aleksei Guerman
*
The Strange Case of Russian Maverick Aleksei German
by Anton Dolin *
"Time Unfrozen: The Films of Aleksei German,"
New Left Review 7, Jan.-Feb. 2001. by Tony Wood *
Exorcism: Aleksei German Among the Long Shadows
by

J. Hoberman James Lewis Hoberman (born March 14, 1949) is an American film critic, journalist, author and academic. He began working at ''The Village Voice'' in the 1970s, became a full-time staff writer in 1983, and was the newspaper's senior film critic ...

*
Shooting Down Pictures article
{{DEFAULTSORT:German 1938 births 2013 deaths Mass media people from Saint Petersburg Russian film directors Soviet film directors Recipients of the USSR State Prize Recipients of the Nika Award Burials at Bogoslovskoe Cemetery 20th-century Russian screenwriters Male screenwriters 20th-century Russian male writers Soviet screenwriters