Who is Nikita Mikhalkov and what is worth knowing about him. Only important and interesting

Nikita Sergeevich Mikhalkov (born October 21, 1945) is an outstanding Soviet and Russian film figure. Considered one of the most influential cultural figures in the country. Known for conservative political views.

Thanks to Nikita Mikhalkov, Russian culture was replenished with such films as The Barber of Siberia, Unfinished Piece for a Mechanical Piano, Cruel Romance, etc.

The peak of his creative fame came in the mid-nineties, when he received the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival and an Oscar for Burnt by the Sun. Mikhalkov himself wrote the script, acted as a director and producer, and even played one of the main roles.

In the 21st century, Mikhalkov is more than a creator, but a functionary: a big, important guy in a representative car (previously also with a flashing light), who is a member of countless different councils, organizing committees, unions and other structures.

In recent years, Mikhalkov has been the author of the popular Besogon TV show. In it, he shares his views on politics and life.

Biography of Nikita Mikhalkov

Mikhalkov was born into a family belonging to the Soviet creative elite: – father – Sergei Mikhalkov, children’s writer and co-author of the USSR anthem (and author of the text of the Russian anthem); – mother – Natalya Konchalovskaya, poetess and translator; – brother – Andrei Konchalovsky, director; – grandfather – Pyotr Konchalovsky, People’s Artist of the RSFSR; – great-grandfather – Vasily Surikov, artist (author of “Morning of the Streltsy Execution”, “Boyar Morozova and other famous paintings).

The rest of Mikhalkov’s close relatives are also from the intelligentsia. For example, all three children (Anna, Nadezhda and Artyom) from the second wife became actors. With their mother Tatyana Nikita Sergeyevich has been married since 1973.

Prior to that (1966-1971), Mikhalkov was married to actress Anastasia Vertinskaya, daughter of the same legendary singer Alexander Vertinsky. Mikhalkov’s son from his first marriage became a restaurateur, but for some time he also played in the movies.

Mikhalkov himself began acting at the age of 14. At the age of 18, he played a major role in Georgy Daneliya’s film “I’m walking around Moscow” and gained all-Union fame.

In 1971 he graduated from the directing department of VGIK. At the age of 28 he made his first film (“At home among strangers, a stranger among his own”), and at the age of 38 he received the status of People’s Artist of the RSFSR.

In addition to the tapes listed above, in Mikhalkov’s filmography, one cannot fail to single out the films “Movement Up”, “72 Meters” (in both he acted as a producer), “State Counselor” and “12”. The latter was shown at the Venice Film Festival in 2007, where Mikhalkov received the Special Lion award for his contribution to cinema.

In recent years, Mikhalkov’s film collections have not been impressive. Journalist Ksenia Sobchak even accused him of wasting budget money on films that were of little use to anyone.

Mikhalkov’s public role

In the film industry, the name of Mikhalkov can be heard almost anywhere: his own Trite studio, where almost all of his films were shot, is just the tip of the iceberg.

Mikhalkov has been the head of the Russian Union of Cinematographers (SK) since 1998, and the Moscow International Film Festival since 1999.

In 2008, at the re-election of the Chairman of the Investigative Committee, the majority of votes were given to Marlen Khutsiev, but Mikhalkov did not want to give up power without a fight: he called the congress illegitimate, those who gathered were “donkeys, midgets, gray mice” and filed a lawsuit. At a press conference dedicated to the scandal, its participants reported that Nikita Sergeevich did not give the seal and the keys to the safe. At an extraordinary congress of the UK, Mikhalkov again became chairman.

At the same time, Nikita Sergeevich secured power for himself for life: he made it so that the chairman of the union could be elected countless times, canceled the provision on early dismissal, the entire secretariat in the UK began to be appointed, not elected.

As a director, Mikhalkov often receives money for his projects from the Ministry of Culture on an irrevocable basis. At the same time, Mikhalkov is not only a recipient, but also a distributor of budget money (as the founder and head of the Council of the Cultural Foundation).

In 2010, an organization created by the UK and the Russian Authors’ Society called the Russian Union of Rightholders (RSP) proposed taking a compensatory fee of 1% from each sold unit of recording equipment and media (flash drives, disks, tablets, smartphones, laptops). In the RSP, Mikhalkov holds the position of president of the council. The idea was approved. Mikhalkov’s structure receives and distributes billions of rubles every year. This is called “Nikita Mikhalkov’s tax”.

At the end of the 2000s, Nikita Sergeyevich liked to drive around Moscow in a car with a flashing light. He enjoyed such a right as chairman of the public council under the Ministry of Defense. But when in 2011, against the backdrop of public outrage, the flasher was taken away, the director criticized the department and left the council.

Income and business of Nikita Mikhalkov

In 2018, Mikhalkov published a declaration of income. The document caused a stir: it turned out that the director earned 529 million rubles a year earlier, and he also has 89 (!) Land plots, six residential buildings, six apartments, 11 non-residential buildings, several cars and even a helicopter. After the public discussion of this wealth, the filmmaker did not disclose his income again.

According to media reports, Mikhalkov is involved in several businesses not related to cinema. Among them are the Tenuta Dodici winery in Tuscany, Italy, and the Dodici Wine & Kitchen restaurant in Nizhny Novgorod (this brand also operated in Moscow, but it closed).

In the Nizhny Novgorod region there are firms that harvest timber and process wood. They are located next to the Mikhalkov estate in the village of Shchepachikha, literally copying the prince’s chambers: with a manor, a house church, a Russian bathhouse, stables, a guard house, guest huts, a servants’ canteen, a garage and a pier.

Mikhalkov has his own hunting ground there. In general, everything for the noble life of the nobles, whom Nikita Sergeevich played so often and with pleasure.

Mikhalkov and politics

Under any power, Nikita Sergeevich managed to be in favor.

In 2007, he wrote a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin, in which “on behalf of all representatives of the creative professions in Russia” urged him to stay for a third presidential term (at that time the Constitution provided for only two).

In the fall of 2010, Mikhalkov published a political “manifesto of enlightened conservatism” called “Law and Truth”. In it, he spoke out against liberal institutions (“People are tired of listening to calls for individual freedom and believing fairy tales about the wonders of the market economy”). He did not hide the fact that he was closer to the monarchical form of government.

Mikhalkov did not go into politics: he limited himself to being a confidant of Vladimir Putin and Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin. But he regularly speaks on political topics.

How Mikhalkov became Besogon

In 2011, Nikita Sergeevich started LiveJournal, where he began to upload videos with a response to criticism addressed to him. In the very first issue, a solemn melody and the image of the martyr Nikita Besogon appeared in the screensaver. As Mikhalkov explained, the saint is his patron.

From this video blog, the Besogon TV program has grown, airing on the Russia 24 and Spas channels, as well as on YouTube. In his monologues, Mikhalkov talks about the confrontation between Russia and the collective West, the imposition of alien values ​​and LGBT propaganda on the country against the background of icons, books, landline phones and busts, laments the loss of moral guidelines, etc.

In 2020, in one of the releases, the director stated that Microsoft founder Bill Gates and his company could be “chipping” humanity in order to reduce the population. There was a fuss, against this background, the program even disappeared from the grid of “Russia 24”. But soon Besogon TV returned to the channel.

Although critics of Besogon TV reproach the director for narcissism and call his tone mentoring, in 2022 the program repeatedly appeared on the list of the most popular programs in Moscow on domestic television.

Quotes by Nikita Mikhalkov

• “If our country was limited to Rublyovka, then Sobchak would be a brilliant president for this country.”

• “I believe, that "Oscar" died, and we are now trying to create a Eurasian Film Academy with a Eurasian award – an expensive, powerful award, very stimulating.”

• “I don’t want to even try to please everyone – that would be unfair, because I don’t like everyone either.”

• “In the Middle Ages in Europe, perfumes were invented from the terrible stench. And in Russia they came up with a bath. Think about it. How amazingly accurate.”

“It’s time to get used to the fact that you can not steal from the state and at the same time be a wealthy citizen of your country.”

Sources

• secretmag.ru 1, 2, 3;
• aif.ru;
• lenta.ru 1, 2;
• gazeta.ru;
• tass.ru.

Collage: “The Secret of the Firm”, kremlin.ru, CC BY 4.0