Emir Kusturica came to Russia: “I’ll make a film with Russian actors”

Kusturica is one of the few two-time winners of the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, awards for the films Dad on a Business Trip and Underground. In 1981, at the Venice Film Festival, he received an award from Russian film director Sergei Solovyov for his debut film “Do You Remember Dolly Bell?” And now, under his wing, the first films by Russian directors will be launched.

The newly elected president was expected in Khanty-Mansiysk a year ago, but a broken leg prevented him from coming. Kusturica only appeared on screen, lying in a hospital bed in a cast. It was a real show, a separate short film. Now there will be some divertissement too. The Emir came out, untying his shoelaces. This was his signal to humanity. This is how he once walked through the streets of his native Sarajevo, which testified to his peacefulness. Nothing remains of the house where he grew up. In the fire of the Balkan war, all the photographs of the parents were burned. All that remains is the memory of an irreplaceable life. In Siberia, untied shoelaces became evidence that Kusturica was peace-loving – that’s how he declared it.

He came to the “Spirit of Fire” several years ago with his group. Now there was a working visit. Kusturica is interested in young Russian cinema. He watched several films, and each time his appearance in the hall, where there were no spectators after the terrorist attack in Moscow, but only professionals, caused excitement among aspiring authors. Somehow, by mistake, Emir entered the wrong door. They presented a picture from an international competition. Kusturica was already standing at the door to move to another hall, but then the Iranian director said that he grew up watching his films and was honored that such a master was present at the screening. I had to return to the hall and watch an unplanned picture.

The Siberian cold did its job. The emir caught a cold, but could no longer refuse the scheduled interview. They brought him a whole package of medications from the pharmacy and only a little time was allocated for our conversation. The agreement was this: not a word about politics, only about creativity.

— When you first started your film career, what were your ambitions?

– I didn’t have them. When I graduated from film school in Prague (Emir studied at the famous FAMU, where in different years Milos Forman, Jiri Menzel, Goran Paskalevich studied directing – S.H.), I thought that I would have huge success if what I worked on I’m working to make sure I don’t feel ashamed. I returned to Sarajevo and made two or three experimental films. And when I first made the feature film “Do You Remember Dolly Bell?”, it unexpectedly received high praise in Venice. And then I said to myself: “This world is not so bad.” I felt that this was a victory, but I did not immediately understand why this happened. Only later did I realize that my film was about the fact that communism had fallen; it had ceased to be an important topic for Yugoslavia. The country’s leader Josip Broz Tito has died. The question of the seed, the origins, was very important. He said that what is sown does not disappear, sooner or later it will germinate. All the great writers wrote about this: Thomas Mann, Leo Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Ivo Andric. The seed never disappears, and among the Slavic peoples it will always be one.

— Having become a famous director, did you also think about success? How is this possible when there are producers nearby?

— Producers are always producers. When I became a famous director, I didn’t expect success for the sake of success. I never thought about it seriously and continued to embody my original ideas. You should never think about how successful you are. I talk about this a lot because now it is not particularly appreciated that the director is special and has his own bright ideas. The bet is that it should be successful. But it may happen that after making two or three films, you will no longer be like that. No success – and you are no longer a director. It’s like playing roulette. It is impossible to predict anything here. I believe in auteur cinema, in honest cinema that you produce, and not in success at any cost.

I am very glad that I watched three auteur films by young people at “Spirit of Fire” that promise a lot. They have a good career ahead of them. If you want to be an original author and at the same time a successful director, then this is a more difficult task than, say, in the 1970-1980s. It’s difficult to be a good author today. I see this in the example of what is produced in Russia and Serbia.

— Have you always had the opportunity to do what you want? We heard from the producers: “Stop! This will not work”?

– This is impossible. In such cases, I immediately leave and they will not find me. This is what happened in the painting “Arizona Dream”. Always on my shoots I worked 100% the way I wanted. This is why it is difficult to finance my films in the West.

Now I want to work on a film based on Dostoevsky, which will also include ideas developed in Italian neorealism in the post-war years. His heroes were the good people among whom we live. It is not customary to talk about them today. I am interested in a kind person, inspired by Dostoevsky, an engineer of easy walks. So my film will be called “Engineer of Easy Walks.” The spirit of neorealism and inspiration from Dostoevsky are close to me. I’ll try to combine the novels “Crime and Punishment” and “The Idiot”. This will not be an illustrative reading.

— Do you want to introduce Dostoevsky into the ideas of Italian neorealism?

– That’s my plan. The main character is a young man, and he is ready to talk and go for a walk with anyone who turns to him. He is open to all people and… kills another person who threatens his life and love. It’s as if Prince Myshkin is in a situation that allows him to become a murderer, to take the life of another person.

— So this is an imaginary world, exclusively your fantasy on the theme of Dostoevsky?

– Yes. I myself will be the producer of the film and hope to launch it at the beginning of the new year and complete it at the end of 2025. I will make a film in Russia and in Russian.

— With international casting?

– No. Only Russian actors will be filmed.

— Do you surround yourself with trusted people?

— Proven people who love what they do. I think they see the sacrifice I am willing to make for the film, and they walk with me through the difficult journey from beginning to end.

— Is the process of creating a film painful for you, or is it pure joy and everything happens easily and naturally?

– This is very hard work. I’m about to turn 70 years old, and I think I need to be especially serious now.

— Your colleague Agnieszka Holland decided to give up the presidency of the European Film Academy in order to devote herself entirely to directing, without wasting time on administrative work. You also have a lot of different things to do. Don’t you feel sorry for wasting precious time on them?

— For me, creating a movie is like writing a novel. When you are young and full of desire to make two or three films, ideas for which you have been nurturing for the last ten years. But now there is already a certain distance. Your wisdom is always with you, and you must be a spontaneous artist. There is less and less time ahead.

— Not overcome by fear? What if it doesn’t work out?

– No fear. He was there before. An actor who goes on stage has fear. But at this moment he also has a positive attitude. If I knew everything, I would be a Hollywood director who has no questions about whether a film needs emotions. The most important thing for me is that the emotion of life is accurately conveyed on the screen. There is a huge difference between life and what we see in movies. Reality and realism on screen are not the same thing. A lot of things are turning into reality shows these days. Everything that television operates on is transferred to the silver screen. The language has changed. Young directors make films the way they make advertising, where everything happens quickly due to editing. This undermines the foundations of real cinema. It becomes naked. We need to make movies about good people and not forget the difference between reality and realism.

— Are you interested in young people’s cinema?

– Very. I watched three very good films. I think that if there are two more, that will be enough for a good festival. When I was president of the jury at the Cannes Film Festival, I never saw more than four good films there. Well, maximum five.

— I saw you in cinemas. You saw the craziest and strangest movie at Spirit of Fire. Do you like it?

— I saw the good film “Contacts” by Dmitry Moiseev and “Cuba, Marina” by Konstantin Bogoslavsky. For me this is a good movie. He has an original language. If it turns out to be close to life, to what people feel, then this is the most important thing. “The Abnormal” by Ilya Malanin is also a good film. It’s commercial. I would never shoot something like this, but I can say that it was done okay.