The brave critic and man Yuri Bogomolov is gone

He fought with Mikhalkov, worried about his son Konstantin when he was scolded

On April 14, director Konstantin Bogomolov’s sad message about his father appeared on social networks: “Yuri Alexandrovich is gone. It happened early this morning.”

Yuri Bogomolov, our colleague, a journalist with impressive experience, publicist, film critic, TV reviewer, radio host, author of several books on film and television, has passed away. He was 86 years old. He was a brave, lively and principled person, he acted in accordance with what his conscience prompted.

On March 9, he celebrated his birthday, and on the 10th he thanked everyone who congratulated him on social networks. Health recently did not allow to be active, as a couple of years ago.

In the old days, Yuri Alexandrovich was like fire, a real fighter for a just cause. He defended the principles of our Guild of film critics and film critics, he stayed with those who are alien to the commanding principles of Nikita Mikhalkov in the Union of Cinematographers. Due to illness, he stopped participating in the heated discussions of his colleagues, who were transferred to chat rooms, and was very worried about what was happening in the country.

Yuri Bogomolov has always been a direct person, cut the truth-womb. His name alone irritated Mikhalkov, because he criticized him for a lot. Nikita Sergeevich in response scolded his son Konstantin along with Ksenia Sobchak.

Yuri Alexandrovich also has a beautiful daughter Olga, our colleague, a theater critic. He had two Olyas in his house – a wife and a daughter. In order to respond to the one needed at the moment, one was called “Olya big”, and the second – “Olya little”. Their voices are similar on the phone, so that those who called them at home would certainly specify which one to invite to the phone – large or small.

Yuri Alexandrovich has two grandchildren, whom he loved very much – the son of Olga (he sometimes took him with him to festivals) and the daughter of Konstantin Bogomolov and Daria Moroz.

Yuri Alexandrovich was very worried when one of our colleagues wrote critical and angry remarks and reviews of his son’s performances and films, spoke rudely about him. He got offended and stopped talking. And people were surprised at how a person with impeccable taste and reputation can endure all the tricks of his own child.

And Yuri Alexandrovich, together with his wife, followed his progress, attended all the performances and films, was at the famous wedding with a hearse – after all, the son is getting married. Yes, they are very similar to Konstantin – in appearance and disposition.

Yuri Alexandrovich was born in Leningrad on March 9, 1937, he survived the blockade as a child. He entered the film studies department of VGIK, and after graduation he actively worked in his chosen and beloved profession. He began to write articles in his student years and published all his life in various publications. He was a researcher at the State Film Fund and the State Institute of Art Studies, headed the culture department at the Izvestia newspaper, was the head of the theory and history department at the Cinema Art magazine, a television observer for Rossiyskaya Gazeta, and wrote for Snob in recent years. The topic of his dissertation in 1976 is also related to television: “Some Problems of the Poetics of Artistic Time on Television.”

He was a respected critic. Filmmakers respected him, although they were often offended by his strict judgments. In 2017, Bogomolov was awarded the Nika National Film Award for his contribution to cinematography, criticism and education. Our Guild of Film Critics and Film Critics awarded him with a special award for a book with the telling title “The Chronicle of Diving Television”, and years later presented him with the “White Elephant” award “For honor, dignity and contribution to the profession.”

Not so long ago, Yuri Bogomolov finished another book, “The Series with an Open Ending,” with the subtitle “The fate of humanity in the mirror of cinema.” Almost any of his text was not strictly film history. It was journalistic, based on current events, social and political life. Yuri Alexandrovich did not sit in a cocoon, he was always in the thick of life, he loved talking with colleagues, arguing, and cinema. This was his life.