Grígori Alexandrov
(Grigori Vasilyevich Moromenko; Ekaterinburg, 1903-Moscow, 1983) Russian film director.He developed an intense theatrical activity in his youth as a decorator, electrician and actor.During the Civil War he was part of a company that he represented at the front.From the mid-1920s he collaborated with Sergei M.Eisenstein as an assistant director (in The Strike -in which he played the officer Giliarovski-and The Battleship Potemkin ) and as co-director of two other films ( October , 1927; The general line , 1929).
In these years, Soviet creative activity was in one of his best moments.The revolution that produced the arrival of sound caused Alexandrov to be one of the signatories (the other two were Eisenstein and Vsevolod I.Pudovkin) of the famous "manifesto of sound" published in 1928 under the title Orchestral Counterpoint .In the main points he pointed out that "the only important factors for the future development of cinema are those that are calculated in order to reinforce and develop their montage inventions." They did not stop pointing out their fears, given that "the sound film is a double-edged sword, and it is very likely that it is used in accordance with the law of least effort, that is, limiting itself to satisfying the public's curiosity." They insisted that "the method of counterpoint applied to the construction of the spoken and sound film will not only not alter the international character of the cinema, but will enhance its significance and its cultural force to a point unknown at the moment."
The importance of this text is noteworthy taking into account the delay with which sound reached the Soviet film industry.Precisely because of this circumstance and the rapport that existed with Eisenstein and the director of photography Eduard Tissé, Alexandrov was able to travel through Europe and the United States in order to learn everything related to sound, studio installations and filming.During his stay in the United States, he did not achieve creative results, but he did in Mexico, a country to which the team moved to shoot ¡Que viva México! (1931), a film that he co-directed and that was not finalized due to problems political and economic.
On his return to his country, he continued his work and in 1935 he received the Order of the Red Star, while checking how his friend Eisenstein was relegated from certain honors by the highest political authorities.In 1944 he was part of the Artistic Council that controlled Soviet production, at the same time that he was appointed artistic supervisor of Mosfilm studios.From the late forties is Vstrea na Elbe ( Meeting on the Elbe , 1949), with which he approached the existing problems between the Soviets and the Americans due to the cold War.Among his latest works is, with the material provided from the United States, the remontage of ¡Qué viva México! (with the title ¡Que viva México! Da zdravstvuyet Meksika! , 1979).
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