Vasilevs

Vasil’evs

 

a family of Russian actors.

Sergei Vasil’evich Vasil’ev Born Sept. 7 (19), 1827, in Moscow; died there June 5 (17), 1862.

In 1844, Vasil’ev graduated from Moscow Theatrical School and became a member of the Malyi Theater troupe. Until 1853 he performed predominantly in translated vaudevilles (short comic plays), in the roles of simpletons and old men. According to his contemporaries, Vasil’ev was “a brilliantly merry comedian” who yielded to no one “in the richness of his mimicry and comic intonation . . . not to Sadovskii, nor to Zhivokini” (P. D. Boborykin, Za polveka, 1929, p. 43). The images created by Vasil’ev were imbued with humanity and deep sympathy for “little people.” Among his best vaudeville roles were the cobbler Hans (The Enchanted Prince, or the Transmigration of Souls, translated from German) and the billiard marker Anton Sharov (The Crow in Peacock’s Feathers by Kulikov). A new phase in the artist’s work began with the appearance of A. N. Ostrovskii’s plays.

Like P. M. Sadovskii, Vasil’ev affirmed the school of natural and expressive acting and advocated a national artistic repertoire. A superb master of the melodiousness of Moscow speech, he created images that were vivid with the color of everyday life. In Ostrovskii’s plays Vasil’ev performed the roles of Borodkin (Don’t Get Into Another Man’s Sleigh), Razliuliaev (Poverty Is No Crime), Andrei Bruskov (Somebody Else’s Headache), Tikhon (The Thunderstorm) and others. Vasil’ev’s power to reveal character was marked in his portrayal of Khlestakov (Gogol’s The Inspector General).

Pavel Vasil’evich Vasil’ev Born 1832, in Moscow; died there Mar. 29 (Apr. 10), 1879. Brother of Sergei Vasil’evich Vasil’ev.

After graduating from Moscow Theatrical School (1850), Vasil’ev joined the Moscow Ballet Troupe of the imperial theaters as a figurant. Departing for the provinces, he played in dramatic theaters in Chernigov, Kharkov, Poltava, Odessa, and Kishinev. Professional association with A. E. Martynov (Kharkov, 1855) influenced Vasil’ev. In 1860, after Martynov’s death, Vasil’ev was accepted in the latter’s role at the Aleksandrinskii Theater.

In Vasil’ev’s acting inspired emotional outbursts and tragedy were combined with extreme simplicity and naturalness. A realist, Vasil’ev was a master at portraying Russian life and Russian characters. He was especially successful in playing roles in A. N. Ostrovskii’s plays—Liubim Tortsov (Poverty Is No Crime), Tikhon (The Thunderstorm), Podkhaliuzin (It’s a Family Affair, We’ll Settle It Ourselves), and others. He also performed in comedies, including A. S. Griboedov’s Famusov (Woe From Wit), N. V. Gogel’s Osip and Kochkarev (The Inspector General and Marriage), and A. V. Sukhovo-Kobylin’s Raspliuev (Kre-chinskii’s Wedding). In vaudevilles he played the roles of La-dyzhkin and Delaktorskii (The Fiancé From the Loan Department and A Ruined Life by Chernyshev) and other roles. He performed at concerts with readings from F. M. Dostoevsky, I. S. Turgenev, N. A. Nekrasov, and M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin. From 1868, Vasil’ev taught at the St. Petersburg Theatrical School. (Among his pupils were E. I. Levkeeva and P. M. Svobodin.) From 1874 to 1875 he was an actor at the Moscow Popular Theater.

Well-known actresses in the Vasil’ev family were the wife of S. V. Vasil’ev, Ekaterina Nikolaevna Vasil’eva (Lavrova; 1829-77), who acted at the Aleksandrinskii Theater, and their daughters Nadezhda Sergeevna Vasil’eva (by marriage Taneeva; 1852-1920) and Vera Sergeevna Vasil’eva (by marriage Popova; 1854-1905).

REFERENCES

Filippova, E. “P. V. Vasil’ev 2-i: Zhizn’ i tvorchestvo.” In Trudy Gosudarstvennogo tsentral’nogo muzeia im. A.A. Bakhrushina. Moscow-Leningrad, 1941. Pages 7-72.
Koropchevskii, D. “S. V. Vasil’ev.” Ezhegodnik Imperatorskikh Teatrov, season 1895-96. St. Petersburg, 1897.

Vasil’evs

 

(persons bearing the same surname; pseudonym—Vasil’ev Brothers). Soviet film directors.

Georgii Nikolaevich Vasil’ev. Born Nov. 25, 1899, in Vologda; died June 18, 1946. Honored Art Worker of the RSFSR (1940). G. N. Vasil’ev studied at the Young Masters Studio. He was awarded the Order of Lenin and the Order of the Red Star.

Sergei Dmitrievich Vasil’ev. Born Oct. 22 (Nov. 4), 1900, in Moscow; died Dec. 16, 1959, in Leningrad. People’s Artist of the USSR (1948). S. D. Vasil’ev graduated from the Leningrad Institute of Screen Art. He was awarded the Order of Lenin and two other orders.

The Vasil’evs began working in the cinema in 1924. Their first joint directorial work was the documentary film Feat on the Ice (1928). In 1934 they made the film Chapaev (State Prize of the USSR, 1941) using their own screen version of D. A. Furmanov’s novella of the same name. This film is an outstanding work of socialist realism, combining high ideological content with artistic perfection of form. The film creates a vivid picture of the heroic revolutionary epoch and reveals the richness of the characters—the division commander Chapaev (played by B. A. Babochkin) and Commissar Furmanov (played by B. V. Blinov)—and their strong bonds with the popular masses. The role of the Communist Party in organizing the Red Army and in educating and rallying the popular masses during the years of the Civil War is depicted in the film convincingly and with inspiration. Chapaev exerted great influence on the development of Soviet art and on progressive foreign cinema. It was shown in many countries. The Vasil’evs’ films Volochaevka Days (1937) and The Defense of Tsaritsyn (1942; State Prize of the USSR, 1942) deal with the Civil War; Front (1943) is devoted to the Great Patriotic War. In 1955, Sergei Dmitrievich Vasil’ev filmed The Heroes of Shipka (in collaboration with Bulgarian cinematographers) and in 1958, In the Days of October. The Vasil’evs wrote the screenplays of most of their films.

WORKS

“Chapaev” and “Volochaevskie dni.” In the book lzbrannye stsenarii sovetskogo kino, vol. 2. Moscow, 1951.
“Zametki k postanovke.” In the collection Chapaev. Moscow, 1936.

REFERENCES

“‘Chapaeva’ posmotrit vsia strana.” [Peredovaia.] Pravda, 1934, Nov. 21.
Chapaev. Moscow, 1936. [Collection of articles.]