Yury Ilenko: master of poetic cinema

Contradictory in creativity and life. Master of Poetic Cinema. One of the best directors, who left descendants with an invaluable inheritance: original, entertaining, poeticly upstanding represented Ukraine and the events that took place in it.

First camera work

Yuri Ilenko (1936-2010) - People's Artist of Ukraine, Academician of the Academy of Arts of Ukraine, scriptwriter, cameraman, producer. "Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors" (1964) - one of four films that Yuri Gerasimovich took as an operator. It is on this picture, which received a lot of international awards and entered the top ten masterpieces of world cinematography, that Ukraine became recognizable all over the world. While working on the "Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors" Yuriy Ilyenko plunged into the Hutsul color with its infinite deep beauty and charming overflows. Communication with such a giant spirit, as Ivan Mikolaychuk (who played the main role), led Yuri Gerasimovich, a man who lived for many years in Moscow and spoke only Russian, to rethinking the existing values and increasing his love for his own people.

Yuriy Ilenko: on the way to the viewer

As a director, Yuri Gerasimovich Ilyenko, 13 films were shot; Some of them had a very difficult road to the audience. The debut picture "The well for the thirsty" ("Krynitsa for good," 1965), under the scenario of Drach Ivan, became his first directorial work. For the narrative of the extermination, complete destruction of the Ukrainian village, the communist-minded leadership regarded the picture as anti-Soviet and banned for more than two decades.

The second directorial work of Yuri Ilenko - allegorical history of Ukraine - was the film "Evening on the eve of Ivan Kupala" (1968). The will of the powerful was also removed from the show and was lying on the shelf for 20 years.

"White bird with a black mark" (1970) - the third work banned for display, positioned as the most harmful film ever made in Ukraine. The most unpleasant moment for the management of cinematography was the withdrawal as the main character not a communist, but a soldier of the UPA, a Bandera player. The tape, which received the grand prix of the Moscow International Festival and received an ovation of 6,000 spectators, fell into disgrace for many years in its own country. It could be seen in many countries of the world, but not in Ukraine. The projects of Yuri Gerasimovich were almost always banned, closed, thundered at the stage of the script; Out of 42 only 7 scripts were screened.

Debunking Myths

The last director's work of Yuri Ilenko was the film "Prayer for Hetman Mazepa" (2002), which also acquired a scandalous fame. In this picture, the director decided to debunk myths and tell the truth about the massacre in the capital of Hetman Mazepa - Baturin, when Prince Menshikov ordered 15,000 people to be killed. It is not surprising that no skeletons were found at the excavations in Baturin: all the inhabitants were crucified, cut, attached to rafts and launched on the waters of the Desna, the Seimas and the Dnieper in order to intimidate the others. The troops marching behind Mazepa to join the Swedish king Karl were paralyzed by horror and turned away from the hetman, whose role was played by the colorful and powerful Bogdan Stupka. Participated in 2003 in the out-of-competition program of the international film festival in Berlin, this work was met rather coolly, it is forbidden to rent on the territory of Russia and Ukraine.

Stubborn and uncompromising

Yuriy Ilenko, whose biography is a vivid example of unconditional love for Ukraine, was an uncompromising, ideological, peremptorious, stubborn maximalist. Extremely talented and gifted, in Gaydamak hot, he was not afraid to cross borders and create. When I walked through the studio, I felt the views of dislike and misunderstanding. Yury Ilenko's films were not liked by many, and cooperation with such a man, demanding of himself and others, was enveloped in numerous legends. Like any genius, Yuri Gerasimovich was lonely, which further pushed such a strong man to a constant struggle.

Farewell, pigeons

In the cinema, Yuri came after studying at the camera department of the VGIK, which graduated in 1960. Operator's debut took place in the same year in the film "Farewell, pigeons" directed by Jacob Segel.

Personal life of a talented person

Yuriy Ilyenko was married twice. For 18 years he lived with actress Larisa Kadochnikova, who made in the films "Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors", "Evening on the eve of Ivan Kupala". Then fate brought him with the Ukrainian actress Lyudmila Efimenko. The result of a successful union were two beautiful sons, Philip and Andrew. It was they who picked up the dying man from the debilitating illness of his father, so that he could have a last look at the wide and mighty Dnieper. June 15, 2010, the great Ukrainian director Yuri Gerasimovich Ilenko was gone. This is a big loss for the whole world cinema.