Boris Barnet

Infobox actor
name = Boris Barnet
birthdate = 18 June, 1902
birthplace = Moscow, Russian Empire
deathdate = 8 January, 1965
deathplace = Riga, Soviet Union
othername =
occupation = Film director
yearsactive = 1927 - 1963
imdb_id = 0055823

Boris Vasilievich Barnet ( _ru. Борис Васильевич Барнет; 18 June, 1902 – 8 January, 1965) was a Russian film director, actor and screenwriter. He directed 27 films between 1927 and 1963.

Early years

Barnet was born in Moscow. A student of the Moscow Art School, he joined the Red Army at age 16 and was then professionally involved in boxing. In 1927 he shot his first feature, a comedy film starring Anna Sten. His 1928 melodramatic film "The House on Trubnaya", starring Vera Maretskaya, was rediscovered in the mid-1990s and now ranks as one of Russian silent film classics.

Encouraged in his early efforts by Yakov Protazanov, Barnet emerged in the 1930s as one of the country's leading film-makers, working with the likes of Serafima Birman and Nikolai Erdman. Barnet's masterpiece is "Okraina" (1933), a pacifist story acclaimed at the first Venice Film Festival and spoofed by Pavel Lutsik in his award-winning 1998 remake.

Later years and work

Barnet's postwar work is exemplified by "Secret Agent", the first Soviet spy movie. The Stalin Prize-winning film was also years ahead of its time in exhibiting Hitchcockian influence and tricks and helped cement Barnet's reputation abroad.Richard Taylor, Ian Christie. "Inside the Film Factory: New Approaches to Russian and Soviet Cinema". Routledge, 1991. Page 158.]

It was Barnet's gift of artisic invention that made him stand out from the crowd of Soviet colleagues. In a Barnet film, a photograph in the newspaper would unexpectedly come alive, and scenes would often end with a detail introducing the next scene. He would begin a scene with a close up, "so that the space is progressively discovered by changing the axis or by camera movement". Among Russian filmmakers professing their admiration for Barnet was Andrey Tarkovsky.

After some years of artistic silence the alcoholism-prone director committed suicide in Riga, Latvian SSR. He was survived by wife Alla Kazanskaya and daughter Olga Barnet.

References

External links

*imdb|0055823|Boris Barnet
* [http://www.kinozapiski.ru/article/647/ Remembering Boris Barnet: Memoirs of Marlen Khutsiev and Otar Ioseliani] ru icon

Persondata
NAME= Barnet, Boris
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION= Film director
DATE OF BIRTH= 18 June, 1902
PLACE OF BIRTH= Moscow RUS
DATE OF DEATH= 8 January, 1965
PLACE OF DEATH= Riga LVA