21.06.2016 09:00
In early June, Konstantin Khabensky, to thank clients for participating in the Small Business with a Big Heart program. Elena Ishcheeva and Yulia Reshetova took this opportunity to talk to the actor about where the country, banks and charity were heading.
Elena Ishcheeva: In our country, bankers are not liked, they say “fat cats”. How do you feel about people in the financial sector?
Konstantin Khabensky: First of all, as a normal person and like many of us - with envy. And then, upon personal acquaintance, they either become interesting to me - by their actions and way of thinking, or not at all interesting. It all depends on how broad a person's outlook is and whether there is an understanding that not everything depends on banknotes. Much, but not all. Here is mathematics, and there is higher mathematics. There are people who can count, add numbers, and there are people who can fantasize with numbers. Agree, these are different approaches. Those who know how to fantasize with numbers - here they are very interesting to me.
E. I .: In our country, every person at least once lost money in the bank. I remember my first $ 11,000, which burned out at SBS Agro, which was located through the door (!) From the Central Bank. Are you afraid for your savings?
K.Kh .: Of course, I am afraid of losing money, especially since there are not so many of them as the media write. But they are, I hope, fairly earned. At least from my point of view, this is so - I always try to do my job conscientiously. But how to save them ... This is not an easy question. Here, of course, you have to think for yourself, and contact people who are in this very financial sector, keep their finger on the pulse. But I will say that even they do not give the same advice. Someone says "take a shovel", and someone - "don't play around."
E. I .: Do you trust your money to a state-owned bank or a commercial bank?
K.Kh .: You know, I'm not a businessman at all, and I can't even tell you if there is government participation in the bank where I keep my money.
Yulia Reshetova: The country still cannot get out of the protracted crisis. Has it become harder for the fund to raise money?
K.Kh .: Alena will better answer this question.
Alena Meshkova (director of the Konstantin Khabensky Charitable Foundation): I cannot say whether it is harder or easier. We continue to develop and grow because the entire philanthropic sector continues to do this. But what I noticed for sure is that in difficult times, people help more. We also changed the donation format. Philanthropists are switching from one-time emotional transfers of money to regular ones. This is what is accepted all over the world, what allows funds to plan their work. Of course, a large donation is good, but the person or company that made it can appear in the life of the foundation and then disappear. Our approach to everyday charity, of which VTB 24's Small Business with a Big Heart program is a part, is to embed the charitable component into current products. People do not come to the bank to make a donation, they come to solve everyday problems. And if a credit institution provides a simple and understandable way to provide assistance, and in amounts that are not critical for many people, then they will gladly use this option. It is important that the person receives feedback from the bank: how much money was donated and what this money was spent on.
Yu.R .: That is, not you, but the bank gives feedback?
A. M .: We send information to the bank, and he is already communicating with his client. While it is possible to build very different formats of interaction with credit institutions, this area is not regulated, it is possible to come up with some interesting things, win-win models that allow both parties to benefit from cooperation.
Yu.R .: What children does the foundation help?
K. Kh .: Absolutely different. We have guys from boarding schools and from the CIS countries. When we were just taking our first steps, we tried to help those who had absolutely no opportunities at all - no money, no quotas. But then we grew up, developed a business plan, which is necessary in the work of any charitable foundation, and began to try to help more children, regardless of their social status. After all, trouble does not choose. She suddenly pounces on families with any income, hits everyone equally.
E. I .: I have noticed more than once that when there is a large collection of money for a sick child, he is sent abroad for treatment: to Israel or Germany. Are we so bad with medicine?
K. Kh .: 95% of the children who are helped by the foundation are treated in Russia. You, apparently, mean some unique cases when only certain specialists can help. We have a ward - a young guy Oleg, whom we have been leading since 2008. He underwent four neuro-operations, his case is the second in the world practice. And doctors simply have no experience in treating such a disease, understanding how to deal with it. The fifth operation was performed by our doctors at the Burdenko hospital. They literally pulled him out. This year Oleg graduated from school, recently he had his last call. It's a pity that not everyone can be helped in Russia, but we are working on it - we send young doctors to the best clinics, train them and return them to their homeland.
Yu.R .: When a person comes to charity, he faces pain and suffering of people every day. It is very difficult psychologically. How do you handle such a load?
K. Kh .: I have a shield - this is my profession. I cannot go on stage in a bad mood, I have no right to come upset or with some problems of my own to my parents, to the child I am helping. Therefore, I hide behind a shield of positivity. And I also try to get as many positive emotions out of a girl or boy as possible during communication, to notice some details in his clothes, character. It is very important.
And if we talk about other people, then some of them integrate into volunteer work immediately, some gradually, and some do not succeed at all, and he leaves. Maybe I'll say it roughly now, but it's true: the foundation's task is not to wipe the snot, but to help. In order to help a person, they need to manage, tell him what to do. Our tasks: a) find money for treatment; b) explain to people in a difficult situation that now they need to take two steps forward, then turn left, then right, go further and so on. We must reconstruct the route of their movement. If a patient has psychological problems along the way, then all employees of the foundation and volunteers try to support him. For example, we introduce a child and his family to a person who has already passed the same path. This gives them hope and saves them from many mistakes. Once again I want to say that I perfectly understand people who, for any reason, first ended up in the hospital, but then ran away from there at breakneck speed. As well as from charity itself. Because it's really hard and not everyone can do it.
E. I .: Can you cry at the sight of a sick child? For example, I can't help myself and often cry when I get to hospitals ...
KH: I have no right to do that. I cannot cry where you cry. Therefore, I am sure that not all people should come to hospitals. There are many ways to help. For example, we have managed to "merge" children of the same age so that they support each other. I am now talking about another project - a network of theater studios in provincial cities, where my colleagues and I teach acting skills, plastic arts, artistic words and so on. We do this not to turn them into actors, but to teach them how to communicate with each other and with us. To build a bridge.
From the very beginning, we dreamed of staging a big performance with the students of the studios, and not so long ago everything worked out. To date, we have released Mowgli's Generation by Kipling in Kazan, Ufa, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, and now we are preparing in Chelyabinsk. They brought the production to Moscow, to the Kremlin. It has beautiful scenery, light, very good music Lesha Kortnev wrote. One hundred children and five professional actors work at the site. So this show is more than a show. Because all the funds raised from ticket sales go to help specific children, whom young actors see on the big screen at the end of the performance. And in the video that I put them before the general run - the one that was filmed for the Gift of Life foundation with Khamatova and Shevchuk. And the children sit up to their knees in tears, and then go on stage and work with even greater zeal. And how our artists were shocked when they saw Misha and Sonya in the hall - children, for whose treatment they collected money six months ago! So the performance is a kind of therapy for indifference, it is drawing the young generation through action, through creativity, into charity.
YR: Almost all foundations are engaged in children, and only a few - in adults. But sometimes they also really need help.
KH: The Foundation is already raising the age threshold for patients. Today it is 18 years old, but we are already talking with experts about 25 years. This is the maximum that we can do so far. Unfortunately, we are not able to cover all of us - we will simply choke. If during our lifetime we solve the problem that we have now identified for ourselves, then we will go further.
E.I .: Kostya, do you have the feeling that the recent upheavals have benefited Russia? People began to sober up, to move somehow, Russia is slowly building up its muscles. Do you notice something similar?
K.Kh .: I will say this: of course, a stressful situation leads to a kind of sobering up and understanding of one's strength. But, on the other hand, the situation of sobering up from the situation of brutality is separated by some half a step. The fact that national self-awareness is waking up is good, but now it is important for the state not only to support people morally, but also financially. So that these people can say: yes, I can do something in my country, yes, they hear me in my country. The main thing is that the uplift does not drown in financial problems, when people think only about how to feed themselves and their families.
E. I .: Tell us, where are you currently filming?
K. Kh .: Now the shooting of the film "The Time of the First" directed by Dmitry Kiselev continues. The producers are Evgeny Mironov and Timur Bekmambetov. This is a story about a man who first entered outer space. About Alexei Leonov.
Yu.R .: Whom do you play?
K.Kh .: The name of my hero Belyaev. This is the captain of the spacecraft, who corrected the exit of Alexei Arkhipovich into outer space.
Yu.R .: Who plays Leonov?
K.Kh .: Evgeny Vitalievich Mironov. The filming is not over yet, it lasts almost a year, we work quite scrupulously, we come up with a story so that it is not just another biopic, but really touches, takes heart.
E. I .: Have you been to Star City?
K.Kh .: No, it was not. He moved to our site. I assure you - a real Star City was built there.
E.I .: How can you make a movie about space without visiting Star City?
KH: Everyone has a different approach to creating a role. You can sit under the monument to Gagarin for years and then play it completely mediocre.
Yu.R .: And wait for the third season of the series "Heavenly Court"?
KH: I would very much like it to be. But everything is in the hands of producers and writers. So far, only they can be asked if there will be a third season.
E. I .: And finally, a short blitz. What can piss you off to the point of shaking hands?
K.Kh .: Arrogant stupidity.
E. I .: What is your favorite museum?
KH: Wow ... Let me start from what I saw recently. This is the Yeltsin Center in Yekaterinburg. I was amazed by the atmosphere and the solution of the space, it was captured.
Yu.R .: Favorite direction in music.
K.Kh .: I don't have that. It all depends on the mood. Sometimes it even seems to me that I want to listen to certain music, turn it on and realize that I was mistaken - I don't need it now.
E. I .: Do you have an idol?
K. Kh .: I have no idol. I have people whom I would like to be equal to, from whom I would like, in a good sense of the word, to steal those things that will educate me as a person. I will not name these people now, but believe me, there are enough of them.
E. I .: What cheers you up?
KH: In general, people who do not know me may get the impression that I am depressed all the time. I do not have things that would suddenly suddenly cheer me up. Or, let's say, there are no proven things, like color or music ... If I'm in a bad mood, it will be bad. But I will try to fix it and even in this state to do my job one hundred percent.
Very soon, his war drama will be released, where the director himself played the main role. On the eve of this event, Khabensky gave an interview to Yuri Dudyu, where he talked with him about his new project, work in Hollywood and personal tragedy.
The actor admitted that on the set he did not have time to sit still due to the fact that the artist combined the work of the director with the work of the actor.
“I was constantly running 300 meters to watch the footage and come back. I couldn't help thinking that it was easier to shoot my first film. Because less role and more preparation ".
Khabensky also remembered working together with. With her, he starred in the picture. According to the plot of the film, Jolie gave the actor artificial respiration.
“Even the American border guards asked me what it was like to kiss Jolie. It was not a kiss, but artificial respiration. And when you have a mouth full of movie blood, and you need to spit it all out on Angelina and her partners ... Well, here's a kiss, if you can call it a kiss. (…) I insisted that it was not a boy who gave me artificial respiration. I'm afraid of tickling", - said Konstantin.
They also talked about the great tragedy that happened in the life of Khabensky almost 10 years ago. The actor has been married to his first wife since 2000. On September 25, 2007, their son Ivan was born. After giving birth, Anastasia was diagnosed with a brain tumor. And on December 1, 2008, she died. Now Ivan lives with his grandmother in Barcelona. According to Konstantin, his son knows what happened to his mother, and is afraid to face it too.
“He knows what happened, and our grandmother tells him constantly. She took on the role of mom. It is difficult for him, because for him she is both a grandmother and a mother. He knows what happened, and understands, and is afraid to face it. There are many difficult conversations. ", - shared Khabensky.
The actor admitted that because of the enormous employment, he is unable to see his son.
“I can't see him physically, I talk to Vanya by phone. I leave home at seven in the morning and return at two in the morning. Such a harvest ".
Yuri Dud asked Konstantin to give advice to those people who faced a serious illness. The actor responded by talking about his mistake.
“Guys-medicine men have a colossal talent for talking and shear such money. At one time he passed through this person. I flew to another country to meet with him. I arrived in Bishkek, sat there for 20 minutes and drove back. I remember then I had a shooting in. This appeal, it seems to me, has taken the whole story to the wrong place. We used his bells and whistles and gadgets, transported him to Moscow. It was a big mistake and cost the second surgery. ".
Khabensky admitted that even now, after 10 years, he has not completely let go of this situation.
“I didn't expect that I have so many really true and reliable friends, it supported me internally. This terrible situation suddenly showed people very correctly. They helped me a lot ... I still can't say that I let go of this situation ".
Bending like a boomerang, the casting fate of Konstantin Khabensky has forwarded him through all possible roles - tyrant and fool, warrior and terrorist, loser and charismatic - from the role of senior lieutenant in "Deadly Force" to the role of investigator Rodion, which will cost many. Multiply the maniac from the "Dexter" series by the Russian reflection and Shukshin landscapes, and you will get our "Method", not meaningless, but merciless. True love knows no bounds - we went to visit the main actor of the country in Nizhny Novgorod, where in the very heart of the fiefdom of Balabanov's "Zhmurok" the shooting of the production project of Alexander Tsekalo is taking place.
From a street musician to the role of a maniac investigator in the series Method, Khabensky always goes his own way, doing and saying only what he considers necessary and important. He told us about the roles that influenced his life and how he changes the lives of others: about his charitable foundation, children's creative development studios and the musical "Mowgli's Generation", staged in collaboration with MTS.
First, before entering the theater institute, you studied at the Leningrad Technical School of Aviation Instrumentation. Would you like the liners to take to the skies with your name on board?
It was absolutely normal for any free-thinking person to want to leave school as soon as possible and from the care of parents into a free life. But by the third year of college I finally realized that only in theory I am God, but in practice I do not understand anything at all in technology and I have to tie it up. I mastered many professions, in the eternal search for a source of income I was a janitor, a floor polisher, a street musician, and a stage maker in the Saturday theater studio, which, by the way, is still alive today. It was in “Saturday” that I first appeared on stage as a so-called pea, that is, extras, then I had some words in the play, and pretty soon I felt an interest in acting. As soon as I liked it, I thought that there is probably a university where they teach all this, and decided to go to it.
That is, when submitting documents to LGITMiK, you did not deliberately aspire to the workshop to Veniamin Filshtinsky?
No, it was a fluke. In the summer of 1990, I was going to enroll in two Moscow universities at the same time, it seems to GITIS and VGIK, but I simply didn’t have enough money for a ticket, and I stayed in St. Petersburg. And so it turned out to be with Veniamin Mikhailovich.
In the early 1990s, not only the Soviet Union collapsed, but the entire theater system as well. Didn't you have the feeling that you chose the wrong profession?
All this misfortune fell on the shoulders of the course that was released in front of us. They could not find a job, many of them left the profession. But we were so busy with studies - acting students are at the university from nine in the morning until midnight seven days a week - that we did not have time to reflect on how our future life would turn out. As a result, out of twenty-six who entered the diploma, thirteen people reached the diploma, and today five of my fellow students work in their specialty. The numbers speak for themselves.
However, you, and Mikhail Porechenkov, and Mikhail Trukhin, and Ksenia Rappoport, who studied at the same time as you, are successful in the profession. What did the master teach you?
First of all, dedication. And also the ability to give out everything that you are capable of, at the very moment when you are called, for example, to audition in the cinema.
In your last courses at LGITMiK, you served at the Perekrestok Theater.
It was in the attic of the long-demolished House of Culture named after the First Five-Year Plan, in the place of which is now the new stage of the Mariinsky. It was an experimental studio theater in which our entire course was played. We held out for a year and a half in 1995-1996 - a lot in the conditions of the then lack of money. They themselves made the scenery, they themselves looked for the coveted one hundred dollars from sponsors to print posters, which they then themselves pasted around the city. Yuri Butusov's play Waiting for Godot, staged there, was a great victory.
During these years, did you try yourself as a TV presenter?
I ran the Parovoz TV music chart on Regional Television, one of the most popular programs at that time. It seemed to be work for the sake of money, but nevertheless I tried to look for some new forms of self-expression for myself. Then there was the news program "By the way", so I even managed to work as a news presenter, albeit not for long. I came up with some funny eyeliners to humorous, in fact, plots. One grandmother, apparently our constant spectator, watched me after the broadcast and snapped with indignation: "What are you doing, we believe you!" It was then that I realized that it was not in vain that I studied acting. Working in television was a necessary practice for further work in film, in order to confidently interact with the camera and confidently look into the lens.
You did not immediately move to Moscow, for several years working in parallel in two cities.
Yes, there was a period in 1996-1997 when I played both at the Satyrikon and at the Lensovet Theater. In the Moscow theater, with Konstantin Arkadyevich Raikin, he appeared on stage in Cyrano de Bergerac and the Opera of Threepenny, and in St. Petersburg - in Yuri Nikolaevich Butusov's performances Waiting for Godot and Wojtsek. But soon he completely returned to St. Petersburg for several years, having ceased to play in Moscow, only because he missed the big job, which at that time was offered by Butusov at the Lensovet Theater. This was the role of Caligula in the performance of the same name, and I did not even have any doubts about what to do.
You played in Caligula for ten years, arriving to this performance after moving to Moscow, and two years ago you returned to this play by Camus. Why?
Didn't let go of the material. But since at my age it was simply indecent to play in this performance, designed for a young performer, I chose a new form - a literary and musical evening, during which I read excerpts from the play accompanied by a symphony orchestra conducted by Yuri Bashmet.
How old do you feel?
In different ways, in this sense, I am very much chatting: sometimes I forget and behave like a fourteen-year-old teenager, and sometimes some very old grandfather rushes out of me.
Yuri Butusov, can you be called your closest theater director?
With Yuri Nikolaevich we periodically meet again and again, I am always ready to cooperate with him. Now it is even difficult to call his productions performances, these are rather theatrical mysteries with a capital letter. I'll have the nerve to call myself his actor. I don't really understand intellectual theater, preferring emotional theater to it. One that will not let you fall asleep and will reach the viewer in the thirty-second row. If a person in the theater laughs and cries, the goal is achieved. Then there is only clowning, this is generally aerobatics.
Can't work in cinema or don't you want to work with directors on a permanent basis?
Do not abuse the attention of directors, moving from one of their projects to another. Even if you succeed, it's better to pause, step aside, see what the director is doing next, and get involved in the next projects. Maybe it's the same in the theater.
Did Oleg Tabakov personally invite you to the Moscow Art Theater in 2002?
Yes, we were introduced, and he pretty soon offered me to take part in one performance, which I found uninteresting for myself. And literally two weeks later, an offer was received to play Zilov in "Duck Hunt" based on the play by Vampilov, and of course it was already impossible to refuse him.
Are you satisfied with your current employment at the Moscow Art Theater?
I went through everything. You can play thirty-four performances a month and not get tired at all, but you can go on stage four times a month and even then barely crawl. I don't want to come to the theater as to work, treat it as a source of making money. You need to go on stage, splash out and leave, but otherwise it makes no sense. Therefore, my voice still disappears periodically, and my eyes burst. I can't do otherwise. And in this situation, it doesn't matter how many performances I'm busy with. As for my uploading to the Moscow Art Theater, the story is very simple: at some point I asked Oleg Pavlovich Tabakov for a while, for one season, to release me from all productions, except for the Threepenny Opera, in order to take a break from the theater. He understood me, and we agreed that I would return in a year with a new idea. And so it happened, we came to him together with the artist-set designer Nikolai Simonov and offered to stage the "Contrabass" by Patrick Suskind, already having a ready-made solution for the performance and scenery. It was arrogant and daring, but I did not see how to take the next step in the profession differently. I had to break my back: earlier it was impossible, later it will be difficult. Our "Contrabass" is not so much about a musician as about a person in a creative profession who is not doing his own thing. And I see around enough of those who live by inertia, not looking for anything new. As a result, "Contrabass", which premiered this spring, turned out to be very correct both in terms of genre and, excuse me, the accumulated inner experience, both human and acting.
Did you find the director yourself?
It was destiny. Kolya Simonov and I were looking for someone who would develop and bring our idea to its logical conclusion. The young director Gleb Cherepanov at that moment was making a performance on the Small Stage of the Moscow Art Theater, we talked with him and realized that we were suitable for each other.
The genre range of your film roles is extremely wide - from Kolchak in the biopic "Admiral" to a teacher from the city of Fingers in the comedy "Freaks". Is there any logic behind this?
Of course, there is a certain internal logic here: first of all, I am interested in doing what I have not done before. It could be a genre or character that is new to me. But all these are reflections on the shore, and then, when we get into the boat, everything can turn out as we like, it is unfortunately impossible to foresee the result. Of course, I want to destroy my stereotypical positive image created by the media. On the other hand, given the viewer's habit of associating the actor and his characters, I cannot afford to play exclusively negative characters.
Do the roles played leave a mark on the life of the actor?
At first I thought that they do not manifest themselves in any way. Manifest, and how! In some cases, I can say this with joy, what was acquired on stage and in the cinema becomes a part of your character, and in some cases - of your destiny.
Didn't your role in Day Watch confuse you?
This is not to say that I am baptized for every dome, but sometimes I refuse very extreme proposals. It may depend on your mood, fatigue, or how you feel at a particular moment. In fact, many factors influence when you are called to some job, and you say no sharply and categorically.
The TV series "Method", which is being filmed now, touches on the topic of violence. You play the role of a maniac investigator.
The product that we are filming now in Nizhny Novgorod for Channel One is a very tough story. But unlike most of our crime series, this isn't just a thriller or detective story. The message here is very clear, about which we agreed from the very beginning with the director Yuri Bykov and the producers. We are trying to explain to the viewer: everything that you, dear friend, see around, happens thanks to you, because you just averted your eyes at the sight of injustice.
Is it important for you not to hide your eyes?
Yes, I think this is important, for example, answering your questions now. And I have no reason to look away.
In December, the film "Black Sea" directed by Kevin MacDonald will be released. Is this another step towards Hollywood?
It was another opportunity for my pleasure to work and communicate with those with whom I was interested in doing this. This is Kevin himself, whose film "The Last King of Scotland" is remembered by many, and the performers of the main roles Jude Law and Scoot McNairy. An interesting international company with the participation of Seryozha Puskepalis, Sergei Veksler, Grisha Dobrygin gathered on the project, and I thought: why not? This is not a career, not a desire to go to Hollywood, but just another adventure. It is with this understanding that I relate to such stories, be it "Wanted", "Spy, get out!" or World War Z, from which my entire rather voluminous role was cut clean. I like to fantasize with colleagues who have become very famous, but have retained the desire to develop.
Do you feel like a Muscovite after twelve years of living in the capital?
It's hard for me to answer this question. I travel all over the country, and for the last six months, for example, I spend most of my time in Nizhny Novgorod. I can only say that I still live in the same routine for myself.
Which one?
In the mode of energy conservation, which is very typical of St. Petersburg residents. I try not to run with my tongue out. And although I plan a lot for myself, even if I carry out only half of what was planned, I think that this is already good.
More than seventy people participate in the musical "Generation Mowgli" - children and adults, famous and beginners. How did you get everyone together?
We hold an annual festival called Plumage, which attracts troops from all cities where our studios operate. At one of these festivals, the idea was born to make a modern version of the play based on Kipling's "The Jungle Book", about a human cub in a stone jungle. Musician Alexei Kortnev joined the project as a composer, and artist Nikolai Simonov offered absolutely brilliant sets. We didn’t want a performance with three cubes and one spotlight, the result had to be serious. As a result, a bright musical called "Mowgli's Generation" was born, which simultaneously employs seventy-two studio girls aged from nine to fourteen years and five adult actors. In my opinion, the performance was not ashamed at all, it has every chance of being sold out. So far, it exists only in Kazan, but in December we plan to premiere in Ufa. In general, according to my plans in each of the eight cities in which our creative development studios operate, the musical "Mowgli's Generation" with its own cast of actors should be staged.
What is your role in this project?
We have a director, Ainur Safiullin, a graduate of Sergey Zhenovach's workshop. He will continue to work with this project in other cities. I acted here as the author of the idea, the artistic director. Everyone I could attract to this project as technical specialists either agreed to work for a very symbolic remuneration, or refused it altogether, and many adult actors transferred their royalties to our Foundation. Alexey Kortnev, Timur Rodriguez, Gosha Kutsenko coped well with their roles, despite the fact that all of them are very busy. I rehearsed with them on video, sent them recordings of the process, and when they arrived at the site, everyone was ready - input into the already invented drawing was very fast. Of course, their names attract viewers and media attention to the performance. Now Timur Bekmambetov's team is editing the TV version of the musical "Mowgli's Generation", which will be shown on the STS channel - the information partner of our project.
Is the performance intended to help the wards of your Foundation?
For two years I thought about how to attract my students to charity, but I did not want to directly confront the guys with their peers, who were in a very difficult situation, literally on the verge of life and death - not every adult can emotionally endure this. And I am very glad that we put it all together so simply: the funds from each performance are directed directly to help the peers of young actors who are currently struggling with oncology. Thus, not speculatively and right on the school bench, our children understand that they need to be merciful and act. They see that they can help not only with pocket money, which many of them often simply don’t have, but with their energy, their soul. They realize that if they work with a cold nose, without spending anything emotionally, they will cease to be interesting to the public and, therefore, will not be able to help save someone's specific life. In general, you need to understand that "Generation Mowgli" is not just a musical, but a huge charity project that we are implementing together with MTS. She has supported us almost from the first day, when the idea of \u200b\u200bcreating a performance was born, because with our modest financial resources we simply could not cope with such an expensive undertaking. Even though the original goal was to create a show for children, we were able to go much further. Firstly, we put on a children's musical performance, in which famous actors, musicians and children from the regions are involved on the same stage. Secondly, we launched a big story on the Internet: this is the official website of the project, dobroedelo.mts.ru, and the Mowgli Generation group on social networks, where any child or teenager can take part in creative contests and thereby help the wards of the Foundation. The fact is that points are awarded for creative work, as well as for all activity in social networks, which are then converted into real money and sent to charity. The Internet has become a kind of virtual laboratory, where children can try themselves in various competitions aimed at developing their imagination and unleashing their creative potential.
Have you had to deal with refusals from businessmen, referring to them for the Fund?
Only because they already have their own similar charity projects. And so everyone meets halfway.
Is it not so easy to come to an agreement with officials?
Yes, this is more difficult. Quite recently, I specially came to St. Petersburg on my day off to talk with the local city authorities: I offered to create a city-wide studio here, hold our Plumage festival next year, prepare my own version of Mowgli's Generation and asked for help with the premises. Until I heard an answer.
Photo: Slava Filippov
Collages: Igor Skaletsky
Text: Vitaly Kotov
5% of Sobibor's proceeds will go to charity, so I'll start with her, not with the cinema. The question is not about public charity, but about private: do you think a good deed is devalued if you tell your loved ones about it?
We now have, let's say, this issue is quite relevant. And this phenomenon even has its own name - quiet charity. Because a fairly large number of people - not overwhelming, but a large number - prefer to do good deeds, help, participate in the life of foundations and at the same time remain anonymous, not talk about themselves, and so on. This is a normal human approach. But the situation today is such that we still urge you to speak about it openly for one simple reason - the people to whom you have opened up from the point of view of a benefactor, from the point of view of a person who is not indifferent, people who know and respect you will follow the same path. That is, it is more likely not a PR move, not a PR campaign, but this is just a moment when you need to speak loudly about charity in our country.
I would like to compare the Russian and Western mentality of good deeds, so I will ask you the same tricky question as Hugh Jackman, who also does a lot of charity work.
Interesting, come on.
© Karoprokat
- In general, Jackman played a real hero - the greatest showman Barnum - who owns the phrase: "A charity done for the benefit of a philanthropist is twice as effective as a selfless one." Do you agree with this hero?
I will say this: charity in any format - even if a person pursues the goal of showing himself to be loved and earning some kind of dividends for himself or for his business - and so, charity in any format remains charity. Let these people continue to live their lives, but what they have done is all for the common good.
In one interview you said that you are not proud of any of your films, at most a scene or a few seconds. What scene - or what seconds - of Sobibor makes you proud?
- “Sobibor” is a slightly different story. Still, this is a story that from beginning to end was conceived, invented and embodied by your humble servant directly, therefore that rule does not apply to this film. Because after “Sobibor” I exhaled and said to myself: “Today I cannot do anything higher and more in this profession”. I think the film turned out to be honest, emotional, and I am not ashamed to show this story to an ordinary viewer.
After “Sobibor” I exhaled and said to myself: “Today I am nothing higher and I cannot do anything else in this profession
Konstantin Khabensky
About Sobibor
Are your expectations of what kind of director you will be in the end true? For example, did you think you would be a demanding director, but turned out to be soft?
I guess I was no more demanding of myself as a director than I was of myself as an actor. Probably so. No more demanding.
Now they are filming about the war using experimental methods. Take, for example: it uses a handheld camera when filming in a concentration camp. And you turned out to be a classicist - except for that terrible outbreak of violence when the prisoners begin to kill the Nazis. Was there a plan for this contradiction?
I was shooting a human story and was not chasing new formats. I didn't want to be too clever by telling this story. Not to be too clever is very important, and it was even more important not to convey, let's say, techniques that are called "below the belt" and which work one hundred percent. You understand what I'm talking about: for example, once again show the tormented body or something else like that. Instead of all this, I relied on acting and with their help I wanted to achieve the emotion that I hoped, counted on, and to which I was going.
I'll tell you this: without Igor Plakhov, there would be no Anton.
Shirt, Van Laack; Pilot's Watch Chronograph, IWC
PHOTO Anton ZemlyanoySTYLE Marta VandyshIn the summer at the premiere of the play "Contrabass" at the Chekhov Moscow Art Theater, there was a full house. No wonder: both the literary work, and the reputation of the theater, and the name of the actor - - on the poster promised theater-goers a spiritual Elbrus with an inevitable catharsis at the top. The musician-loser, hopelessly in love with a woman and endlessly disappointed in life, described by Patrick Suskind, turned out to be almost comical for Khabensky. If it were not for the tears periodically rising to the throat, the performance could be called a comedy. But no, this is the most tragic thing - a word that Khabensky himself loves and pronounces so often that it is difficult to understand whether it is only about the theater. But you hardly hear the word "I" from him. He tries to answer any question impersonally: the point is either natural modesty, or the unwillingness to let strangers even into the “hallway” of his inner “home”.
ELLE To be honest, I wanted to ask you ...
K.Kh. I don't know, I haven't filmed for a hundred years.
ELLE And in the news they write that you have finally made your choice in favor of film and television.
K.Kh. They lie.
ELLE Well, of course: the series "Method", the Russian version of "Dexter" ... They say you are already subscribed to it.
K.Kh. I haven’t taken part in The Method yet. Getting ready for filming, they are different things. I confirmed my participation, but I have to enter the project, continue it, then finish it, voice it - and only then can I say with full confidence: “Yes, I am part of this material”. That is why I ask: what are we going to talk about with you?
ELLE About the weather? You were so calm about the difficult conditions of our shooting ...
K.Kh. (looking in surprise at the open terrace of a cozy cafe). You mean it ?!
ELLE Woolen three-piece suit at +32 ° С is, you know, not for the faint of heart.
K.Kh. Weather conditions are not a reason to complain. I'm just not a fashion model. I have never concealed and do not hide that this part of the work is the most difficult for me. Besides, when the company is good, it doesn't matter what the weather is like.
ELLE Comfort is important to you? Given your experience and professional status, what kind of shooting conditions will you never agree to?
K.Kh. None of this matters. Of course, you always plan to work in the velvet season on the seashore, without running around and nerves ... But it turns out the opposite. Where we shoot and when, the producers decide. And I am an ordinary hired labor force. Don't be confused.
ELLE In this sense, then tell me: to what extent is an actor a creative profession? Where is the line between the director's will, the letter of the script and your own imagination?
K.Kh. This is a two-way game. This is not to say that I put the director on the last plan and do whatever. But sometimes you pass the material through yourself, your body more strongly - and the director is already following you.
ELLE What does it depend on?
K.Kh. From the openness of both sides. And from a clear plan for filming or rehearsals. Whatever your seething fantasy, whatever inspiration comes, you need to shoot exactly what is planned. Just like in the theater, you need to play the performance that is put into the repertoire, and not the one in which you want to appear today.
ELLE Do your wishes usually coincide with your plans?
K.Kh. I am prepared for the fact that sometimes this is impossible.
ELLE Do you take on roles that are not at all close to you?
K.Kh. Whether the hero is close or not is the wrong question. Is it interesting, that's what's important. If I took on a role, then it is interesting to me. At the same time, the character may not be absolutely close, but so unusual that you try to get to the bottom of him, pull him to you, or, conversely, sink to the bottom with him.
ELLE By the way, it's true that ...
K.Kh. No.
Cardigan, shirt, all - Lanvin; Portuguese Perpetual Calendar, IWC
PHOTO Anton ZemlyanoySTYLE Marta VandyshELLE Everybody lies, that's understandable. By the way, they say that you periodically invent something in your interviews - about a collection of theatrical shoes, for example.
K.Kh. It was a long time ago. Now, not something, but everything ...
ELLE Is it all true?
K.Kh. I'm making it all up. (Smiles.)
ELLE Then tell me honestly: from the outside it seems that you are deliberately undertaking something complex, large-scale and overwhelming - take at least the recent premiere of "Contrabass". Looking for easy ways?
K.Kh. In another way, it is simply not interesting. At least in my case: when it's easy, some kind of stickiness turns out. Here's a sticky thing - that's all. And he himself becomes ashamed that he missed something somewhere, missed something ...
ELLE Feeling of shame does not go away with age?
K.Kh. No, it's normal to be ashamed.
ELLE How do you understand that you are already ready for the role?
K.Kh. In our profession, this does not happen - not in the cinema, and even more so in performances, where every time in a new way, in a lively way.
ELLE You have filmed a lot in the West. Can you feel the difference between here and there?
K.Kh. The only difference is preparation. Moreover, we have groups that shoot at the level of European and Hollywood cinema. There are not many of them, but they are. And in the West, a high level of team training is far from the norm. It all depends on the category of the movie.
ELLE Is there something in which our cinema is stronger than the western one?
K.Kh. (thinks about it). I wish that simplicity was our strength. I would very much like to.
ELLE Do you represent your audience when you are working on a film or play?
K.Kh. In the cinema - no. I understand in what genre I should be, but I do not identify the viewer, and even more so I cannot somehow correct it. In the theater, I have a rough idea of \u200b\u200bwhat kind of people come to my performances, sometimes I manage to lead them, sometimes I don't have enough strength. But let me not formulate what kind of spectator Khabensky is. I believe that the theater is not about formulations, it should be emotional, tragic, everything else is just details. But most importantly, there must be emotion in it.
ELLE Do you yourself often make decisions with your heart or your head?
K.Kh. I still try with this tool. (Shows her heart.)
ELLE Does it happen that feelings fail?
K.Kh. It happens, of course, this is natural. No matter how it seems from the outside, I am an emotional person. Just displays of emotions, maybe a little different. And I can be just as wrong about my feelings as other people.
ELLE You are the ambassador of the IWC watch manufacture. What is your personal relationship with time?
K.Kh. Complaining about the lack of time is silly. I plan a lot more than I have time - that's all. From what I drew for myself on the calendar, it turns out about half. Therefore, in the end there is no time.
Trousers, vest, shirt, loafers, all by Giorgio Armani; Pilot's Watch Chronograph, IWC
PHOTO Anton ZemlyanoySTYLE Marta Vandysh
Vest, Giorgio Armani; trousers, Ralph Lauren; shirt, Van Laack; Portuguese Hand-Wound Eight Days watch, IWC
PHOTO Anton ZemlyanoySTYLE Marta VandyshELLE And what exactly do you miss? Maybe they have long dreamed of doing something, going somewhere, but everything does not add up.
K.Kh. Exactly! I have long dreamed of doing something, going somewhere, but still nothing. So I answered, thanks for helping!
ELLE I formulate the question myself, I answer it myself ...
K.Kh. Sometimes it happens! Each person plans something, but then he either missed the moment, or got carried away by something else ... But then there is no need to complain. If you are passionate, be kind, devote time to your passion.
ELLE And you don't like to complain at all.
K.Kh. Sometimes I watch how in some television programs artists discuss problems in front of the whole country ... But I don't think this is a way out.
ELLE How would you describe the time in which you live?
K.Kh. If you start from the current moment: it's hot, thirsty, four hours of work as a model ...
ELLE In general, there are no good words left.
K.Kh. I feel a bit like an idiot when I start thinking about our time. Normal time. Not worse and not better. Slightly more gadgets than 500 years ago. Slightly fewer talented musicians than 200 years ago. But they are still there, they just play other instruments. Slightly faster than a vehicle. Maybe a little more ... No, the same number of wars, but now they are covered more actively. Nothing changes. I'm sure.
ELLE Nowadays there is a lot of talk about the fact that generations are shrinking. You regularly interact with a wide variety of children. (The Konstantin Khabensky Charitable Foundation helps children with brain diseases. - Approx. ELLE.) What are they like in your eyes?
K.Kh. Wonderful. You can find a common language with them, learn from them ideas, you want to share with them your views on one or another of their fantasy or invention. My colleagues and I want to guide them on the path to individual thinking. I will not say that I am a guru in this matter. I, like children, try to learn. We discussed and argued a lot about whether to introduce a stage speech course into the program of our creative development studios. But I think: if a person has something to say, he does not need lessons in stage speech. And when there are no thoughts in your head, no matter how clearly you pronounce the hissing consonants, empty porridge will come out of your mouth.
ELLE Do you think many children will choose acting after talking to you?
K.Kh. Hopefully few.
ELLE Why hope ?!
K.Kh. In our studios, among many other great moments, kids get rid of rose-colored glasses. They understand that acting is not the easiest bread. And those who, in the end, do not turn away from this, understand what to expect in the future.
ELLE You are always on the move. Do you still feel at home? And where is your home?
K.Kh. Home is where you are expected. This place is energetic; these are not walls. When you go in, put things in the hallway and understand: "That's it, I've arrived." And vice versa, you can live somewhere in a long working expedition for a year and never get used to a new place. It would seem a year! But no. Body, head, heart, soul understand that home is not here. This is something on an instinctive level, like in dogs and cats, which, not yet seeing you, feel your approach from a kilometer away. We are no worse than animals, we also feel.
ELLE Do you feel people too?
K.Kh. Of course, I immediately understand whether my man is or not.
ELLE How are you with yours?
K.Kh. I do not know. It seems boring and uninteresting to me. In a nutshell. And ask them the rest, although I think they will answer the same.
