Natalya Arinbasarova: “No man is worth losing himself”

One little girl dreamed of becoming a ballerina, she dreamed of how she was dancing in “Swan Lake” in a white tutu, and everyone was admiringly watching her light fluttering movements. This girl - Natalya Arinbasarova - soon became famous throughout the world. As a child, she spent hours doing steps in front of an old wardrobe with a darkened mirror and sewing tutus for herself from curtains. Natalya was born into a family of a military man, Kazakh by nationality, and a Polish refugee. There were many children in the family; my mother spent all day working around the house. The family wandered from one garrison to another until they finally settled in their native Alma-Ata.

Ballet

Natalya Arinbasarova, whose biography was just beginning, was able to get into the choreographic school. Her dream was destined to come true: a year later she was included in the list of the most gifted children. There was a bright future ahead and training at the choreographic school at the Bolshoi Theater.

The next medical examination took away Natalya’s crystal dream: the diagnosis of “heart disease” sounded like a death sentence. She understood that she would no longer be able to practice ballet professionally. The school did not yet know about the diagnosis, and the girl tried in every possible way to avoid the mandatory annual medical examination. One day, due to confusion with last names, she ended up on the set of Andrei Konchalovsky. She was immediately approved for the role in the film “The First Teacher”.

Recognition and awards[ | ]

• 1966 - Winner of the Volpi Gold Cup at the XXVI International Film Festival in Venice[2].
• 1970 - Second prize for best actress in the film “The Song of Manshuk” at the All-Union Film Festival.
• 1970 - Lenin Komsomol Prize of the Kazakh SSR (film “The Song of Manshuk”)[2].
• 1978 - Lenin Komsomol Prize - for creating images of contemporaries and high performing skills[2].
• 1979 - Honored Artist of the RSFSR[3].
• 1980 - USSR State Prize (for the female role in the film “The Taste of Bread”, 1979)[2].
• 1994 - IFF “Stars of Tomorrow” in Geneva (Prize for Best Actress in the Film “”)[2].
• 1997 - Honored Artist of Kazakhstan
• 2008 — Jubilee medal “10 years of Astana”[9]

First role

The first meeting between the director and the future movie star took place under curious circumstances, because Konchalovsky initially chose a completely different girl, and the school forgot to write down her last name and in a hurry decided that Arinbasarova had been chosen. When Natalya entered Konchalovsky’s room, he looked in bewilderment at the girl wrapped in a huge drape coat and wrapped in a scarf. Having taken a closer look at the impeccable young beauty of the future ballerina, he immediately decided to do tests and was amazed at how confidently Natalya behaved in front of the camera. However, the girl had exams ahead, and after the auditions no one called her for a month; she almost didn’t want to act when a telegram arrived calling her to Frunze for filming.

Natalya refused, which caused such violent anger from Konchalovsky that he called her and cursed terribly. As a responsible person, Arinbasarova realized that she was letting the director down and went to Frunze. At first, everything got on her nerves, as the make-up artists and director, calling the girl too clean, began to sculpt the image of a village orphan. First of all, they cut off her hair, smeared her in glycerin and earth, and dressed her in open rags. Looking at herself in the mirror, the girl barely held back her tears. When she saw the first footage, she was struck by the beauty, which could not be spoiled by short, disheveled hair and cast-offs.

Star

Thus was born the star of Soviet cinema Arinbasarova Natalya Utevlevna. The debut was so successful that the girl was awarded the Venice Film Festival, beating out Jane Fonda and Bibi Anderson. After leaving the ballet school, Natalya entered VGIK. Already from her first year, she began actively acting in films. The brightest and most successful work of those years was “Djamilya” based on the story by Chingiz Aitmatov.

The directors felt that by filming Arinbasarova even in a cameo role, they were dooming their films to success. There was something about her that fascinated the audience. On the set she behaved like a true professional. She could play the same scene endlessly until she got a small masterpiece. Being very young, she felt with some sixth sense what her heroine should become, how she should move or speak. Her appearance spoke for itself, and the directors loved to film her close-up. The actress's usual look was much more eloquent than any dialogue. Natalya Arinbasarova, whose photos spread around the world overnight and made her famous, continued to work on herself. Like all ballet dancers, she had amazing perseverance and hard work.

Interesting Facts

Despite the fact that Natalya Arinbasarova does not talk too much about herself, we still found several interesting facts from the life of this talented artist.

• Former husband Andrei Konchalovsky, having gone abroad, immediately married another woman. As an apology to Natalya, he paid for the education of their son Yegor at Oxford and Cambridge.
• Natalya's daughter is a screenwriter, and her eldest son works as a director. It is in their works that the actress has often starred recently.

• In 2000 she published an autobiographical book.
• At the Venice Film Festival, Natalia was completely dressed by her mother-in-law. She bought her two pieces of expensive fabric for sewing evening dresses and gave her her family jewelry with diamonds.
• Natalya’s last husband, having met a new woman, like his other predecessors, also emigrated, only not to Europe, but to the USA.

• During the filming of the film “The First Teacher,” Natalya had to act naked. The girl refused and instead they took an understudy, who was so similar to the actress that the audience did not even notice the substitution.

• For filming in the film “The Taste of Bread” she received the main state award.
• She starred in more than 70 films, including roles in television series.
• Natalia's height is only 165 centimeters.

Formative years of an actress

At VGIK, Natalya ended up in the workshop of Sergei Gerasimov, who from the very beginning favored the young star. He even filmed her in his film “By the Lake,” specifically introducing a new character for Natalya into the script. She played her dream in the movie: she was assigned the role of a young ballerina, and the heroine of Arinbasarova was forever remembered by Soviet moviegoers.

Natalya Arinbasarova, whose father’s nationality is Kazakh, considers herself more of a European woman thanks to her education in the capital, but sometimes her explosive oriental character makes itself felt.

Natalya Arinbasarova now

Natalya Arinbasarova can now be seen more often in photographs in various publishing houses, to which she gives interviews, than in cinema. Due to her age and health problems, she rarely films and prefers to spend all her free time with her family.

Interesting: Alena Kravets: before and after plastic surgery

Although Natalya Arinbasarova’s personal life cannot be called happy and successful, her biography still evokes admiration. Indeed, in addition to the track record of the films in which this actress starred, she was able to raise two children who became her hope and support.

Andrey Konchalovsky

By the way, she played a ballerina, being already a mother, because immediately after filming “The First Teacher,” actress Natalya Arinbasarova married Andrei Konchalovsky. A year later she became Yegor's mother. Unfortunately, family life with the director did not work out. The fact is that Konchalovsky was from the very beginning aimed at going abroad and creating there. In those days, this was possible only after marriage to a foreigner, and Natalya and her son did not fit into the grandiose plans of her husband.

Despite the divorce, Natalya Arinbasarova and Konchalovsky remained good friends, she was always grateful to him for bringing her into cinema and making her famous. In addition, Andrei was very attentive to his son Yegor and made it possible for him to study at Cambridge and Oxford. The natural talent inherited from both parents helped him become a famous director.

Biography

Young celebrity

Natalya Arinbasarova graduated from the Academic Choreographic School of the Bolshoi Theater of the USSR (1964), then from VGIK (1971, workshop of S. Gerasimov and T. Makarova). Advertising:
The creative life of actress Natalya Arinbasarova began long before the moment she got on the set. And Natasha entered VGIK on the course of S. Gerasimov and T. Makarova, already being a world celebrity. At the entrance exams to the Institute of Cinematography, the young applicant was besieged by photo reporters and correspondents to capture the winner of the Main Prize of the Venice Film Festival “Golden Volpe Cup”, which she received for the main female role in the film by Andron Konchalovsky based on the novel by Chingiz Ai.

Natalya Arinbasarova photography

Then there were many roles, both main and small, and cameos. She mostly played heroines, but there were also character roles, supporting roles, which she took on with particular interest. “On the screen, plastic beauty is most important. Cinema is a pictorial art.” Charlie Chaplin said this. And the creative life of Natalia Arinbasarova, or, as they say, “life in art,” began with dance. In 1964 she received a diploma as a ballet dancer.

Childhood

“I was born in Moscow after the war. My father was a military man, my mother took care of the children, because there were five of us. When dad graduated from the Military Academy. Frunze, they began to transfer him from place to place, as always happens. We moved all the time and then came to Alma-Ata, where my dream finally came true - to enter a ballet school. I studied there for a year and a group of guys were sent to Moscow to the Bolshoi Theater Choreographic School. And I was accepted there, and since then I have been living in Moscow again.

Meeting with Konchalovsky

After receiving a diploma as a ballet dancer, I had to go to Alma-Ata, because the republic paid for our education, and we had to return to dance at the Opera and Ballet Theater. But when I was already in my senior year, Andron Konchalovsky came to the ballet school to look for a heroine for the role of Altynai in the film “The First Teacher”. He came to the junior class, where girls from Kazakhstan also studied. And when a few days later the assistants called the boarding school where we all lived, the teachers mistakenly sent me away. I came to Mosfilm without understanding anything. Andron, of course, was terribly surprised, but he didn’t show it and started talking to me. And in the end, he decided to rehearse and work with me. This was his graduation film. We met several times, I read the script, and then suddenly they (the film crew) disappeared and stopped calling altogether. But I wasn't particularly worried. I started my final exams and preparing for my diploma. And in June a telegram arrives (three months later): “Urgently fly to a screen test in Frunze.” And I have a concert ahead at the Bolshoi Theater. I sent a telegram: “Sorry, I can’t film.” He started calling from Frunze, but I still received my diploma, and only then I went to film.”

Best of the day

On the set, Andron Konchalovsky and Natalya Arinbasarova got married. Two years later, their son Yegor was born. And Altynai’s role in the film “The First Teacher” brought her the highest award at the Venice Film Festival. The contenders for the Gold Cup in this category were Jane Fonda in Roger Vadim's film "Extraction" and two other famous actresses - Julie Christie and Ingrid Thulin. In our country, Natalya is the only actress to win this prize. One might say, she was accepted into the Institute of Cinematography with thunderous applause. The master of Russian cinema, Sergei Gerasimov, was asked by reporters to act with his future student, and he readily agreed.

Natalya Arinbasarova photography

“In 1971 I received a diploma from VGIK. During his studies, Sergei Apollinarievich forbade acting and said: “I will not allow you to run around film studios and offer your services. You have to learn something first.” But since I was older than the other girls, he understood that age is important for an actress; I was allowed to act as a student. I starred in the films: “Tashkent is a city of grain” - the script was written by Andron based on the story by Neverov. And he specially wrote a small role for me; it was not in the story. The role of Saule is a security officer girl who dies at the hands of a bandit. She starred in the film “Djamila”, also based on Chingiz Aitmatov, in the film “Song of Manshuk”, “By the Lake”. S. Gerasimov wrote the script for the film “By the Lake” specifically to film our entire course.”

Perhaps this was the richest course in famous Natalyas. The following students studied with Natalya Arinbasarova: N. Belokhvostikova, N. Bondarchuk, N. Gvozdikova. And also Nikolai Eremenko, Vadim Spiridonov, Sergei Nikonenko and Nikolai Gubenko.

“I remember how Tamara Fedorovna told me with an intriguing look: “Natasha, Sergei Apollinarievich is writing a role for you.” And when he read the script, I waited with bated breath to see when, when my role would be. The role is small, but for some reason the audience remembers me most for this role. I'm playing Katya Alzoeva, a young ballerina. It was the first time he used my former profession in film.”

Parting with Konchalovsky

Natalia's family life with Konchalovsky did not work out. In 1967, he left, leaving Natalya with her little son Yegor in her arms. They broke up with Konchalovsky because he wanted to go abroad for permanent residence. To do this, it was necessary to marry a foreigner (Konchalovsky married the French actress Masha Meril). Natasha and Yegor were an obstacle, but she did not interfere. And now she is grateful to her first husband for giving his son a good education abroad. After all, you have to pay a lot of money to study at Cambridge and Oxford. Yegor Konchalovsky studied at the art history department. Returning to Moscow, he created an advertising agency. Now he also makes films.

Dvigubsky

Of course, she was not left alone. A woman of rare beauty and not only externally. Natasha soon became the wife of artist and cinematographer Nikolai Dvigubsky. For the first time I saw Natalya Arinbasarova together with her daughter Katya in Ekaterina Dvigubskaya’s graduation film “You and Me,” shown as part of the Moscow Film Festival this summer. Katya graduated from the acting department of VGIK, but decided to make films herself and entered the Higher Directing Courses, teacher A. Mitta.

We need to talk about Katya separately. She is an actress, screenwriter, director. Finally, just a beauty. In the fall of 1999, the book “Moon Roads” was published. They wrote it together - mother and daughter, a book about Natalya Arinbasarova, about her childhood, ballet youth, film career, children and husbands. Or rather, as Katya said, she wrote from her mother’s stories. So she is also my mother’s biographer and author of the book.

Third marriage

But Natalya also broke up with Dvigubsky, and director Eldor Urazbaev became her third husband.

Natalya Arinbasarova: “The reasons for personal disasters were purely personal, and I cannot complain that my husbands treated me with disdain. Andron always forced me to educate myself, Kolya Dvigubsky, a wonderful artist, was very respectful of my profession, I starred in several films with Eldor Urazbaev. All three of them think that I am a good actress, and they all supported me in my work. Eldor also has two children, and I always tried to make them come to our house and feel comfortable here. And to this day they come and consider me a relative, the grandmother of their children.”

Katya: “Mom still had excellent relationships with all her husbands, and that’s probably why Andron treated me well and even offered to pay for my education abroad in half with my dad. I also have an excellent relationship with my dad - over the years he has become much more interesting to me. In childhood, of course, there were grievances that he was not as attentive to me as I would like, but with age this was all forgotten. Eldor, who raised me, was a real father to me, put me on my feet, and thanks to him a lot has happened in my life. In the most difficult moments, he was always there, he was my back, my shoulder..."

Tasty

In the film “Trans-Siberian Express” by film director and third husband Eldor Urazbayev, Natalya played a small but bright role. In order to truly get into character, Natalya asked to have a chiffon dress sewn for her, as it added airiness to the girl’s image. This is an actress who approaches everything creatively, she is lucky with the directors, but the directors are also lucky to work with such an interesting actress.

In the film “System-Nipple”, which was directed by Alexander Pankratov-Cherny, Arinbasarova played a small and atypical role of a drunkard. She was delighted when she realized that it was convincing. This film was shot during Prohibition in a real line for vodka. Another episode from the film “Russian Roulette”: a fragile woman faints at the airport, but in fact she participates in detaining a criminal and deftly and unexpectedly uses some kind of karate technique.

The creative life of Natalya Arinbasarova continues, she starred in B. Mansurov’s historical epic “The Saga of the Ancient Bulgars”, and often performs at charity concerts organized by the Moskvichka women’s club. She is its active member. And if you treat cinema as Hitchcock said, then she really got a good piece, the films in which she starred entered the treasury of world cinema. And we can also say that for cinema this actress is what is called a “piece of cake” (a piece of cake, a tasty morsel).

About my life

Natalya Arinbasarova: “Maybe my career could have turned out better. I would like to play in the classics - Shakespeare, Ostrovsky, but I was offered mostly the same types - my external data limited me in choosing roles...

But if you think about it... Well, I would have played ten more roles. And what? But now I am in a very pleasant period in my life, because I am perceived not as an actress, but as a mother of adult children. So Egor shot a film - there will be a screening soon, and we are all very excited. There have always been plenty of ill-wishers in cinema. Katya got married - also an exciting, pleasant event..."

Best weeks

Daughter Katya

Thanks to her amazing beauty, Natalya Arinbasarova, whose personal life was the subject of attention of the entire “cinema” crowd, very soon married the famous artist and cameraman Dvigubsky. They had a daughter, Katya, who later also became a director, despite the fact that she graduated from VGIK, and was predicted to have a brilliant career as a romantic actress. The girl turned out to be amazingly talented, she wrote several scripts, acted a lot and acted as a director herself.

In 1999, Natalya Arinbasarova’s daughter Katya wrote a biographical book, which she dedicated to her mother. The book “Moon Roads” became a bestseller as soon as it was published, so poignantly was written the fate of a Kazakh girl who dreamed of ballet and overnight blew up all ideas about Soviet cinema by making her debut in “The First Teacher.” Natalya Arinbasarova, whose children received an excellent education abroad, followed in the footsteps of their parents and went into the film business, is proud of Yegor and Katya.

Career

The first film role for Natalya Arinbasarova was a “gift of fate.” In her last year at the choreographic school, Andrei Konchalovsky offered her the main role in his diploma work. The film “The First Teacher” became a real “breakthrough”, both for the young director and for Natalya, who from a simple provincial and uneducated actress turned into a diva of Soviet cinema. From that moment, Arinbasarova realized that working in cinema was her calling.

Interesting! Natalya Arinbasarova, for her successfully created image of Altynai from the film “The First Teacher,” received the golden Volpi Cup.

Natalya, although she was already a famous actress in the vastness of the Soviet Union, still decided not to be arrogant and to bring her acting to perfection. Therefore, the girl enrolls in acting courses at VGIK.

Studying was easy for Natalya, and she managed to combine it with work. Professors forbade students to go on film sets until they received their diploma, but Arinbasarova was considered an already established artist and was an “exception” to the rule.

Before the end of her studies, Natalya managed to star in several films at once, among which the most popular and memorable for viewers was the film “By the Lake.” Despite the fact that Arinbasarova played a supporting role, her work was so bright and convincing that the image of Katya Olzoeva created by her became the “calling card” of the actress.

Further, Natalya actively starred in various films, from the comedy genre to dramas and detective stories.

In 2000, the artist decided to no longer work in the detective genre and starred only in dramatic and melodramatic films.

Third marriage

The marriage with Dvigubsky, which was very happy at first, cracked after a few years. Natalya broke up with her second husband, throwing in her lot with director Eldor Urazbaev. The new husband had children of his own, and Natalya did everything to ensure that they felt love and comfort in their father’s house. It was difficult for her at first, but very soon she was able to win the love of her husband’s children. Their relationship continued even when the couple broke up.

Arinbasarova remembers all her marriages with great love; she says that all her husbands were very respectful of her profession, helped in self-improvement and were always there in difficult times. She, like a wise oriental woman, was always interesting to her spouses and never confined herself to family life.

Konchalovsky treated Katya very well, he even helped her by paying part of the amount for studying abroad. At first, Katya had slight problems in her relationship with her own father, since the girl demanded attention and suffered at first due to her parents’ divorce. Katya considers Eldora to be her real father, who put her on her feet and gave her an excellent upbringing. Eldor was always there in difficult times, helping with advice.

Strong woman

When Natalya broke up with Dvigubsky, or rather, he left the family, all worries fell on the fragile shoulders of the actress. She not only earned money, but was a strict mother and provider of everything in short supply. Left alone with two children, she worked with renewed vigor. There was no one to sit with Katya, so I had to send her to a French boarding school for two years. Both mother and daughter were terribly worried about this fact, but there was no other way out. Later, Dvigubsky went to his native France and got married there, and many years later he committed suicide in his workshop. This was an absolute shock for Natalia and her daughter. The worst thing was that nothing foreshadowed such a tragedy; no one could explain this fatal act.

Later works

Arinbasarova continued to work in cinema. She starred in a huge number of films by famous Russian directors. Mostly these were typical roles, but the true talent of the actress was able to make them unforgettable and unique. The only atypical and characteristic image she got was in Pankratov-Cherny’s film “The Nipple System”. Natalya played the role of an alcoholic, which made her incredibly happy, since she could present the facets of her talent in a new light. She spent a long time getting used to the role, going to the nearest store and observing the life of the declassed elements, noticing how they talked and what they were wearing. Of course, the role turned out to be interesting, especially since the film was shot during the difficult period of Gorbachev’s Prohibition. Many episodic roles also brought her fame, as in the film “Russian Roulette”, where the audience remembered her as a fragile karate girl.

Happiness

The creative life of the actress is in full swing, she is constantly in sight and in demand by directors. Natalya Arinbasarova, whose biography took a sharp turn in childhood, is not afraid of change, delving into the past is alien to her, she enjoys every moment, everyone feels warm and comfortable next to her.

The work in Mansurov’s epic “The Saga of the Ancient Bulgars” turned out to be very interesting. Natalya speaks a lot, gives creative evenings, where she talks about her achievements and life situations. She is an excellent storyteller, and viewers adore such biographical stories, especially since the actress was close to many leading figures of Russian cinema. She herself says that in her youth she really wanted to play in Shakespeare, she imagined herself as Ophelia or Juliet, but it didn’t work out, apparently because of her textured appearance. As her former mother-in-law, the mother of Andrei Konchalovsky, called her, “pure Gauguin.”