Ńinematographic image of a naive painter
Background. The naive art is one of the most actual problems of modern humanitarian knowledge. The high degree of marginality, caused by the intermediate position between folklore and professional art, complicates the analysis of the primitive and at the same time makes it attractive to the researcher. The features of the functioning of naive art in the culture of the twentieth century are defined through its relationship with professional art, unofficial art, children’s creativity, the problem of the artist’s personality and the semantic opposition “genuine-false”. The subjects of the study are stylistic and technological features of naive art, as well as the figure of a naive artist. The aim of the article is to analyze the film by V. Prokhorov “Seraphim Polubes and other inhabitants of the Earth” (1983), which draws the collective image of a naive artist. This portrait embodies the basic myths associated with the idea of a naive artist. Results of the research. The features of the cinematic image of a naive painter are disclosed in this film through the intertextual links, which are revealing a similarity between the characters of the film and some opera personages. The intertextual links establish through the operatic citations that are an important part of the film. The overall sense layer links the elements of cinematic text, and the same model is realized in the three operas cited in the film (“Perth’s Beauty” by G. Bizet, “Faust” by Ch. Gounod, “Rigoletto” by G. Verdi). It is the Faustian model with the elements of Don Juan image. The operas cited in the film can be combined into an interactive triad, the elements of which can be projected onto the film characters. The Faustian theme in the film manifests itself in the main character Nikita Zavyalov, when he suddenly was realized that he yet did not lived, did not suffering, and that he exchanged for a comfort life his artistic nature. All his goals turned out to be pseudo-goals, leading him to spiritual emptiness. At the same time, the main hero of the film (the actor – R. Nakhapetov) absorbed the features of the Duke from Verdi’s “Rigoletto”. Firstly, this is the high status, which inevitably assigned to a “guest from Moscow” in Soviet province. In the “image of the Duke” Nikita also for the first time tries to speak with a main female personage – Dasha – on the dance floor. The strong-willed qualities of Dasha and her active life position allow us to consider it through the prism of the image of Carmen. As a result of this refraction, an image appears in which some features of Carmen are inverted. The other from the main characters of the film, the provincial painter Seraphim Polubes, in the context of the Faustian model assumes the functions of Mephistopheles, who opens the veil for Nikita-Faust to another life, gives him the opportunity to start all over again. Using the charactonym, direct name, the authors of the film enclose to the image of this painter-amateur the clear sign of belonging to the world of the Divine (Seraphim) and demonic – Polubes (Half-daemon). The symbolism of fiery element also connects the Seraphim-stovemaker with Mephistopheles and the blacksmith Henry Smith from G. Bizet’s opera. On another note, the high skill of an operatic artisan can be regarded as a talent of the artist-amateur. In such a manner, naive art acquires the symbolic meaning of a flame – a passion that inflames and cleanses at the same time. The elements of the Faustian model also one can be traced in the features of shaping Dasha’s environment. To enhance the alienness of the main hero to the world of his favored one, real or possible rivals appear in her circumference, as well as secondary characters with a similar function. The crisis experienced by the Faustian type hero brings the renewal of all life forces, the birth of new goals, which symbolically corresponds to the second youth. The key dramatic decision is the introduction along with the participants of the “dialogue” (Nikita Zavyalov and Serafim Polubes) the character of Dasha, to whom Nikita has a strong feeling. The insight that comes to Nikita due to his acquaintance with Seraphim and his painting awakens in him the ability to love and do acts. Arrived to the province Nikita put oneself into a completely different life space, where time flows according to its own laws. This space largely determines a face of naive artist, and it is difficult to dissociate the artist from this space. The relationships between professional and naive art, which is traditionally described hierarchically (“high-low”), is also divorced in the “horizontal plane” of the landscape (“a capital – a province”). The Faustian theme with its fundamental problem of seeking the truth are extremely consonant with the general cultural processes of the last third of the twentieth century, stipulated to increased attention to the primitive. The category “genuine” appeared and widely disseminated in the Soviet culture during this period. In the film, the authenticity of the naive painting of Seraphim opposes to the aesthetic principles of his friend Yakov, blinded by the principles of Soviet morality. Leap, which Nikita does at the end of the film from the speed train, one can be considered as a leap from the old, “false” life into the future – into “genuine”. Conclusions. The interaction between the plot of the film and the opera libretto reveals a similarity of operatic characters and the characters of the film with the inversion of some of their functions and dramaturgy. The emerging parallels allow us to understand more deeply the problem of naive art and the peculiarities of its functioning in the culture of the twentieth century. The image of a naive artist that created in the film is extraordinarily attractive. Its integrity and simultaneously versatility is due to the inclusion in the cinematographic text of operatic citations, which act as a powerful generator of intertextuality. Faustian theme, which unites the characters of the film with the characters of the operas of Ch. Gounod, G. Bizet, G. Verdi, displays the naive artist and his art in the circle of the eternal philosophical problems of mankind.