CARICATURIST BORIS YEFIMOV
CELEBRATES HIS BIRTH CENTENNIAL
By Y. Andrusenko
On September 29 the well-known Russian caricaturist Boris Yefimov turned
100. A master of political satire, posterist 
and
illustrator, Yefimov has been closely tied with the media. His drawings
appeared in almost every edition of central newspapers and magazines. He
traveled a lot and met many outstanding personalities, geniuses as well
as villains whom he portrayed in his caricatures and memoirs: writers Maxim
Gorky and Lion Feihtwanger, politicians Bukharin and Trotsky, his colleagues
Bidstrup and Effel, and finally Hitler and Mussolini.
Recently Yefimov gave an interview for the Voice of Russia. "I
am an eye-witness, and this means a lot, doesn't it?", he said. "Judge
for yourself: over 100 years I've had met lots of people and seen lots
of events, and it seems as if they all happened just yesterday".
Speaking about political caricature, Yefimov's main genre, he said
that that apart from being politically acute, it should 
always
have aesthetic value. "A truly artistic caricature conveys the character
and conduct of the person it depicts". This statement that is probably
a clue to his creative longevity disproves a widespread opinion that the
life of a caricature, the same as of a newspaper, is no longer than a day.
Yefimov's legacy numbers tens of thousands drawings and dozens of albums
published in Russia and abroad.
Surprisingly, the patriarch of domestic caricature, the winner of many
awards, among then a gold medal of the Academy of Arts, never crossed the
threshold of any art school. "I didn't study anywhere, simply because
I had no intention of becoming a professional artist", says Yefimov.
"I wanted to enter a university and become a lawyer. My plans were
ruined by the 1917 revolution. Than, in 1919, a civil war broke out. I
was in Kiev then. Things were particularly hard there. Power changed 12
times. To give vent to my emotions I started sketching government officials".
Yefimov's brother, a journalist who published his articles under the pen
name of Mikhail Koltsov, offered him to make a caricature for a newspaper.
The drawing pleased the editor and he asked for more. Thus a career began.
The striking force of Yefimov's pencil was incredible. During World War
II
the whole nation knew Hitler, Goebbels and Goering not from their photos
but from caricatures. Yefimov's drawings were printed on leaflets dropped
beyond the front line and calling on Nazi soldiers to surrender. That caricature
was a powerful political weapon was well understood by the Soviet government.
Jozeph Stalin personally gave Yefimov assignments. Once he even corrected
one of his drawings.
As a special press correspondent, Yefimov witnessed the hottest events
of the outgoing century, for instance the famous Neuremberg trial in 1945.
But not all of his drawings are scathing satire. There are also among them
friendly jests and travel sketches...
One of his drawings depicts a scene in a museum in Brussels: puzzled
visitors gazing at an avant-garde sculpture. Another drawing titled "Two
Generations" shows a respectable married couple of venerable age walking
down the street, and next to them - a couple of hippies.
"Times have changed, so has humor, and the plank of satirical
drawnings has fallen dramatically. But the old wine didn't get sour",
Yefimov said. "I continue drawing. I think that my generation has
no right to pass away to the other world and take their reminiscences with
them. I am preparing a cycle of drawings, "Satirical Annals of the
20th century. Out came my new book of my memoirs, "Ten Decades".
So as a representative of the outgoing generation I am performing the duty
I must perform". About his age Boris Yefimov joked: "Old age
is a bad habit that isn't worth wasting time on". .
CINEMA HELPS PEOPLE GET BY
(an interview with Russian film director Vladimir Menshov)
By L. Roschina
One of the well-known masters of domestic cinema, Vladimir Menshov,
will soon present his new, fifth film "Gods' Envy". The four
previous films won wim nationwide love and world recognition. Menshov's
debut "Rozygrysh" (Joke), a deep psychological drama about two
teen-agers, was awarded a national prize. His second film "Moscow
Doesn't Believe in Tears" - a Soviet-era cinderella story about a
provincial girl who, left alone with her baby daughter, works her way up
to the post of 
director
of a chemical plant and after years of disappointment finally meets her
love - received an Oscar. Starring in this film was Vera Alentova, Vladimir
Menshov's wife. Menshov's comedies "Love And Pigeons" and "Shyrli-Myrli"
are no less popular.
When a child, he was so fond of cinema that he could watch 10 films
one by one. But his way to cinema was a thorny one. After three failed
attempts to enter the Moscow State Institute of Cinematography, fortune
smiled on him. Before he was admitted, Menshov tried various jobs. His
knowledge of human psychology, broad background and life experience enabled
him to say later: "I speak about simple but eternal things".
"25 years only as a film director, that's already a long time.
As a director I know I am happy, although these words of mine may stir
up Gods' envy", says Menshov paraphrasing the title of his new film.
"I am absolutely happy that "Moscow Doesn't Believe In Tears"
made 20 years ago is popular with younger generations who watch it, love
it and quote from it. My 
films
also have a high video rating. In cinema popularity doesn't last long with
rare exceptions and I am one of them".
Vladimir Menshov has an impetuous nature. However, if he is set on
a film, he carefully goes through the script until he visualizes every
scene up to the smallest detail. The process may take years. But when it
gets down to shooting, he works swiftly.
"Recently I chaired the jury at a film festival in Yugoslavia.
Most prizes nowadays go to Asian films, for instance from China, Taiwan,
Iran and Iraq. I watched quite a lot of them and learned much about life
in Asian countries. At the same time they raise universal problems which
give them a clear advantage over American blockbusters. I am sure that
the coming years will be dominated by psychological films. I know that
cinema instills people with hope and helps them get by", said Menshov.
The photo shows Vladimir Menshov and Vera Alentova.
Vera Alentova with her daughter Yulia Menshova.
VLADMIR VOINOVICH HOSTS A LITERARY
PARTY
By L. Kruglova The well-known Russian writer Vladimir Voinovich recently
played host at a literary party in his honour at the Central House of Literary
Workers in Moscow. The stage was decorated with a poster symbolizing the
main points of his biography: up to the right there is a self-portrait,
two brushes and a tube of paint (Voinovich is also a painter); down to
the left - a road back with labels "Moscow-Munich-New York" (his
current routes) stuck all over; in the center there is a xerox of the Soviet
government's 1981 resolution depriving Voinovich of Soviet citizenship
for "actions discracing the Soviet citizen's title and damaging the
country's prestige"; to the right is the red cover of a book that
caused the above-mentioned damage - 
"Chonkin".
As the wirter himself admits, he was banned during 26 years. He wrote
all the way through, but nobody published him. Banned in USSR, he was elected
honorary member of the US Mark Twain Society and the Bavarian Fine Arts
Academy. His best-known novel "The Life and Adventure of Soldier Ivan
Chonkin" came out abroad in 1969. In Russia it was printed 20 years
later, in 1989, and the following year the then Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev
gave him back Soviet citizenship. Ever since Voinovich has been shuttling
between Moscow and Munich. At the party he presented his new book, "Zamycel"
(Conception), which abounds in biographical facts interspersed with imaginary
events. The author calls himself V.V. (Vladmir Voinovich). The book pierced
with humour and irony brings us a story about the life of Soviet immigrants
in Bavaria where the author himself landed in 1988. His satirical remarks
made everyone laugh. We who shared the same totalitarian past and have
the same mentality, we understand his humour because for years humour and
irony were the only remedy that helped us get along. Speaking about his
book Voinovich said: "The art of writing is a very national art. Although
my books have been translated into various languages, they belong to Russia".
Voinovich's books were on sale at a book-stall downstairs, and upstairs
there was an exhibition of his paintings, already the seventh. One of them
was put up at the UN Cultural Center in Vienna, the rest in Moscow. The
party coincided with the writer's birthday: he turned 68. The stage was
full of flowers. Bard singer Yuri Kim performed excerpts from a musical
based on "Chonkin". Poetess Bella Akhmadulina read some of her
poems dedicated to Voinovich. At the end spectators crowded around the
stage to get autographs .
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