Larisa (Short 1980)

Larisa: Directed by Elem Klimov. With Elem Klimov, Valentin Rasputin, Stefaniya Stanyuta, Mayya Bulgakova. A loving film tribute to Russian filmmaker Larisa Shepitko, who died tragically in a car accident in 1979 at the age of 40. This documentary by her husband, Elem Klimov, includes excerpts from all of Shepitko’s films, and her own voice is heard talking about her life and art.

“The sad demise of Russian director Larisa Shepitko in a tragic car accident with members of her crew deprived Russian as well as world cinema of meaningful films. All that remains of her cinematographic oeuvre are four feature films and some other minor works. u0026quot;Larisau0026quot; is her husband director Elem Klimovu0026#39;s (1933-2003) tribute to his wife as an artist who held very high standards of art and integrity in her works. She is seen quoting her teacher great Russian director Alexander Dovzhenko who never compromised as an artist. This biographical short film starts with a lot of visual images featuring Larisa Shepitko.How dear Larisa Shepitko was to her actors is depicted in scenes wherein some actresses narrate how fortunate they consider themselves for having acted in her films. How crucial is the collaboration between a writer and a director is illustrated by Russian writer Valentin Rasputin who described how he maintained a great deal of u0026#39;spiritual affinityu0026#39; with Larisa Shepitko. It was this feeling which drove his reluctance of not having his book turned into a film.Lastly,a point about women as better film makers was narrated by Larisa Shepitko herself as she states that women are best artists to depict certain sentiments.”