The Desert of Forbidden Art (2010)
Director: Tchavdar Georgiev & Amanda Pope
Country: Russia, USA, Uzbekistan
Runtime: 80min
Trace the incredible
story of defiant visionary Igor Savitsky, an artist and museum curator
who cunningly acquired more than 40,000 banned Soviet Union paintings
and hid the illegal collection from the KGB in Uzbekistan's Nukus
Museum. In addition to rare archival footage and interviews with the
artists' children, this absorbing documentary also features letters and
diary entries read by Ben Kingsley, Sally Field and Edward Asner
…a film that will be of interest to art lovers. It is the story of an
art collector of thousands of pieces in Uzbekistan. The collection is
now housed in a museum located in the desert area of that country. The
film does beautifully photograph many gorgeous paintings that have not
been seen in the United States. For that reason alone it is worth
viewing. And, there is some rare archival footage of the USSR during the
1930s.
…an awesome documentary that clearly was created by filmmakers quite
skilled in the art and craft of storytelling. Crisply edited, poignantly
shot...I look forward to watching it a second time soon. Plus, it was
an amazing opportunity to have an intimate glimpse into a place on the
planet that I would love to visit -- Uzbekistan. At once so exotic
sounding, and yet after watching the film, it became so familiar ... or
perhaps a little more understood ...
…an awesome documentary that clearly was created by filmmakers quite
skilled in the art and craft of storytelling. Crisply edited, poignantly
shot...I look forward to watching it a second time soon. Plus, it was
an amazing opportunity to have an intimate glimpse into a place on the
planet that I would love to visit -- Uzbekistan. At once so exotic
sounding, and yet after watching the film, it became so familiar ... or
perhaps a little more understood ...
…This film takes us in to the life and times of a remarkable man who
single-handed saved thousands of paintings and objects that were hidden
from the authorities following the Bolshevik uprising and consequent
suppression of art, especially modern, expressionistic art, that was the
avant garde of that time. Many of the artists themselves were sent to
the gulag for nothing more than being free-thinking painters. Their
paintings were either destroyed or hidden. All of this hidden art
eventually found a home, when Savitsky realized many people had them
hidden away and were willing to trust him. He himself had gone far into
the desert of Uzbekistan to get away from the new regime, and it was
here that he started his secret museum. It came to hold over 40,000
works of art, and now enjoys a unique status.
…No art history degree is required - this movie is story of the person,
portrait of epoch - distant and the current one.
Cinematographicaly
the movie is very well shot, it is well researched - never seen
materials from Russia's Krasnogorsk film archives are used. Quite
unusual but completely on the point is the citation from the cult
Russian movie "White Sun of the Desert" (1970)
The movie is not trying to depict the Soviet era as 70 years of
horrors - it rather shows that it's up to individual to find his/her way
while being artistically (as I.Savitsky himself) or politically
rejected.
The editing of this movie is done more in line with Russian
film-making tradition - which makes viewer to be much more emotionally
involved then your standard History channel movie.
Overall it's rare
case when we have a worthy subject, the passionate filmmakers and the
best intentions of the authors of the movie are perfectly aligned with
their capabilities to deliver.
In a remote region of a remote Soviet republic there once lived Igor
Savitsky, a museum curator. If his profession had saints he would be
among the most revered. In his half century career he filled his museum
with art that was often (literally) on the verge of disappearing onto
the dust heap of history. Not only did he acquire these works of art; he
paid for them, with state allocated funds. A true "holy fool" for art,
he relentlessly sought pieces for his museum up to the time of his
death, with almost no government interference. Savitsky's story is
enough, but the film also examines the lives and work of some of the
artists who owed their artistic existence and legacy to this amazing
man. It is a well structured and remarkably apolitical documentary,
utilizing some of the great living narrators in contemporary English
language film. The love for art has rarely been so well represented in a
documentary, not to mention that the actual works of art are absolutely
stunning.
…A memorable documentary, an incredible story of how 44,000 unknown
works of art came to be in a museum in Upper Uzbekistan, a film that
combines elements of a spy story, fascinating history, dangerous quests
and a fear of the future. Absolutely stunning.
What is not in the film
is that this collection is located in a secret, off-the-maps city where
Soviets experimented with gas, germ and nuclear warfare, and that is
another reason why the outside world does not know about the city or the
museum that is in it.
I will never forget the images of the art in
this film, paintings equal to or better than those of Impressionists
seen in books and other museums. And remember: only 400 of the 44,000
paintings have ever been photographed. Most have never been
catalogued!!
As a movie reviewer and concerned citizen, I have been
recommending this marvelous film to everyone interested in humanity,
art, and history.
…In the midst of a totalitarian dictatorship, an eccentric man risks his
life and uses his wiles to save what he values far more than his
society does. What, you mean you've already seen "Schindler's List?!"
But what if, instead of saving people, the man just saved art - tons and
tons of splendid art?
This amazing story, with characters as wild and
bizarre and wonderful as any you'll see in any flick, is terrifying,
heartwarming, funny, and hugely human. Even if you're not an art-lover,
this tale tells so much about our times, there's no way to not be moved.
It's both a good and bad thing that this came out in a time when
there were so many important and excellent documentaries that this got
ignored by the Oscars. It's a movie for everyone - take your grandmother
and your kids. Cannot recommend it enough.
…This is an amazing film about hidden treasure that is so vulnerable. I
hope that something can be done to save this art and bring it to the
world. The paintings are so vivid; I will never forget them.
I went to the website: "desertofforbiddenart.com" and immediately made
a contribution to the book of paintings being planned.
It is ironic,
that after so many years of hiding the works from Stalin, it is now, in
the twenty-first century, that the paintings are in the most
danger.
But it is not only viewing the paintings that made such an
impression on me, but the stories of the forgotten artists. The world
should know who they were, and the incredible sacrifices they made to be
painters.
Director: Aktan Arym Kubat
