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Philosophy and Culture
Reference:

Creative unions of Dmitry Astrakhan

Shumov Maksim Vladimirovich

Associate Professor, Department of Directing and Choreography, Dostoevsky Omsk State University

644043, Russia, Omsk region, Omsk, Krasny Put str., 36

mvshumov@mail.ru
Other publications by this author
 

 

DOI:

10.7256/2454-0757.2024.5.70726

EDN:

EMUOQR

Received:

13-05-2024


Published:

02-06-2024


Abstract: Dmitry Astrakhan is a director who immensely "feels the time." His films of the 1990s are documentary films of their era, which are reflected in the works of modern directors. All this underlines and undoubtedly confirms the relevance of this study. Based on this, the author sets a goal to identify the features of Dmitry Astrakhan's creative unions. The set goal is solved by the following tasks: 1) to analyze the creative team of director Dmitry Astrakhan; 2) to identify the members of the creative team with whom the director worked more than with others; 3) to substantiate the role of the creative tandem in the filmmaking work of Dmitry Astrakhan. The object of the study is a creative tandem, and the subject of the study is the main creative tandems in the directorial filmmaking of Dmitry Astrakhan. Cultural-historical and art-historical research methods were chosen as the key methods of the current research. The theoretical and methodological basis for writing this work was the works of Russian researchers Z. Lissa, A.O. Kozyreva, M.A. Novoselova, S.V. Lavrova, Li Jian and N.V. Medvedeva. It is impossible not to mention the author's previous publications on the research topic, which served as material for the work. Also, journalistic articles were used in the arsenal of sources to reflect the opinions of film critics and moviegoers on research issues. The scientific novelty of the work lies in the actualization of the role of the creative tandem in relation to the work of domestic film directors and the justification of a clear analytical approach to identifying participants in the main creative team of film director Dmitry Astrakhan. As a result of the study, it was revealed that Dmitry Astrakhan collaborated most of all with screenwriter Oleg Danilov during the entire creative period (1991-2020) – 24 joint films and composer Alexander Pantykin – 11 joint films. This served as the formation of common stylistic features and relationships that allow you to create films with a unique author's handwriting.


Keywords:

creative tandem, creative union, creative team, creative process, director's style, author's style, muse, Dmitry Astrakhan, Oleg Danilov, Alexander Pantykin

This article is automatically translated.

The object of the study. Creative union as a way of organizing the film process

The muse – goddess that originated in Greek mythology, sometimes called the nymph, historically inspired figures of science, culture and art. Despite the overtly sexist overtones, the idea of the muse as a beautiful nymph-like woman who is a source of artistic inspiration has persisted for centuries. And the concept of a "creative person inspired by a beautiful woman" has been spread in literature, cinema, and other fields of art. At the same time, it cannot be denied that the role of the modern muse has changed significantly compared to ancient times. Today, the muses of directors are actors, composers, playwrights, and any other filmmakers who inspire the author-artist to create something more than just another work of art.

In her work "Aesthetics of Film Music", Zofia Lissa believes that with the advent of sound in cinema, it acquires the features of new forms. Synthetic art, which is sound cinema, is an art of a special kind: "With the exception of authors who, like Eisler, want to see in cinema only a fusion of drama, psychological novel, reportage, operetta, symphony concert and revue, or, like the Polish aesthetician Ingarden, consider sound cinema an art occupying an intermediate position between Most film theorists consider cinema as a new independent form, representing a synthesis of many arts" [1].  At the same time, A. O. Kozyrev believes that "it is impossible to ignore the problem of creative interaction and tandem in creating this single synthetic work of art" [2].

The issue of creative interaction between the director and other members of the creative team, under certain circumstances, will lead to the creation of a harmonious synthetic work, where all its functions are distributed in accordance with the artistic concept of the work and competently work with each other. The stories of creative tandems reflect the complex trajectories of the creation and development of the synthetic genre of cinema. "The synthesis of various types of art is possible on the basis that all the arts – each on the other hand, in a different way and by other means – depict a person and his attitude to the world, to his environment, to reality" [1].

It is impossible not to agree with the opinion of S.V. Lavrova, who notes: "Many directors prefer to cooperate with the same members of the creative team, whom they trust, whom they understand perfectly. Such attachment gives rise to well-known creative tandems and a characteristic artistic style" [3]

Continuing S. V. Lavrova's judgment on well-known creative tandems, we will identify those unions of Russian cinema that, in our opinion, reflect the problem posed in the work and which have already been reflected by the author of this study in his other works. In curly brackets, we indicate the number of collaborations between the director and his co-creator:

1) The creative union of director Leonid Gaidai with composer Alexander Zatsepin {11} [4, p. 44], as well as with actor Georgy Vitsin {11} [5, p. 51];

2) The creative union of director Nikita Mikhalkov with composer Eduard Artemyev {21}, producer Leonid Vereshchagin {11}, cinematographer Pavel Lebeshev {9} and production designer Alexander Adabashyan {8} [6];

3) The creative union of director Eddar Ryazanov with composer Andrey Petrov {14}, playwright Emil Braginsky {10}, production designer Alexander Borisov {12} and cinematographer Vladimir Nakhabtsev {8} [7];

4) The creative union of director Georgy Danelia with composer Gia Kancheli {8}[8] and actor Evgeny Leonov {10}[9];

5) The creative union of director Mark Zakharov and actor Oleg Yankovsky {6}.

From this list, it can be seen that any representatives of the profession unite in creative tandems. "A really good film work becomes a creative union where the authors easily understand each other. The degree of freedom and work within the framework of "screen time", agreement in the ideas and interpretations of the actions of the characters are necessary conditions for the creators of film production" [10].

 

A brief overview of the filmmaking work of Dmitry Astrakhan

Anastasia Lisitsyna in her article calls Astrakhan a "genre man". He looks like one of the many chroniclers of the troubles of Russian life in the transition period, but in fact he is a black sheep among them. He takes an absolutely cliched conflict peculiar to one or another modern historical period, whether it is the collision of a brilliant foreign country with Russian dirt in the early 1990s or wealth with poverty in the middle of a dashing decade, and turns it into a photograph of the era, showing it exaggerated, with features protruding like a magnifying glass. Many critics agree that the main achievement of Astrakhan's films is a sense of time [11].

Dmitry Khananovich Astrakhan came to cinema from theatrical directing: "I only dreamed of cinema. Before I started shooting my first film, I went through a serious path in the theater," Dmitry recalls. According to him, Alexey German suggested him to take up film directing [12].

In 1990, Dmitry Astrakhan wrote the script for his first short film "Get Out!", which later appeared in full-length format and became the winner of Kinotavr. The painting is based on historical facts of the repression of Jews at the beginning of the century, so Astrakhan decides to ask the Jewish Cultural Center for money to create it. This was the first time that a movie was shot with the money of sponsors. The film was even nominated by Russia for the Oscar film Award, but in the end the picture was not included in the number of nominees. The next film was "From Hell to Hell", a theme similar to the previous film about the oppression of Jews. The performer of the main role, Alla Klyuka, received several major prizes for this film.

In 1993, one of Dmitry Astrakhan's main hits "You are the only One with me" was released, which won a huge number of awards and special awards. Despite the simplicity and melodramatic plot, the film turned out to be deep and heartfelt. The director sees his secret in the following: "I think that a good movie is always about these timeless values: love and betrayal, meanness and heroism" [13].

In 1995, Astrakhan released "Everything will be Fine". And success again. During the period of timelessness and crisis in socio-political life and in cinema, when everyone was waiting for drastic changes in the future, he gave hope for a successful outcome.

Next, Dmitry Hananovich undertakes the multi-part film "Waiting Room" in 1998. The legendary Vyacheslav Tikhonov got the role of the director of the orphanage. "You know, I refuse many jobs now, but I have read your script, and, of course, I agree. I see that my role is very interesting — there is something to play," the actor told Dmitry Astrakhan when the director arrived to discuss the script he had read [14].

The film "Crossroads" of the same year also became one of the audience's favorites, besides, Andrei Makarevich's composition with the same name was performed there for the first time, and "Give me Moonlight" in 2001 became the last acting work of Nikolai Yeremenko Jr.

The 2000s and 2010s received a string of projects by Dmitry Astrakhan. These are films, TV series, and individual episodes in multi-part works. During this time, a total of 18 films have been released. However, they do not have their former glory. Astrakhan himself shares comments on the popularity of his films of the 1990s on this occasion: "Yes, in the 90s human destinies were collapsing, but the vector existed, and life played with new colors ...". At the same time, Anastasia Lisitsyna in "Gazeta.<url>" speaks about the specifics of the Astrakhan film language as follows: "It was easy to exaggerate the bright, fragrant 90s, the murky and obscure 2010s are no longer very" [11].

The most notable painting of the 2010s is the "Kids" of 2012. We are talking about the children of the orphanage, who decided to deal with the officials themselves, mired in corruption and debauchery.

In 2011, Dmitry Hananovich turned to acting and starred in the film "Vysotsky. Thank you for being alive", for which he received the Nika Award in the nomination "Discovery of the Year" [15]. This was followed by acting roles in films by Alexander Mitta and Stanislav Govorukhin.

At the same time, Astrakhan claims all the time: "I can't make movies. I'm a theater director. I have a large creative team – they all do their job." In various interviews, Dmitry says that he works with the chosen ones: "I always tried to take the best of those whom I know and whom I can invite."

 

The subject of the study. The main creative team of Dmitry Astrakhan

 

Despite the fact that a creative team can be considered any team whose activities are aimed at creating new ideas, a product or service in the field of art, there has been a long tradition of defining musical, choreographic, theatrical groups as "creative teams" [16].

At the same time, it should be noted that V.I. Smirnov, in the classification of collectives, singled out an "artistic and creative collective" as a collective united by joint activities in the field of art and it can be recognized as essentially synonymous with a "creative collective" in the field of art [17].

In the cinematic environment, it is customary to refer to the main creative team as a director, director of photography, production designer, composer, screenwriter and producer. At the same time, undoubtedly, a well–chosen creative union of the team members is always the key to the success of a movie.

In total, there are 29 films and TV series in the filmmaking work of Dmitry Astrakhan. Let's analyze each of them on the subject of the main creative team and in conclusion draw a conclusion about the director's preferences regarding the members of this team and about the influence that these participants have on the director's work.

Let's agree that in curly brackets (for example, {1}) we will indicate the number corresponding to the ordinal number of the mention of a member of the main creative team in the work of the director under study, in order to trace the stages of the director's work with this team member.

1) Get out!.. (1991)

Director of Photography: Dmitry Astrakhan; screenwriters: Dmitry Astrakhan {1}, Oleg Danilov {1}; cinematographer: Yuri Vorontsov {1}; composer: Alexander Pantykin {1}; production designers: Sergey Kokovkin {1}, Maria Petrova {1}.

2) I have you alone (1993)

Director of Photography: Dmitry Astrakhan; producers: Galina Alekseeva, Arkady Tulchin; screenwriters: Dmitry Astrakhan {2}, Oleg Danilov {2}; cinematographer: Yuri Vorontsov {2}; composer: Alexander Pantykin {2}; production designer: Maria Petrova {2}.

3) The Fourth Planet (1995)

Director of Photography: Dmitry Astrakhan; producers: Vladimir Khrapunov {1}, Dmitry Astrakhan {1}; Evgeny Chistov; screenwriters: Dmitry Astrakhan {3}, Oleg Danilov {3}; cinematographer: Yuri Vorontsov {3}; composer: Alexander Pantykin {3}; production designers: Maria Petrova {3}, Sergey Kokovkin {2}.

4) Everything will be fine (1995)

Director of Photography: Dmitry Astrakhan; producers: Igor Kalenov, Andrey Razumovsky, Yuri Romanenko; screenwriter: Oleg Danilov {4}; cinematographer: Yuri Vorontsov {4}; composer: Alexander Pantykin {4}; production designer: Sergey Kokovkin {3}.

5) From Hell to Hell (1996)

Director of Photography: Dmitry Astrakhan; producer: Arthur Brauner {1}; screenwriters: Oleg Danilov {5}, Arthur Brauner {1}; cinematographer: Yuri Vorontsov {5}; composer: Alexander Pantykin {5}; production designer: Alim Matveychuk.

6) The Waiting Room (1998)

Director of Photography: Dmitry Astrakhan; producers: Konstantin Ernst, Vasily Karlovsky, Anatoly Maksimov, Vera Malysheva; screenwriter: Oleg Danilov {6}; cinematographer: Yuri Raisky; composer: Alexander Pantykin {6}; production designer: Vladimir Dementiev.

7) Crossroads (1998)

Director of Photography: Dmitry Astrakhan; producers: Mikhail Moskalev, Leonid Yarmolnik, Andrey Grankin; screenwriter: Oleg Danilov {7}; cinematographer: Alexander Rud {1}; composers: Alexey Grigoriev {1}, Andrey Makarevich; production designers: Igor Shchelokov {1}, Oleg Molchanov.

8) Contract with Death (1998)

Director of Photography: Dmitry Astrakhan; producers: Alexander Kim, Dmitry Ursulyak, Tatyana Voronovich; screenwriter: Oleg Danilov {8}; director of Photography: Yuri Vorontsov {6}; composer: Alexey Grigoriev {2}; production designer: Leonid Prudnikov.

9) Apocalypse 99 (2000)

Director of Photography: Dmitry Astrakhan; producer: Arthur Brauner {2}; screenwriters: Mathias Klashka {1}, Carsten Laske {1}; cinematographer: A.F. Rud {1}; composer: Alexey Grigoriev {3}.

10) Lady Kazakhstan (2000)

Director of Photography: Dmitry Astrakhan; producer: Arthur Brauner {3}; screenwriter: Arthur Brauner {2}; cinematographer: A.F. Rood {2}; composer: Paul Wute {1}.

11) The Alchemists (2000)

Director of Photography: Dmitry Astrakhan; producers: Vladimir Khrapunov {2}, Alexander Vasilkov {1}; screenwriters: Oleg Danilov {9}, Dmitry Astrakhan {4}; cinematographer: Andrey Chertov; composer: Alexey Grigoriev {4}; production designer: Igor Shchelokov {2}.

12) Give Me Moonlight (2001)

Director of Photography: Dmitry Astrakhan; producers: Mikhail Molotov, Igor Tolstunov, Mikhail Zilberman; screenwriter: Oleg Danilov {10}; director of Photography: Alexander Rud {2}; composer: Dmitry Atovmyan; production designer: Maria Petrova {4}.

13) The Yellow Dwarf (2001)

Director of Photography: Dmitry Astrakhan; screenwriter: Oleg Danilov {11}; producers: Vladimir Khrapunov {3}, Alexander Vasilkov {2}; cinematographer: Jerzy Goschik {1}; composer: Alexey Grigoriev {5}; production designer: Igor Shchelokov {3}.

14) The Devil Calling himself God (2002)

Director of Photography: Dmitry Astrakhan; producer: Arthur Brauner {4}; screenwriters: Mathias Klashka {2}, Carsten Laske {2}; composers: Paul Wute {2}, J. Paula; production designer: Vladimir Denisov.

15) Lady for a Day (2002)

Director of Photography: Dmitry Astrakhan; producers: Valery Todorovsky {1}, Ilya Neretin {1}; screenwriter: Oleg Danilov {12}; cinematographer: Jerzy Goschik {2}; production designer: Yuri Zelenov {1}.

16) Tartarin of Tarascon (2003)

Director of Photography: Dmitry Astrakhan; producers: Valery Todorovsky {2}, Ilya Neretin {2}, Maxim Koroptsov; screenwriter: Oleg Danilov {13}, cinematographer: Jerzy Goschik {3}; composer: Alexander Pantykin {7}; production designer: Yuri Zelenov {2}.

17) Dark Night (2004)

Director of Photography: Dmitry Astrakhan; producers: Alexander Vasilkov {3}, Dmitry Astrakhan {2}, Evgeny Zobov {1}, Maxim Fedoseev, Yuri Kostov; screenwriter: Oleg Danilov {14}; cinematographer: Olga Livinskaya; composers: Alexander Pantykin {8}, Nikita Bogoslovsky; artist- director: Yuri Zelenov {3}.

18) Dream Factory (2004)

Director of Photography: Dmitry Astrakhan; producers: Dmitry Astrakhan {3}, Arkady Zimbler {1}; screenwriter: Oleg Danilov {15}; director of photography: Elena Ivanova {1}; composer: Alexander Pantykin {9}; production designer: Julia Tyutneva {1}.

19) Sunday in the women's bath (2005)

Directors: Dmitry Astrakhan, Alexander Karpilovsky, Olga Land, Sergey Talibov, Vladimir Rubanov, Andrey Gorbaty; producers: Dmitry Astrakhan {4}, Alexander Vasilkov {4}, Arkady Zimbler {2}; screenwriters: Oleg Danilov {16}, Marina Romanova {1}, Irina Burdenkova, Yuri Epstein, Natalia Averina, Nadezhda Fedotova, Svetlana Kochetkova, Svetlana Demidova, Yulia Izranova, Elena Isaeva, Elena Shustrova; operators: Elena Ivanova {2}, Igor Yakimov, Andrey Gerasimchik; composers: Alexander Pantykin {10}, Alexey Shelygin {1}; production designers: Yulia Tyutneva {2}, Ilya Malanov.

20) Everything is fair (2007)

Director of Photography: Dmitry Astrakhan; producers: Dmitry Astrakhan {5}, Alexander Vasilkov {5}; screenwriter: Oleg Danilov {17}; director of photography: Vladimir Sporyshkov {1}; composer: Evgeny Oleinik; production designer: Yulia Tyutneva {3}.

21) It was in Gavrilovka (2007)

Director of Photography: Dmitry Astrakhan; producers: Dmitry Astrakhan {6}, Alexander Vasilkov {6}, Pavel Babin, Mikhail Churbanov, Elena Flyagina; screenwriter: Sergey Seyranyan; cameramen: Gennady Trubnikov, Vyacheslav Petukhov; composer: Alexander Pantykin {11}; production designer: Valery Mozhaev.

22) There are kind and good people in the world (2008)

Director of Photography: Dmitry Astrakhan; producers: Dmitry Astrakhan {7}, Alexander Vasilkov {7}; screenwriter: Oleg Danilov {18}; cinematographers: Vladimir Sporyshkov {2}, Alexey Ubeyvolk; composer: Izmail Kaplanov; production designer: Igor Shchelokov {4}.

23) Night tavern ogonyok (2011)

Director of Photography: Dmitry Astrakhan; producers: Dmitry Astrakhan {8}; Alexander Vasilkov {8}; screenwriter: Oleg Danilov {19}; director of photography: Maxim Zhukov; composer: Alexey Shelygin {2}; production designer: Yuri Zelenov {4}.

24) Golden Country (2011)

Director of Photography: Dmitry Astrakhan; producer: Evgeny Zobov {2}; screenwriters: Oleg Danilov {20}, Marina Romanova {2}; cinematographer: Daniil Khaytin; composer: Alexey Shelygin {3}; production designer: Yuri Zelenov {5}.

25) Kids (2012)

Director of Photography: Dmitry Astrakhan; producers: Dmitry Astrakhan {9}, Alexander Vasilkov {9}, Diana Gnezdilova; screenwriter: Oleg Danilov {21}; director of photography: Sergey Yudaev {1}; composer: Gleb Belkin {1}; production designer: Yuri Zelenov {6}.

26) Love without rules (2016)

Director of Photography: Dmitry Astrakhan; producers: Dmitry Astrakhan {10}, Alexander Vasilkov {10}, Victoria Shamlikashvili, Julian Orlov, Andrey Rost; screenwriter: Oleg Danilov {22}; director of photography: Sergey Yudaev {2}; composer: Gleb Belkin {2}; production designer: Alexander Kamenets {1}.

27) The Game (2018)

Director of Photography: Dmitry Astrakhan; producers: Dmitry Astrakhan {11}, Alexander Vasilkov {11}, Polina Arustamova; screenwriter: Oleg Danilov {23}; director of photography: Andrey Maika; composer: Gleb Belkin {3}; production designer: Alexander Kamenets {2}.

28) Life after Life (2019)

Director of Photography: Dmitry Astrakhan; producers: Dmitry Astrakhan {12}, Vladimir Karachevsky {1}, Igor Porshnev; screenwriter: Oleg Danilov {24}; director of photography: Sergey Dyshuk; composer: Gleb Belkin {4}; production designer: Alexander Kamenets {3}.

29) The fate of the saboteur (2020)

Director of Photography: Dmitry Astrakhan; producers: Dmitry Astrakhan {13}, Vladimir Karachevsky {2}; screenwriter: Pavel Mogilin; director of Photography: Alexander Rud {3}; composer: Gleb Belkin {5}; production designers: Alexander Kamenets {4}, Vladimir Bliznyuk.

Based on the analysis obtained, we will compile a summary table of the professions of the main creative team and their surnames, indicating the number of collaborations with the director. Let's sort the graphs of the table relative to the number of jobs in descending order. We will indicate only those surnames that occur in the credits of Dmitry Astrakhan's films more than once:

Table 1. Dmitry Astrakhan's main creative team

Producer

The author of the script

Director of Photography

Composer

Production designer

Dmitry Astrakhan {13}

Oleg Danilov {24}

Yuri Vorontsov {6}

Alexander Pantykin {11}

Yuri Zelenov {6}

Alexander Vasilkov {11}

Dmitry Astrakhan {4}

Alexander Rud {3}

Alexey Grigoriev {5}

Maria Petrova {4}

Arthur Browner {4}

Arthur Browner {2}

Jerzy Goszczyk {3}

Gleb Belkin {5}

Igor Shchelokov {4}

Vladimir Khrapunov {3}

Karsten Laske {2}

A.F. Rood {2}

Alexey Shelygin {3}

Alexander Kamenets {4}

Arkady Zimbler {2}

Marina Romanova {2}

Vladimir Sporyshkov {2}

Paul Wute {2}

Sergey Kokovkin {3}

Valery Todorovsky {2}

Mathias Klashka {2}

Elena Ivanova {2}

-

Julia Tyutneva {3}

Vladimir Karachevsky {2}

-

Sergey Yudaev {2}

-

-

Evgeny Zobov {2}

-

-

-

-

Ilya Neretin {2}

-

-

-

-

 

It can be seen from the table that Dmitry Astrakhan is the most for the whole (approx. at the time of writing) creative period (1991-2020) collaborated with screenwriter Oleg Danilov – 24 joint films and composer Alexander Pantykin – 11 joint films.

According to Astrakhan: "The director must make people do what he needs to do. And how? Voluntarily! Therefore, you need to captivate a person, and he must believe that you have the right to lead him. It doesn't matter if you are a young director or a famous one, you still come to them every time and prove it to them" [18].

            Dmitry Hananovich always speaks very warmly about the screenwriter Oleg Danilov. He is always grateful to him for his "brilliant scripts". In his opinion, "Oleg Danilov is half of the film. The other half is the remaining team." "Oleg Danilov is a wonderful playwright! One of the best living Soviet and Russian playwrights" [12].

            Astrakhan often hopes that he is making an author's film and does not depend on anyone. "Danilov and I have always done what we thought was necessary. That's why I've always been a producer of my own paintings. It's not that I like to get money so much, but I have to do it so that I don't depend on anyone."[19]

            At the same time, there are no funny situations. These include the scandal surrounding the premiere of the film "Give me Moonlight", in the credits of which, due to creative differences with the producer, the names of director Dmitry Astrakhan and screenwriter Oleg Danilov are missing. But there is the name of producer Igor Tolstunov, who rewrote the tape to his taste [20].

            Astrakhan began working with composer Alexander Pantykin even before his film career. At that time, the director of the Sverdlovsk Youth Theater turned to a member of the Urfin Jus group and asked him to write a sound design for the play. After that, they practically never parted – neither in the theater nor in the cinema. Eleven joint films are proof of that. "Why am I working with him? Because he is talented, I have no other reason for this. I work with those who are talented. There is no other way," Dmitry Astrakhan answers [12].

 

The conclusion of the study. Dmitry Astrakhan's creative union with Oleg Danilov and Alexander Pantykin as a guarantee of success

Based on the results of the conducted research, we can formulate some conclusions. The creative tandem is characterized by the following features: the director's cooperation with the members of the creative team, based on their mutual understanding, common worldview and view of the creative process. Such cooperation can last throughout the entire period of creativity, or during a specific period of creativity and collaboration on a film.  The peculiarity of creative unions is the formation of common stylistic features and relationships that allow you to create films with a unique author's handwriting.

Such a difficult creative process between two artists finds its expression in the creation of films that have not lost their relevance for a long time and are of interest to a modern researcher in the field of audiovisual arts [21],[22].

Dmitry Astrakhan's creative tandems were formed already at his first films, and some of the team members and, as it turned out as a result of the research, Dmitry Hananovich managed to inspire a joint creative process while working on theatrical productions in the region. Playwright Oleg Danilov and composer Alexander Pantykin are not just members of the creative team – they are full–fledged co-authors of Dmitry Astrakhan's films - each in their own field. And we can safely say that if they had not united in a friendly union at the time, Dmitry Hananovich's films would not have found such an emotional and inspiring response in the minds and hearts of the audience.

When several talented people work together on the same project, the result is organic and indivisible: it is difficult to imagine music, songs, quotes, camera techniques or costumes separately from the film. This is probably why these films have been loved by several generations of our viewers. The combination of the names of director Astrakhan and the above-mentioned participants in the film process has become a guarantee of success for their films.

References
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3. Lavrova, S.V. (2019). New music and experimental cinema: the work of Bernhard Lang in the context of New Media Art, Problems of synthesis in modern musical culture: collection of proceedings of the International conf. April 11-15, 2019, vol. 1 (pp. 32-44). Rostov-on-Don: Publishing House of the Russian State University named after S.V. Rachmaninov.
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10. Li, Jiang, & Medvedeva, N.V. (2024). Composer and director: on the creative method of creating film music. Bulletin of Musical Science, 12(1), 34-44. doi:10.24412/2308-1031-2024-1-34-44
11. Lisitsyna, Anastasia. (2013). There are enough knives for everyone. Retrieved from https://www.gazeta.ru/culture/2013/04/11/a_5251765.shtml
12. Surikov. Vyacheslav. Dmitry Astrakhan: "Don't compromise, defend your point of view". Retrieved from https://kiozk.ru/article/ekspert/dmitrij-astrahan-ne-idi-na-kompromissy-otstaivaj-svou-tocku-zrenia
13. Vengerova, Svetlana. "I have you alone": how Dmitry Astrakhan shot his most famous film, and what happened to his actors. Retrieved from https://kulturologia.ru/blogs/170317/33841/
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First Peer Review

Peer reviewers' evaluations remain confidential and are not disclosed to the public. Only external reviews, authorized for publication by the article's author(s), are made public. Typically, these final reviews are conducted after the manuscript's revision. Adhering to our double-blind review policy, the reviewer's identity is kept confidential.
The list of publisher reviewers can be found here.

The author of the article submitted for publication in the journal "Philosophy and Culture" under the heading "Creative unions of Dmitry Astrakhan" identifies structurally and defines in the subtitle of one of the sections of the narrative, it is, according to the author, "The main creative team of Dmitry Astrakhan". The object of research is also structurally highlighted — "The Creative Union as a way of organizing the film process." Thanks to the author's explanations of the object of research, it becomes clear that by the film process the author does not understand the whole process of interaction of social subjects through cinematography as part of artistic life, but its some significant segment — the creative process of making films. It is in this perspective that the systematic nature of the organization of creative collectives, which in Soviet and Russian cinema is traditionally conditioned by the artistic idea of the filmmaker (as, in principle, most often in European cinema as a whole), allows the complex set of collectives formed during the creation of films to identify the main creative team of a particular filmmaker, in particular as in the presented article, — Dmitry Astrakhan. Of course, it is necessary to distinguish between director's cinema, which has developed primarily in Europe, and the American industrial model of film production, where a corporation (film company) and not artistic, but economic goals determine the composition of creative teams. In particular, in the creative fate of Dmitry Astrakhan, one of the episodes was the sensational conflict around the premiere of the film "Give me Moonlight", which demonstrated the existing contradictions between directorial and industrial cinema. Nevertheless, by quantitative measurements of filmography, the author traced the leading role of film director D. Astrakhan in the formation of the main creative team (film director Dmitry Astrakhan, screenwriter Oleg Danilov and composer Alexander Pantykin). Thus, the subject of the study was disclosed by the author at a level sufficient for publication in a scientific journal: the main creative team in the work of D. Astrakhan has been established. The research methodology is based on a combination of quantitative measurements of D. Astrakhan's filmography with an assessment of the success of films. In general, the complex of quantitative and qualitative methods is relevant to the scientific and cognitive tasks being solved. The author quite reasonably concludes that the feature of stable creative unions is "the formation of common stylistic features and relationships that allow you to create films with a unique author's handwriting." This, according to the author, determines the success of the film. The author explains the relevance of the chosen topic by saying that "the issue of creative interaction between the director and other members of the creative team, under certain circumstances, will lead to the creation of a harmonious synthetic work, where all its functions are distributed in accordance with the artistic concept of the work and competently work with each other." The scientific novelty of the research, consisting in a harmonious synthesis of qualitative and quantitative methods of analyzing empirical material, is beyond doubt. The author has maintained the scientific style of the text as a whole, although the reviewer recommends: 1) additionally proofread the text (there are inconsistent expressions: "A brief overview of the filmmaking work of Dmitry Astrakhan"); 2) use a respectful form of address to colleagues (not "Kozyrev A.O." or "Lavrova S.V.", but A.O. Kozyrev and S.V. Lavrova); 3) use a single style recommended by the editorial board registration of dates (see https://nbpublish.com/fkmag/info_106.html ). The structure of the article corresponds to the logic of presenting the results of scientific research. The bibliography reveals the problematic field of research well, it is framed without critical violations of editorial requirements. The only thing, according to the reviewer, is that there are too many references to the works of one scientist — M.V. Shumov (6 out of 22 sources, i.e. 27%), which looks redundant and poorly justified. The appeal to the opponents is generally correct and sufficient. The article is of interest to the readership of the journal "Philosophy and Culture" and after a little revision can be recommended for publication.

Second Peer Review

Peer reviewers' evaluations remain confidential and are not disclosed to the public. Only external reviews, authorized for publication by the article's author(s), are made public. Typically, these final reviews are conducted after the manuscript's revision. Adhering to our double-blind review policy, the reviewer's identity is kept confidential.
The list of publisher reviewers can be found here.

The author submitted his article "Creative Unions of Dmitry Astrakhan" to the journal "Philosophy and Culture", in which a study of creative unions as a factor in organizing the successful process of creating a work of art was conducted. The author proceeds in studying this issue from the fact that Dmitry Astrakhan's creative tandems were formed already on his first films, and some of the team members, and, as the author finds out as a result of the study, Dmitry Hananovich managed to inspire a joint creative process while working on theatrical productions in the region. Playwright Oleg Danilov and composer Alexander Pantykin are not just members of the creative team – they are full–fledged co-authors of Dmitry Astrakhan's films - each in their own field. And we can safely say that if they had not united in a friendly union at the time, Dmitry Hananovich's films would not have found such an emotional and inspiring response in the minds and hearts of the audience. The relevance of the research is due to the popularity of Dmitry Astrakhan's works both among the general public and positive reviews from domestic film critics. This work is a continuation of the author's series of studies devoted to the originality of the creative unions of famous Russian directors. In the course of the research, the author applied general scientific methods of analysis and synthesis, description and classification, as well as biographical analysis. The theoretical basis was the works of such Russian art historians as M.V. Shumov, S.S. Smirnova, N.M. Semina, T.F. Shak and others. The empirical material was the works of D.H. Astrakhan, created by him together with famous composers and playwrights. The purpose of this study is to identify the features of creative unions as a way of organizing the production of motion pictures. The object of the study is the creative union, the subject is the creative team of Dmitry Astrakhan. Having analyzed the scientific validity of the problem, the author notes that the topic of creative tandem and the specifics of the formation of creative teams is sufficiently covered in the Russian market discourse. The scientific novelty of this study is the analysis of creative unions directly by Dmitry Astrakhan. The creative tandem is characterized by the following features: the director's cooperation with the members of the creative team, based on their mutual understanding, common worldview and view of the creative process. Such cooperation can last throughout the entire period of creativity, or during a specific period of creativity and collaboration on a film. The peculiarity of creative unions is the formation of common stylistic features and relationships that allow you to create films with a unique author's handwriting. Based on the analysis of D. Astrakh's creative career, the author comes to the conclusion that an important factor in the creation of successful films and TV series by a filmmaker is his ability to select and form teams and cast of motion pictures. The author has carried out a detailed analysis of Dmitry Astrakhan's filmography, consisting of 29 films and TV series, and a classification of the director's works based on the creative teams formed by him. Based on the analysis obtained, the author compiled a summary table of the professions of the main creative team and their surnames, indicating the number of collaborations with the director. In conclusion, the author presents a conclusion on the conducted research, which contains all the key provisions of the presented material. It seems that the author in his material touched upon relevant and interesting issues for modern socio-humanitarian knowledge, choosing a topic for analysis, consideration of which in scientific research discourse will entail certain changes in the established approaches and directions of analysis of the problem addressed in the presented article. The results obtained allow us to assert that the study of the features and factors of creating a successful motion picture is of undoubted theoretical and practical cultural interest and can serve as a source of further research. The material presented in the work has a clear, logically structured structure that contributes to a more complete assimilation of the material. An adequate choice of methodological base also contributes to this. The bibliographic list of the study consists of 22 sources, which seems sufficient for generalization and analysis of scientific discourse. The author fulfilled his goal, obtained certain scientific results that made it possible to summarize the material, showed deep knowledge of the studied issues. It should be noted that the article may be of interest to readers and deserves to be published in a reputable scientific publication.