RZA TAHMASIB'S "STUDIO"

Rza Abbasqulu oglu Tahmasib, a leading light in Azerbaijani cinematography, an outstanding film director, teacher and actor would have been 120 years old in the last few days. He has gone down in the history of Azerbaijani film art with a great film, the fine reputation of which, alas, eclipsed his other talents and even him himself.

His childhood

Rza was the eldest son of Abbasqulu, who was the only son of Haci Alakbar, one of the most respected, well-off and devout people in Naxcivan. His father married Abbasqulu off when he was 16 and on 20 April 1894 a son was born to him, who grew up in a carefree atmosphere. Most of the children who were born after Rza died in infancy. The four children who remained alive - Rza, Mammadhuseyn, Akbar and Camila- were kept as the apple of their eyes. Aware of his relatives' excessive care, Rza took advantage of that and his near ones frequently became the butt of his jokes and childish pranks. Once he clambered up into a branching, mulberry tree with a mighty trunk, stuffed himself with its berries, and then with his face and clothes stained with the juice from the black berries, climbed down from the tree, lay down on the grass and began to scream. Seeing him like that, the servants ran into the house, shouting loudly that "The master had fallen out of the tree and is covered in blood".

Seeing Rza sprawled out on the ground "covered in blood", the grandmother, the aunt, the neighbours burst out sobbing and began to tear their hair. After watching what was happing out of the corner of his eye, Rza stood up with the words "Nothing has happened to me".

…People often came to see them. On the orders of the adults, Rza would often go out to welcome the male visitors. You would suddenly hear his voice: "Welcome, come in please". Then you would hear the visitors thanking Rza and chatting to him. A little later it would become clear that no-one had arrived, that Rza was just imitating the visitors to play a prank on those in the house. Everyone laughed at Rza's tricks, not knowing that in actual fact the teenage was just pursuing his desires and dreams. Did it ever enter anyone's head that he would become an actor? Rza's dreams for the future were quite different.

Haci Alakbar took Rza to a meeting of the local elite in order to introduce his beloved grandchild into society while he was still a child. Particular attention was paid to the boy's education. In 1901 he started to go to the Mahammadtagi Sidgi "Maktabi-tarbiya" state school where he studied Russian, Arabic, Persian [Farsi], history and geography for five years. Then he was accepted by the three-class Naxcivan city school, which he finished in 1909. His father was opposed to his going to study in Tiflis [Tbilisi, the Georgian capital], which is what he wanted. For both he and his grandfather wanted him to become a merchant and the director of a cotton gin factory which they were going to build. Rza himself dreamed of becoming a man of letters, of opening a book shop. He first became acquainted with the secret world of the theatre in 1907. At that time, at the age of 13 the youth played the part of Chichikov in [Nikolai] Gogol's Russian-language play "Dead Souls", which was staged at school. He regarded that part as the start of his acting activity. After the guest tour in Naxcivan by the talented actor Huseyn Arablinski, Rza decided to choose the acting profession for himself and secretly began to attend the rehearsals of amateur actors. Thinking that his son could only get an education in commerce, Abbasqulu permitted him to go and study in Tiflis and enter the 8-year school of commerce. In his first year as a student Rza joined a circle of Azerbaijani amateur actors in the famous Sheytanbazar district.

Study, work, romance

Once, Abbasqulu, who frequently visited his son, bought two tickets for the theatre and told Rza, "This evening we are going to see a performance." But his son told him he didn't want to go. The father was surprised: "But you like to go to the theatre." Once again he refused to go, reiterating that he didn't want to, so Abbasqulu went to the performance on his own.  That day Rza went out onto the stage, hoping that his father would not recognise him in his make-up. But he was mistaken. They returned to the hotel together. The father did not demand any explanations or give any advice. He simply looked at his son reproachingly. Then he returned to Naxcivan without coming to a final decision. Aware that Rza would not give up the theatre, the grandfather said to his son, "Leave Rza alone, let him live as he wants". Haci Alakbar could not go against the wishes of his eldest grandson. Nor did he refuse Rza's request to write his surname as Tahmasib instead of Tahmasibbayov. And from 1916 onwards he was already appearing on the posters as Tahmasib.

Rza returned to Naxchivan in the winter of 1917. While becoming a member of a drama circle, he did not remain on the side lines of the intense socio-political events that were taking place. In the spring and summer of that year he joined the struggle against the Armenian invaders headed by Andronik. Rza came to Baku in 1918. He began to teach at a seminary. In that same year, he married his beloved girlfriend, a splendid Ossetian woman called Leyla. After working at the Azerbaijan opera and ballet theatre, she took his surname Tahmasib. It is noteworthy that Rza's application to work at the theatre as an actor met with following resolution: "Rejected owing to lack of acting talent". But just two years later the theatre took him on. In 1921 Tahmasib was unexpectedly offered a position in Turkey as an interpreter at the diplomatic mission. When he returned from Turkey in 1922, he started working at the theatre again. He separated from his beloved in 1930. Their son Ozdemir was seven or eight years old at that time.

In 1934 Tahmasib became acquainted with a primary school teacher Gulsum, who also had an unfortunate family life, and she was now living with her little daughter Sahiba. In spite of the fairly big difference in age, Gulsum agreed to marry him. His life was just beginning to go right for him when he received the sad news from Naxcivan that his father had been arrested…

This came as no surprise. After he had had his property confiscated, Abbasqulu himself was arrested and his wife and little daughter Camila were evicted from their family home. When they heard what had happened, the sons immediately took them in Baku. Although changing their surname did help them, that was not the solution. It became dangerous to remain in Baku. When the famous director [Sergei] Eisenstein invited Rza to study in Moscow, he immediately accepted the invitation. He went to study at the Institute of Cinematography. His brother Mahammadhuseyn took his mother and sister and went to work in the provinces. But even when they had left Baku, they still had to live in fear. Mahammadhuseyn frequently changed his job and place of residence. As he was not really involved in politics and had been sentenced to five years in prison simply for being rich, Abbasqulu was released early, after three years.

The Cinema

After Rza had graduated from the institute in 1937, Eisenstein proposed that he remain in Moscow and work at the "Mosfilm" studios. But Gulsum did not wanted to live in a foreign country, so they returned to Baku. Later, it is true they lived to regret that they had not taken up Eisenstein's offer… That year Rza received some very sad news that his son Ozdemir who had gone to the Volga area with his mother, had drowned in the river Volga.

Some time later, his mother and father moved to Baku from Naxcivan. They continued to live in fear, frightened by the terrors of the repressions. There was no end to the severe blows meted out by fate. In 1942, a letter arrived from Alakbar, who was in the army. He wrote that he was being sent to the front. That was his last letter. Unable to bear this trial, his mother passed away in March 1942. Abbasqulu also gave up, dying seven months later…

In time Rza Tahmasib became famous as a great actor. Those who had once stated in a resolution that he had no talent, now flattered him: "Rza muallim, we beg you to be generous with your professional advice". He was a unique director and an irreplaceable mentor. Like all talented people, Rza Tahmasib not only had fans but also those who envied him.

The offer of work at "Mosfilm" contributed greatly to Rza Tahmasib's film career. In 1941 he made the film "Sabuhi" and in 1943 he set about making the film "Arsin Mal Alan" ["The Clothes Peddler"]. But instructions came from Moscow that the film's director should be Leshchenko. Generally speaking, that film caused Tahmasib quite a deal of trouble. The Arts Council did not consent to Rasid Behbudov starring in the main role and he had difficulty getting permission to film the latter in the part of Asgar.

The scenes of Asgar bay's house were filmed in natural surroundings. Considering that the country villa of Emelyanov (the chairman of the KGB - ZF) in Suvalan [a village outside Baku] was a good place to do this, the director asked him if he could make the film there. After receiving Tahmasib and listening to his request, Emelyanov permitted his to do the filming at the country villa. But when Rza was leaving his office, he wagged his finger at him threateningly: "If the film turns out badly, you will be to blame." This threat rang in Rza's ears throughout the filming. The first viewing was difficult. The views were aired that "the film did not really show what happened", "This film idealises the bourgeoisie"… This time Eisenstein came to help him out. Those involved in making the film were awarded the State Prize when Rza Tahmasib's film was passed after lengthy discussions.

He himself played the part of the first secretary in the film "Lights of Baku" made in 1949. During the viewing, [the actual first secretary] Bagirov expressed his displeasure: "Tahmasib made me look like a flatterer. I have never been that." That was a difficult time. The atmosphere current in 1937 still prevailed. It was extremely surprising that Tahmasib managed to avoid Bagirov's rage. They say that Bagirov did not dare to touch Tahmasib solely because Stalin knew that this film was being made in Baku. He had been told that he had been portrayed in a splendid light in the film "Lights of Baku" and that Rza Tahmasib was playing the part of Mircafar Bagirov and that the latter was not pleased with Tahmasib's performance. Stalin laughed and said: "That's very good. Assess this production highly." The film did go on general release. But it was severely cut before it received Moscow's approval. The film "Onu bagislamag olarmi?" ("Can we forgive him?), which was made 10 years later, based on a play by his brother Mahammadhuseyn was also subjected to scathing criticism. It was asserted that the film did not portray real life.

Tahmasib the teacher

There are few people left who remember Rza Tahmasib as a teacher. From the 1940s onwards he taught the art of directing and acting skills at Azerbaijan's Mirza Aliyev Theatre Institute, and in that time he translated several works on theatrical skills into Azeri, the most important of which was the extremely famous book by [Konstantin ] Stanislavski "My Work in Art".

A Theatre of Youth actor, the well-known actor Agaxan Salmanli, told Regionplus that he met Tahmasib for the first time back in 1959. "I decided to study at the Theatre Institute, but I failed history in the first year and went to work as an actor at the Puppet Theatre," Salmanli recalls. I went back to do the second year and my teacher was Rza Tahmasib, who was already a legendary personality at that time, a great person, a film director, pedagogue and film star." Tahmasib had such a conscientious attitude to his work that during the study period he did allow any film making or acting in the theatres. "He said that only after four years of study, when you get your diploma, can you go out into the wide world, but I will never allow you do anything until you are properly trained," Salmanli recounts. "So, I have been an actor since 1 September 1959 up until the present time." Numerous actors have come out of Tahmasib's "studio". One of them was Yasar Nuri, who was much loved by everyone. "When I passed my exam at the Institute of Arts, my teacher there was the well-known actor and director Rza Tahmasib," the actor recalls. "At that time, I wanted to apply to the Faculty of Directing Skills, but Rza Tahmasib was opposed to that, if I were to become a director, the art would lose a good actor."

Rza's path in life was a hard one. He lived for long years with the fear of repression. He was three times forced to burn his valuable collection of books, documents and photographs. But, in spite of these trials and tribulations, he spent long years on his teaching activity.

Life's upheavals

Although his second marriage was a happy one, fate did not stop testing him. In 1971, just one day before she was to defend her thesis, his youngest daughter Aybaniz died prematurely. His other daughter, Tamella, graduated from the Faculty of Journalism at the university, worked as a researcher, got married, but never had any children. His son Araz studied at the Theatre Institute (now the University of Culture and Art - Z.F.), but was never able to realise his ambitions owing to a serious illness. Rza bore fate's heavy blows while suffering from a severe illness. He underwent two serious operations in five years. In 1979 he was only able to meet his students a few times. After that, he became completely bed-ridden. Rza Tahmasib passed away on 14 February 1980 at the age of 86 years.

Rza Tahmasib was one of the most prominent figures in Azerbaijani cinema. But, being a modest person, he did not make many films, and, highly critical of himself, he hardly ever starred in the main roles. He devoted most of his life to his work as a teacher of acting skills and the theory of pedagogics.

A BIT ABOUT "ARSIN MAL ALAN"

A great deal has been written and said about this film. Almost everything has been written and said from the point of view of the end product, namely the film, either with regard to the acting or the music.

Moreover, very little is mentioned about the directing skills, especially in the context of the cinema at that time. What was the film-maker like in that era? There were Eisenstein's bleak films which were less talented than his first works. There was "Ivan the Terrible" which was addressed to Stalin personally. On the whole, the Stalin period, as today's historians of culture note, was a period of massive cultural degradation, when any culture-related product was addressed to the secretary general personally. That was a dark, hopeless time, and in that dark and hopeless period, a vivid, warm film bursting with hope and kindness was created in Azerbaijan.

Undoubtedly, the main merit in this film is that of the director Rza Tahmasib. The film was released to commemorate the victory in 1945, but it had  taken two years to make, that is, in an extremely difficult period for the country, an age of total poverty, funerals and a long-drawn-out war. Tahmasib's merit is not only that he created something vivid and full of hope, but that in that time no-one had any experience of making film musicals. There was scant experience of it world-wide. A tiny number of partially musical films had been made in the USA and in pre-war Germany, but it was not until the 1950s that film musicals appeared in the United States with the famous "Westside Story". In the Soviet cinema the only precedent of something similar (or partially) was the legendary film "Merry Kids". Thus, the director largely had to use his own intuition in creating his work of art.

Today in all the articles on the history of world musicals, besides the Broadway and French musicals, the Azerbaijani musical comedy "Arsin Mal Alan" is mentioned, moreover as the first complete film musical that is not staged in the theatre but recorded on film. Making it was an extremely difficult task, because there were no models to draw on. Two or three dozen actors applied for the parts of the main characters. Fifty people wanted to play the part of Gulcohra, but Rasid Behbudov was allocated the part of Asgar at the very last moment.

There had to be very many retakes and second shootings. Those working on the film like the cameramen Dadasev and Atakisiyev, the screenwriter Sabit Rahman, the composer Uzeyir Hacibayov had to spend long, exhausting hours working on it. The problem was that the film was simultaneously shot in two languages - Azeri and Russian. Naturally, the main burden of responsibility and work fell to lot of the directors Rza Tahmasib and Nikolay Leshchenko. The outcome of their work was an absolutely brilliant film, which is very popular and still watched even now. As Regionplus has already written, 16 million people watched the film in the first 45 days after its release. They stopped counting after that. The film brought in one thousand times more than it cost to make it (even without the enormous income it brought in from abroad).