Moskovljani kažu da su vozovi tu ne zbog transporta, nego da bi mogla da se vidi sva ta lepota / Moscovites say that the metro’s trains aren’t there for transport, but in order for all that beauty to be seen this year he's awaiting the premieres of two television series in which he played leading roles - Casanova in Russia and The Russian Prisoner, both on Channel 1. And it was due to shooting for these projects that he spent more than half of last year in Moscow and St. Petersburg. He also hopes that our public will soon see why he hasn't appeared in current TV programmes in Serbia or on the stages of local theatres. This is his sto- ry of Moscow, art and love… MY MOSCOW BY IVAN BOSILJČIĆ Here I was convinced that beauty will save the world I grew to love Russia through the stories of my granddad Miodrag, who wrote in his diaries about soulful people with whom you must chat, about a city that you spend hours entering by train only to stand in amazement on Red Square. About a city where temples have golden and colourful domes... And then I saw it for myself and came to love both Moscow and Russia, just like my grandfather I t was five years ago that he landed the lead role in the TV project Hotel Russia, which premiered on Channel 1 of the Russian national television ser- vice. And thus began his intensive links with Rus- sian cinematography. After two cinematic films,
Granddad Miodrag's Recollections From my early childhood, my grandfather Miodrag, who was an officer of the Yugoslav National Army, often spoke to me about his schooling in Russia. At the age of 16, with World War II raging, he was in a group of young officers who were recruited and sent to Russian military academies. He recorded in his di- ary every encounter he had with people and cities, and those were adventures marked by great friend- ships, incredible expanses and long winters... He de- scribed the Russian man as being extremely loyal and spiritual, who must be soothed with mercy. He tried to describe Moscow to me as a city that you spend sev- eral hours entering by train, a city where Red Square exists and is half a kilometre long, and where there is a river that shares its name with that imperial city, which yields its flows to the immense vastness of the Volga. A city where the temples have golden and col- ourful domes... When, as a student, I watched Niki- ta Mikhalkov's famous Barber of Siberia, I saw entire fragments from my granddad's adventures, appearing almost like quotes from his stories. And then I expe- rienced it all for myself, around a year ago... Inconceivable, Magnificent, Mystical In this the most populated city in Europe, it is said that, at first, a person can feel lonely and small, sur- rounded by the dimensions of the buildings and the city's spiritual, cultural and historical intensity. I wasn't overwhelmed by any kind of loneliness, on the con- trary, I was enchanted by the fact that my grandfather hadn't exaggerated anything in his diary, far from it. As I stood in front of the Kremlin, it suddenly became clear to me why the world's greatest conquerors had tried to swoop over Moscow for centuries, but also why they never conquered it. The city's patron saint is St. George, and while walking through Moscow you also suddenly find yourself overcome with strength and faith that every dragon can be slain.
Moscow » Moskva | 87
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