The Thirst for Endless Life

Character. Strength. Genius. This is how friends, family, and colleagues describe the outstanding Soviet and Russian actor of theater and cinema – Sergey Koltakov (1955 – 2020), a man who illuminated everyone he met, even if just once, with his performance and inner world, and everything that surrounded him. Every appearance of his, whether on stage or in a frame, is always an event, a cultural shock. Mirror for the Hero, Mama Don't Grieve, Catherine, The Union of Salvation, The Brothers Karamazov - and many more theatrical and film works where the actor showcased his genius to the world. He worked with iconic directors – Gleb Panfilov, Vladimir Khotinenko, Sergey Ursulyak, Pavel Lungin, Yuri Moroz. His characters are unforgettable – vibrant images and precise hits in character type linger in memory for a long time. The Thirst for Endless Life is a unique collection of the creative legacy of the great master, who not only virtuously mastered the art of transformation but also possessed literary and artistic talent. The book includes prose and poetic works by Sergey Koltakov, as well as paintings created by him. As Dmitry Bykov rightly noted in the preface … the presence of a genius in life is an important component; without geniuses, life is unbearably dull, their mistakes are more valuable than someone else's correctness, their guesses are never dilettantish, for geniuses somehow know the essence of things… . And Sergey Koltakov is definitely a genius.