Plot synopsis

Following the established schedule, the creators of "Chronicles" slowly but surely reached 1956, finding the suicide of Alexander Fadeev to be the "highlight" event for that year.
Frankly speaking, the personality of the author of "The Rout" and "Young Guard" is still relatively closed, and his tragic death in Peredelkino, despite our well-known craving for various kinds of criminal stories, has not been fully investigated.
Although is it possible to draw any final conclusions here? Hardly. One can only make attempts to do so, and this is certain.
Nikolai Svanidze's attempt was presented on the Rossiya TV channel. Naturally, the meaning-forming factor for the entire audiovisual narrative was the infamous "Suicide Letter of Alexander Fadeev", which became widely known only (!) in 1997. So, on the screen it is 1956.
For three years the country has been "widowed" without its "leader and teacher". A total rotation of the party command staff is taking place in the Kremlin's upper echelons. Some manage to "restructure" themselves and stand under the banner of the 20th Congress, while others do not.
Alexander Fadeyev was among those who did not stand in line: "I do not see any possibility of living any longer, since the art to which I gave my life has been ruined by the self-confident and ignorant leadership of the party and now can no longer be corrected." This is not the first time we have written about N. Svanidze's "Historical Chronicles," and each time we have to note that the entire documentary cycle rests on the personal attitude of the presenter, on his, if you will, civic position. In Fadeyev's case, this position has shown itself to the fullest extent.
The tragedy of the writer is not at all that after the 20th Party Congress and the "bold" speeches of Comrade Khrushchev, he was essentially reduced to the level of an ordinary Soviet writer, despite the fact that, according to K. Chukovsky, Fadeyev "got used to the role of a leader, a decider of writers' destinies." The whole point, as the creators of "1956" claim, is that this man could not survive the tragic realization of the meaninglessness and perniciousness of his own creative and life path. "Now, when I sum up my life, it is unbearable to remember all the number of shouts, suggestions, lectures and simply ideological vices that fell upon me - whom our wonderful people would have the right to be proud of due to the authenticity and modesty of my deep inner communist talent." A. Fadeyev wrote these piercing words a few hours or minutes before he put a pistol to his chest and pulled the trigger.
It is not easy to approach the Peredelkino house where the writer voluntarily passed away 51 years ago. There are high brick fences, metal gates, surveillance cameras, security - in a word, the modest charm of cottage life.
However, the creators of the program about Alexander Fadeev managed not only to approach this man (house) closely, but to take a few steps towards him. And therefore, not to join the general line of monotony and vulgarity...

Selected in the following festivals or events :

- Historical Chronicles with Nikolay Svanidze, (kinoglaz.fr), 2026

Photos, videos, texts

Aleksandr FADEEV (Александр Александрович ФАДЕЕВ) 1901-1956