VLADIMIR SOLOVIEV: A dream — to live with one face, but work with another. Interviewed by Irina Parfentieva. ROSSIYAnka magazine. 11.2005
It’s extremely hard to get in touch with you – you’ve a terribly tight schedule. How does it feel to be constantly on the move?
It’s just this stage of my life; I don’t mean to do it on purpose, though I know I look terribly exhausted to others. The day is too short, if I had 7-8 more hours I’d feel better.
Which is easier – to live or to work?
To live is easier.
How do you select the topics for your programmes?
We thoroughly keep track of everything that happens in society. We are intermediaries; we must sense people’s anger.
There’s a rumour in the press that in your own projects you act as if you were a judge.
It’s nonsense, I’ve never been a judge or mentioned it in any way. Our critics usually make up something on their own and then argue about it themselves. I’m not a judge. The point is, strange as it may seem, but according to duel code the adjudicator has the right to take a certain position when sensing the obvious predominance of one side over the other. In the 3rd round of “On the Stand” I will take someone’s side. It does not contravene the code: the adjudicator can decide whether to give assistance to any “duallist” who is obviously loosing ground to their opponent.
You are not a dualist assistant, are you?
No, I’m not, because there is a dualist assistant already on the program apart from me.
In the course of the duel you make “statements”, expressing your opinion.
I do not make “statements” and I do not express my personal opinion. I just try to simplify the opponents’ positions to make it more comprehensible for the spectators. , In the third round I sum up all that’s been said, helping to finish the duellists’ part.
Can you cheat on the audience? Tell a lie?
First of all, I never lie. Secondly, telling a lie and cheating is absolutely different. One can’t cheat people, because they see through it all; if a presenter lies they’d say “the presenter is lying. I am not the key person, but they are; the audience defines the winner. The spectator is the one who chooses and decides!
If you sincerely dislike your guest, will you show it openly? Will it mean prejudice?
I never make it personal. Even when Makashov is present; I always remain correct. It’s him who can act indecently and rude. But I’d never be like that myself.
Are you a show-man?
No, though I like being defined this way, but I am Soloviev, a presenter. As for my purpose in life, I arrived in an absolute mature state but from another life. I succeeded in that life and now I have come, not in order to strive for money or fame, but because I feel predestined.
In your work “The Gospel according to Soloviev”; there is a character – Vladimir Soloviev – is it you?
Of course it’s not, definitely not me. Actually we have nothing in common at all. Soloviev, as described in “The Gospel” is classic demon and along with his friend Bill Gates they serve the Antichrist. It’s fiction and nothing more. One has to be very silly or a critic to think this book is about me. There are very few people who have managed to interpret this book the right way.
What do you mean by the right way?
From all points of view. There is more than one level of understanding. They are Mikhail Dealer, Andrey Dementiev, Mikhail Gendelev. This is not a fairy tale – it’s a game of chess performed by characters from history who really existed, but under somehow refracted circumstances.
How will this story end? Happily or not?
When I first made up my mind to write this book I wasn’t immediately able to see it all in its entirety except for the first and the last scenes. It’s all going to end after all. There is no subject for “good” or “bad”.
You’re aware of political intrigues like no other. Would you like to write a book about these intrigues in the style of either Latynina or Kolesnikov?
I’m acquainted with political intrigues and I’ve already finished a book about it. It’s about to be published. It is called “Russian Roulette - notes on the margins of modern history”. It’s narrated in the form of an elderly person’s contemplations of the last 15 years of his life; it also contains the reflections of our politicians based on my conversations with them.
Don’t you want to become a public politician like Shenderovich, for instance?
What for? I find that a great mistake. What kind of politician will he become? Have you seen his political programme? If a writer makes his mind to become a sanitary technician, you obviously have to ask him: “Vitya, have you any notion what it entails?” It’s the same way it used to be in the early days when every girl dreamed of becoming an actress and every boy – a politician, because they knew nothing else. It is not the right issue, because a politician is much more than a man who can speak well. Victor, - a brilliant quick-witted writer, is about to waste his talents for the sake of God knows what – I find it more than just a bit strange. And for all that, he is not allowed to be elected; one should clearly understand: politics is a profession and when a man says “I’m going there to spite someone”, well that’s fine. But what is the real purpose of you going there for?
Is there a chance to “create” politicians who can soberly appreciate the political situation in our country? Can they be created?
No system can create politicians. Politics is the ability to sense someone else’s pain, to have one’s own views, to see the way out. They do exist in our country, but in a dreadful shape. I find them all decent. The bottom line is that when speaking of decency we sometimes imply a coincidence of our opinions. But is this a definition of decency or not? I may not share their opinion, but I know where they come from and I find many of them decent, that is to say, they don’t steal and are honest. On the other hand, people whose views were close to mine turned out to be completely dishonest. How can anyone in his right mind speak of “The Right”, when the people who represent it, don’t, in my opinion, seem to have any positive personal virtues at all. Take, for instance, Mr. Koch or Mr. Chubais. I am, for example, anti-communist, because I’m terrified by this idea. But at the same time I find Mr. Zyuganov quite nice and intellectual, with no trace of arrogance, unlike SPS and “Yabloko”. There are many people whose views contradict with mine but they are still my friends.
In other words, conversation in public eye and outside is a different thing?
It’s not the case with me, although before the camera I’m rougher than in life. In real life I am much softer with these people.
Do you put on a show?
No. By “putting on a show” you probably mean “not to boring”. But I simply think quickly.
Are you often in doubt about anything?
Always; Sasha Levin said once: “An educated person should not only to be able to doubt but also to be able to express this doubt to others”. I simply don’t show it. Doubts should be inside you in the first place. I am always self-sufficient and purposeful, but at the same time, always doubtful. I’ve no illusions about being a Messiah. I’ve never had delusions of grandeur or been mentally deranged. Am I ambitious? Are my ambitions on a par with having the rank of general, having a giant office, giving numerous orders, using many different cars or being protected by an army of security men? What for? It makes me feel really terrible – you can’t walk safely in the street, can’t take the woman you love to a restaurant or go to the Hermitage without being obliged to give autographs. My dream is to live with one face and work with another. What good is it being famous? I’m not twenty any more; I’m not a tall handsome blond, though I am healthy and know myself well. I seek no idolatry. I am absolutely unreceptive to other people’s reaction.
Why are you unwilling to participate in the TEFI Award?
I don’t want to. What for? I find the structure of the Academy wrong and vicious. I accept the American model only, but can’t understand the transient ones. Why should I go there? To meet people? There are many wonderful TV-men who I can watch on TV.
But if they still give you a TEFI?
Let them send it by post. I’ll give it to NTV – it’s their project, after all. The audience’s opinion is of importance to me but not these useless trinkets.
What do you care about?
I care about a better standard of life; for both my children and for myself. One can’t build communism in one single village. One can’t live in Russia the way English colonists lived in India. They build some little settlements, isolate themselves from society with tinted glass and security and enjoy their lives moving from place to place dreaming of Monaco after a short stay here. I hate it.
Who should be responsible for morality?
Do you think we are a moral society? There is no other country in the whole world where you find so many homeless children whose parents are in fact still alive; and yet everyone still considers themselves a moralist. I do what I can, just as you and everyone else does. It’s easy to call it a society, but it’s eternally hard to move a finger for it. Everything depends on a certain person and it’s always been this way. Any mistake and it’s down to a certain person, any feat is due to the efforts of a certain person. I’ve never seen a society standing in lines, it’s people who stand there. Society doesn’t abandon people but a certain mother.
Our magazine is defined as “feminine and social and political”; many people say we combine incongruous notions.
It does harmonize. Women determine leading positions of a party in elections. Women are major pollers.
How do you see a modern woman in Russia?
Women are very different, they are wonderful. They say men and women came from different planets: men – from Mars, women – from Venice, I find it totally wrong. Just have a look around – Russia is a country of ugly men and stunningly beautiful women.
Can a woman become a president of the RF?
Certainly; but unfortunately, a talented female politician, Starovoytova, who was able to head the government, has passed away. We still have many able women who could make a good president. As soon as they enter politics, things often change drastically. Professionally, intellectually, wonderful …
Mrs. Baturina has become one of our major entrepreneurs, but she has had powerful support in the person of her husband – the Mayor of Moscow. What are the chances of a woman in business?
Olga Slutsker, Olga Dergunova, Katya Moiseyeva – they are many. Women even have more advantages: sophistication, are better able to withstand stress, they can feel the audience in a more sophisticated way, they are more active. Mrs. Paramonova is one of the best bankers in Russia, Mrs. Zlatkina is one of the most sophisticated financiers. They are everywhere you look: Ira Khakamada provides strong opposition, Narusova is in the Federal Council.
And what about Mrs. Arbatova and the whole of Russian feminism?
Masha fights for her own rights all alone - let her fight. I’m used to supporting strong views. If I see a man falling I’ll give him support whether I agree with him or not…
You’re known to be fond of automobiles. Which car would you compare with the woman you love — Hummer, Peugeot?
Well, a girl in a small Peugeot doesn’t look attractive to me, and I, if I’m correct with the lyrics, sing of venal love. I’ve never liked prostitutes.
Then what women does Vladimir Soloviev like?
Clever and beautiful women; the woman I married to be precise.
If you could change the past what would you do?
I would change a lot of things. We lived in a very sophisticated period of time. Bradbury wrote in one of his stories that “you never know how a small change in the past reflects on the future”. It’s even dangerous to think about it.
Do you give advice to your children – what to read, how to behave?
No, I don’t. They see what I read, but choose the reading they want. Unfortunately, due to a complete lack of time, I am unable to take part in their upbringing in full. Their father is as they see him a certain living person whom they can always call and talk to. No matter where I am - on the screen, on the radio or at home - I’m their father.
You give the impression of a content person, satisfied with his life?
I am completely unsatisfied. How can I be when my country lives this way? It would have seemed strange and silly to be satisfied with all this xenophobia and corruption. So many people live below the level of poverty and there is no hope for civil society for there are no citizens. I’m just an ordinary person who is concerned, who lives in this country as fate has willed it. I can’t say I work for my living only. One can’t host political programs saying he’s doing it to earn his living only, otherwise he’d rather be doing something else. That’s idiocy. Then do something else! не может быть гражданского общества в связи с отсутствием граждан
And what about responsibility for yourself and society?
When you die you might be standing before yourself, before society or God? Undoubtedly, that’s a question of faith for the individual; I have resolved this issue for myself. As I am a good Jew I believe in God. I am a monotheist with a strict number of certain commandments. There is a notion of social responsibility.
What is social responsibility? Whose responsibility? Take business? Its only responsibility is to pay its taxes, all the rest is crap. The only thing a businessman is responsible for is to pay his workers today, tomorrow, and always. He owes nothing else to anyone. We try to bring in a pattern of behavior into business that is socially responsible. Definitely, it should pay to society as well as to the government. We, the citizens, pay taxes and expect the government to spend it socially and responsibly. But for business social responsibility is to follow legislation as stipulated by society. There are problems with its realization, because our government is still overcrowded with bureaucrats, although it’s still better than years before. As for the present situation with business, things have only become worse: in the past we had oligarchic capitalism – today it’s bureaucratic. Neither of them are far from reality.
Vladimir Soloviev to readers of ROSSIYAnka: “May you be well and good luck!”
