Lyudmila Feiginova
Dates unknown; deceased.
Lyudmila Feiginova (also sometimes credited as Feyginova) started working as an editor in 1959. She edited most of Andrei Tarkovsky’s films, including Stalker, The Mirror, Solaris, and Andrei Rublev, and numerous other films by other directors. She was also assistant editor, though uncredited, on Dersu Uzala, Akira Kurosawa’s film set in Russia.
“Feiginova was a highly professional — and very interesting — person. While working on the films of Tarkovski she would often suggest significant changes during the editing of the film. For example, in Mirror, Feiginova was the one who proposed that the scene with the stutterer should open the film. That scene was based on a memory Andrei had from the house of his mother; it was something he had watched on TV. The scene was originally intended for the middle of the film, but Feiginova suggested that it should be the opening scene of Mirror — and Andrei agreed.
Another scene which Feignova rearranged was that of the monologue of Stalker’s wife. This scene takes place in the bar, and its intended place in the film was just after the chat of the three protagonists, before taking off for the Zone. Feiginova however suggested that it would be more interesting if the scene appeared at the very end, after Stalker’s return. To Andrei this did not seem appropriate at first, since the scene had been shot in the bar, with interiors different from those of Stalker’s house. Feiginova responded, “Nobody will notice that it was shot elsewhere, because they will all be intently concentrating on the actress,” and true enough: Nobody notices this little detail unless it is pointed out to them, as Alissa Freindlikh’s performance is so utterly captivating.”
—Comment by Tarkovskaia in “An Interview with Marina Tarkovskaia and Alexander Gordon”. The full interview can be found in the appendix.
