It is no accident that we met this great actor as recently he celebrated his 80th birthday anniversary. Mr. Sargsyan, you have done lots of things for the art of Armenia. It talks about your devotion to cinematography and theatre. Is there anything you didn’t manage to change or was ahead of your ability?
Unfortunately, you can’t change anything, but if I got a second chance I’d like to replay the role of master Mkrtich from film “Source of Heghnar“, and “Uncle Vanya” of Anton Chekhov, as I never got an internal satisfaction on the point. Traveling was one of the main points of your professional activity, as you’ve been filming in a number of countries. How would you appreciate the European cinematography and theater? Of course, differences exist between East and West in terms of culture. First of all it is the material basis, as “art loves money”, and now both cinema and theatre undergo crisis. There live no preeminent directors and leader of cinema and theater such as Malyan, Felini, Paraganov, Eduardo Philippo or Alber Kamyu. The idea of “a small man” like Charlie Chaplin has forever lost its initiative.
Andrey Mouaro, a great French writer, used to say: “The massive culture is a barrier between culture and mass of peoples”. So we must make culture not decrease but increase. The profile of our magazine is tourism, and on this point I’d like to ask you the following question. The tourist visits Armenia and there is nothing of record to show beside historical and cultural places. Of course, opera and ballet art knows no linguistic barriers, something that we cannot say about the theatre. What do you think about this? The idea of national identity and cultural heritage is of significant interest for every tourist, and theater is a part of national heritage. No doubt we have much to show the tourist, and we must do our best to have a special hall for tourists equipped with necessary things to translate the materials, and make the tourist close to our theatre plays and performances. What would you say about the new-baked actors/actresses? Are you satisfied with their work? Yes, I am, and I’m sure we’ll have many talented in future. And why can’t we see them in the international cinematography? Now everything is based on the market interrelations in which our young actor/actresses don’t have any role, something we can’t say about the Soviet times, as Moscow was in great demand for our talents. And finally, will we be able to see you in a film? No, you’ll not. I filmed in Moscow three years ago, and this is considered to be the last phase of my actor activity.