Remaining are her parts, the masterpieces with no sense to be compared to anything. There is no coordinate system where even her own roles could be compared to one another.   

She has put all her soul into “different, different faces”. And the paradox is that out of her incompatible concentration of colors and passions the eternal authenticity was formed in every gesture, word and look.   

She never wasted herself. When there was no Role, she could wait for years. It’s the Russian cinematograph, greedy for media-recognized faces, and selling out its main treasure – the outstanding actor’s school - that is to blame that her last starring was 10 years ago. She explained she was sick of thinking about being shot in “soapy” films. And she complained she was not proposed the scenarios where she could really get attached with her soul.     

And the teachers from VGIK saw a heroine of Greek tragedies in her, and the Lady Macbeth, and Anna Karenina. But even playing parts of simple Russian women she managed to realize her unspent actress’s power, extending the common size of the dramatic type of “simple Russian woman” up to unemrbaceable dramatic scopes.    

One of unique works by Nonna Mordiukova stands separately. I would say, it stands as a monument. If you look for a real image of the commissar from Russian revolutionary times, this is here – the one of Klavdia Vavilova, who was appointed by revolution. That’s the moment of dethroned maternity in a deadly fastened overcoat. The metaphor of transforming the commissar into the mother, made by Nonna Mordiukova and shot by Alexander Askoldov. “Commissar” is one of the most famous home pictures of all the times, included in the top of the world cinematograph. It was put on the shelf in Soviet Union for 21 years. It’s after “Commissar” that the name of Nonna Mordiukova was listed among ten most brilliant actresses of the last century, by the British encyclopedia.           

In the archives of Rolan Bykov’s Fund we managed to find old tapes where he, who co-starred in the “Commissar”, spoke about the actress.   

“She can…She can just anything. There is no film director to put an impracticable task to her. You want rain? Whirl? Calm? For her, the most important is to comprehend this is really what is needed. And after that, she just works a common wonder.

…I consider her an actress of genius. I admire her beauty of a Russian Madonna. She is the real star of the home neo-realism that came to the filming in the 50’s. If you want to compare, I would call her our Anna Maniani. Just like her, Nonna can pass from tears to laugh, from anger to defenselessness and back to laugh …through tears. All that is the real life that you would not be able to show with best editing. That’s the live element.”