The story of the great director Andrei Tarkovsky ends in 1986 in Paris. But a few months before his departure, an event occurs in Oslo that was preferred to be kept silent: his third son is born. His life would have made a plot for a film by Tarkovsky himself — about sacrifice, silence, and the choice of one's own path.
- Tarkovsky in Sweden, at the end of his strength. He is shooting his farewell masterpiece — "The Sacrifice." The filming is agonizing: the sets are burning, the director feels an inexplicable malaise, not yet knowing that it is terminal lung cancer. His loyal wife and companion, Larisa Kizilova, is always by his side.
Photo of the director with his wife and son
But on rare weekends, Tarkovsky escapes the pressure to Stockholm. Alone. It is there, in one of the "gentlemen's clubs," that he meets 22-year-old Norwegian Berit Hemminghutt. According to contemporaries, she was the embodiment of Scandinavian beauty — blonde, with a figure reminiscent of Swedish movie star Bibi Andersson. A fleeting romance begins. For Tarkovsky, it is an escape from illness and a premonition of the end. For Berit, it is a meeting with a genius, the consequences of which will change her life.
Photo: Andrei and Berit
Leaving Sweden, the director had no idea that this brief episode would have eternal consequences.
On September 4, 1986, Berit gives birth to a son. She names him Alexander and gives him a double surname — Tarkovsky-Hemminghutt. Through the director's translator, the news reaches Tarkovsky, who at that time is already bedridden in a Paris clinic. He is powerless to do anything: all finances are controlled by his wife, Larisa.
The director's passing on December 29, 1986, exposes the family drama. Upon learning of the existence of the illegitimate son, Larisa Kizilova, the woman who idolized her husband and forgave him everything during his life, could not forgive this "posthumous blow." According to the memories of those close to her, she began a real campaign of harassment: Berit received calls from her with threats and insults.
The frightened Norwegian was forced to retreat. She renounced any claims to inheritance and acknowledged the unspoken status of her son — "Tarkovsky's bastard." This is how the boy was referred to in close circles.
Photo: Tarkovsky and Kizilova
So who has become the person bearing the surname of one of the greatest directors of the 20th century?
Alexander Tarkovsky-Hemminghutt grew up in Norway. His mother soon remarried, and the boy received a stable upbringing. In childhood, he found himself in sports — he seriously practiced fencing and even made it to the youth national team of Norway. However, he did not build a significant sports career.
After receiving a prestigious business education in Denmark, Alexander stayed in Copenhagen, which he fell in love with wholeheartedly.
Today, the 38-year-old man is alien to bohemian parties and cinematic ambitions. He has consciously chosen a life away from the spotlight.
Alexander is a successful entrepreneur. He owns a company that specializes in apartment renovation and design. He has his own family: a wife, Amalia, and a son, Wilhelm. Almost no one in Denmark knows about his famous father. He does not maintain relationships with the Russian side of the family and does not participate in events dedicated to Tarkovsky's legacy.
His fate is a quiet, calm, ordinary life. Perhaps this is exactly the kind of life — devoid of sacrifices and universal tragedy — that his father once dreamed of showing to someone. But he will remain in history as "Tarkovsky's bastard," whose existence became the last drama in the life of the genius.
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