It is well known that when the film episodes were shown, trams and trolleybuses ran almost empty, and crime in the country decreased. Its creators told us how the film masterpiece was born.
The mustache “didn’t take root”
- “The Era of Mercy” was first supposed to be filmed by Alexey Batalov, who, as they said, wanted to play in the film and main role, - recalls the former editor-in-chief screenwriting and editorial board of the Odessa Film Studio Galina Lazareva. - But he didn’t show up at the studio. We invited the young director Yuri Novak. He and the Weiners began writing the film script. And at the same time, director Stanislav Govorukhin read the published novel in Moscow. He was friends with Vysotsky, called him and encouraged him to go visit the Weiners. On the way, Govorukhin recounted the contents of the novel to Vysotsky. They dined at the Weiners, Vysotsky praised the novel, which he had not read. They agreed, called us at the Odessa studio and asked to approve them in this composition. Director Novak did not object and left the film.
The Weiners themselves recalled that Vysotsky impudently told them: “I came to stake a claim on Zheglov!”
The authors imagined their Gleb as broad-shouldered, tall and with a mustache. But for the sake of Vysotsky, they agreed to change the appearance of the movie character. At the first auditions, Vysotsky was filmed with a mustache. However, then they decided to give up the mustache.
Photo: Nail VALIULIN
Vladimir Konkin: “I’m glad for the happy ending”
Each episode of the film was cleaned not only by the director, but also by the management,” Vladimir Konkin, who plays Sharapov, told KP. - Every two weeks, Govorukhin and I flew from Odessa to Moscow. The television management of that time treated me favorably (not long before that, Konkin played Pavka Korchagin, received the Lenin Komsomol Prize and was loved by the nomenklatura. - Ed.), so Stanislav Sergeevich took me with him in the hope that they would torture me less. But editor-in-chief Heysin exhausted the entire scenario. But it was he who owned the title of the film “The Meeting Place Cannot Be Changed,” which we screened under the title “Era of Mercy.” I know that on television they immediately said that there would be no death for Varya Sinichkina. They said: “We need these two heroes to stay.” I then thought: Lord, what a cranberry! But over the years, especially now, when violence is rampant everywhere, I realized that this was the right decision. A wonderful fairy tale, a chimera - but you cannot live without this chimera. And the fact that Sharapov comes back from the mission alive, but the baby he wanted to take in is no longer in the orphanage. He comes to his home, and at the window, like Madonna, stands Sinichkina with her foundling. Such a good happy ending - two young people are happy! I love this episode. It's tiny, but accurate. And then, when I was young, it seemed too syrupy...
Photo: Nail VALIULIN
My wife asked me to take care of Vysotsky
Few people know that we filmed a prologue - an episode from Sharapov’s military life, in which Marina’s son Vladi Pierre Hossein played,” continues Vladimir Konkin. - They filmed how Viktor Pavlov’s hero Sergei Levchenko (who would later end up in the Black Cat gang, but would not betray Sharapov) and I were climbing across the front line for the tongue at night. He was played by Pierre. We tie him up, put a gag in his mouth, and drag him away. The Germans spot us and shooting begins. We run to the lake where we have a boat. There are explosions all around. Our boat really leaked, and during a take we started sinking, not according to the script. It was shallow, but Pierre was tied up and couldn’t swim. Either Vitya or I lift the guy so that he doesn’t choke. For two nights we filmed all these “bangs”, horrors in the mud and water... When Vitya Pavlov took off his tunic, I saw red circles on his back. It turned out that two days ago he was given cupping because he suffered from pneumonia. But he came for this terrible shoot...
Then Govorukhin cut out the entire military prologue. Vladi's son remained only in the credits. I didn’t immediately realize that the director was right - this kept the intrigue. Sharapov sees Levchenko’s face in the “Black Cat” gang and tenses up. What, why? Only later does it become clear that this is his comrade in arms...
No, the real reason The reason why the prologue was cut out is different,” stuntman Vladimir Zharikov told KP. - I was on these filmings. In the shot, Konkin had to draw tongues. But he can’t do it - he’s physically weak. We show him how to throw a person - on his back. And he drops it on his head! In general, we suffered a lot with Konkin. Replacing him with a double would have made the editing noticeable. So we decided to abandon the prologue. In general, Volodya Konkin had a hard time. He came to the shooting as a star, and Vysotsky, despite his fame, was not an honored artist. Konkin was not liked in the group. Off-screen, Vysotsky and Konkin did not speak at all. But on film set worked efficiently.
Photo: Nail VALIULIN
By the way, Marina Vladi dissuaded Vysotsky from playing. She asked Govorukhin not to touch Volodya: they say, he is sick, let him take care. Vysotsky himself said that he did not know how much time he had left and whether he should spend a year on cinema when he could write... And yet he could not let his friend down. Often the director turned to him for tips and advice. It was Volodya who, already at the dubbing stage, after the director complained that the shot with Sadalsky was somehow boring, suggested that Kirpich should have a lisp. Moreover, the artist began to lisp so zealously that the director even shook his head: as if the management would not find fault. “And you tell me that this is an actor who talks like this in real life,” Sadalsky found himself.
Armen Dzhigarkhanyan: “Humpbacked is my child”
-Are you satisfied with your role? - we asked the actor playing the role of the bandit Hunchback Armen Dzhigarkhanyan.
I love my hero because I invented him myself! This hero is my life. And I’m already 80. Well, the “child” is growing up. For some reason, the director offered to make me a wig, which I struggled with. We had to re-shoot takes many times: the wig came off, resulting in a defect. They made a hump out of cotton wool for me, and it was quite comfortable for me.
- Rolan Bykov refused your role. I was afraid: they say, he’s already small, and then there’s a hump.
I'm not afraid of anything! The main thing is that I did not intend to play evil. I hope my hero is still charming.
- Larisa Udovichenko admitted that after the role of Manka Bonds, she received letters from the zone: criminals offered her marriage. And your game crime bosses appreciated?
Don't know. But when my car was stolen, certain people came to me and promised: if the car is not yet outside Moscow, we will find it. Not found.
Photo: Nail VALIULIN
- Did you notice the confrontation between Vysotsky and Konkin on the set?
It's none of my business. Having gotten to know Konkin better, I noticed that he nice guy, intelligent, vulnerable. And why now tell us how many times Vysotsky bit him?! You know, Vysotsky is a phenomenon, but from a professional point of view he is a rather average actor. And in this film he acted, in my opinion, averagely. There are other artists there who played better and more subtly.
- Who?
I ( laughs).
STORIES ON THE SET
A blotter was mistaken for a real hooligan
Initially it was planned that Sharapov would play “Murka” on the piano in the “Black Cat” gang. Konkin promised to learn the composition in a week. “We need to film it today - then the scenery will be dismantled,” Govorukhin snapped and looked at the hands of the film’s music editor. He ordered her to put Sharapov’s coat on her and play something. She, to demonstrate her skill, played Chopin. "Amazing!" - the director was delighted. So what's in the frame when Sharapov plays isn't actually his hands.
Ivan Bortnik, who played Blotter, during the filming of the scene when the criminals come out of the basement, came up with a way out with a criminal song
“And on the black bench, in the dock...” And then he took it and impromptu spat at Zheglov. Vysotsky was taken aback. The police officers in the crowd immediately, out of character, attacked Bortnik and twisted his hands, deciding that he was some kind of hooligan who had sneaked into the filming.
Photo: Nail VALIULIN
PERSONAL VIEW
By the tail and to the ceiling
Denis GORELOV
By the way. With his tomboyism and sheriff's ways, Zheglov ruined the investigation, with his anger towards the intellectual arrogance of Gruzdeva he almost cut the thread to the gang, and it was Sharapov who brought the ghouls under the rifles of the convoy, not he. And the glory was his, and the love of his nation, and the passion for the erotic black raglan. For they love the commander, not the commissar, courage, not rightness, Chapai, not Furmanov. So from the novel about Sharapov “The Era of Mercy” the film about Zheglov “The meeting place cannot be changed” came out. As he himself said: “The era of mercy will come soon.”
BLOOPS
1. At the very beginning of the first episode, after Sharapova’s shoes have been shined, a spotlight is reflected in the window of a passing car.
2. When Blotter draws a black cat on the wall during a store robbery, it is noticeable that the outline of the cat is already on the wall. They were drawn by Govorukhin himself.
3. In the scene of the interrogation of the accused Gruzdev, Sharapov’s hairstyle changes (from smoothly combed back to a parted hairstyle).
4. In the episode with the foundling, Sinichkina first wears the shoulder straps of a private, but swaddles the child with the stripes of a junior sergeant.
5. When a car with Fox hits a traffic police girl, one person falls under the wheels, and another person rolls on the asphalt (black knee pads are visible on her legs, which the girl was not wearing).
analytical in Murka: who was the heroine of the criminal song in real life“Murka” - the most popular of all songs in the chanson genre - had a very specific author. It was created by Odessa satirist and songwriter Yakov Petrovich Yadov. He also wrote other popular “folk” songs: “Bagels”, “Fried Chicken”, etc.
The heroine of "Murka"
The plot of the song “Murka” is perceived by listeners as a conventional, as if collective story from the life of criminals. At the same time, Murka, or, as specified in the song itself, Marusya Klimova, actually existed. Yadov wrote this song about the realities of the 20s, when the country was going through the era of the New Economic Policy and the criminal element literally multiplied in all cities.
Maria Prokofievna Klimova was a real woman. She was born in 1897 in the city of Veliky Ustyug. A copy of the document has been preserved, which accurately indicates this data. The most interesting thing is that Klimova’s occupation is also listed in the same document. Many listeners familiar with the song “Murka” may mistakenly decide that this lady was the lover of some repeat offender and therefore moved in a criminal environment.
Prototype of the famous thief
Historical truth testifies that Marusya Klimova was in fact a captain of the NKVD (originally the Cheka). The legendary Murka was a secret agent, a kind of “sent Cossack” in the criminal world. The woman worked in a special secret unit that fought organized crime in the new, young Soviet state.
Yadov wrote the song “Murka” about the secret operation of the Cheka, in which Captain Klimova was involved. For obvious reasons, the author of the hit could not write directly about this, so he slightly romanticized the laws adopted in the criminal environment. As a result, it turned out that the song was not about the operation itself, but about the frivolous girlfriend of a criminal who “surrendered” the gang to the MUR.
The song contains many hints and references to that time. For example, it is mentioned that a large gang in Odessa was “followed by the GubChK.” Documents preserved in the archives of the NKDV indicate that the Odessa ports in the 20s of the 20th century presented a great temptation for the criminal element, which was actually monitored.
In the finale, the thief meets his dear Murka in an elite restaurant wearing a “leather jacket.” This is exactly how employees of the Moscow Criminal Investigation Department and the Cheka dressed at that time. Maria Klimova herself introduced herself in the gang as Margarita Dmitrievskaya. She “confidantly” told gang members that this was her real name.
Further fate
After the criminal group was captured, the woman served in the Cheka for some time. Then her traces were lost. All documentation about the Odessa special operation and Murka who participated in it were classified. There were various rumors about the real Dmitrievskaya, whose surname Klimova appropriated for herself.
They said that she was in Makhno’s group and emigrated somewhere to Romania. According to another version, the girl lived for some time in Odessa, then was raped and, unable to bear the shame, committed suicide. Many Odessa residents believed that Klimova and Dmitrievskaya were doubles.
Vladimir Konkin in the film “The Meeting Place Cannot Be Changed” got the role of an ideal policeman who, like a young pioneer, “does not smoke, does not drink, does not bite seeds,” rarely uses weapons and does not allow himself any liberties. Disputes about whether he coped with the role or not, whether he looks like a front-line reconnaissance soldier, etc. are still going on. But many people can no longer imagine another Sharapova.
Photo tests for the role of Volodya Sharapov
The Weiner brothers, in their novel The Age of Mercy, had their own exact description of Sharapov: Sharapov is a blond man with a very thick hair, one of his front teeth is chipped or missing, he has a snub nose and small eyes. During the filming of the film, Konkin had one tooth specially made up to make it look like it had been chipped off. But were there any others? common features from the artist Konkin and the man from whom the Weiner brothers based their Sharapov?
Vladimir Konkin with his wife Alla in the courtyard of the Odessa film studio. May 1978 Photo from the personal archive of Vladimir Konkin
The director of the film, Govorukhin, did not immediately imagine his Sharapov. He chose from many candidates. We can clearly talk about three - Sergei Shakurov, Evgeniy Gerasimov and Evgeniy Leonov-Gladyshev. Sergei Shakurov notes that the role of Sharapov is, of course, interesting, but he and Shakurov would hardly work well with Vysotsky
The head of the USSR State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company Sergei Lapin wanted Konkin to be Sharapov. That's it! In fact, if it weren’t for Konkin, the film might not have been allowed to be filmed at all. The Weiners and Govorukhin had to agree
The debate on the topic “whether Vladimir Konkin is suitable for the role of Sharapov” has not subsided for almost 40 years. Opponents say that Konkin's Sharapov is too intelligent and gentle for a reconnaissance company commander. Supporters - that there were many such pure Komsomol members among the front-line soldiers. The Weiners saw their hero as "a convincingly strong man." Konkin does not fit this description. So how did it happen that Vladimir Konkin played Sharapova?
There are many stories from different journalists about this. And the majority say that Konkin was “imposed from above.” That the creators had no choice.
But I would like to know about this, so to speak, first-hand, from the creators. And the phonogram came to my aid creative evening Weiner brothers, held in Leningrad in 1983. There was a lot of interesting stuff there about the filming of the film “The Meeting Place Cannot Be Changed”
Here's what Arkady Weiner said:
"...The screen tests began. The main actors were presented. One undeniable hero is Vysotsky for the role of Zheglov. The second is his constant partner, his second “I” in this film is Sharapov. Suddenly Govorukhin tells us: “I propose Vladimir Konkin ". We say: “Who is he?” He says: “He played Pavka Korchagin.” I can honestly admit to you that we didn’t watch that picture, but one day I saw something like that out of the corner of my eye on the box, and I didn’t like the performance. I somehow always imagined Pavka Korchagin differently, not the way Konkin imagined him.
Govorukhin said: “He’s wonderful! This is what Sharapov needs. You haven’t seen his eyes, his face is pure, noble.”
We did screen tests and watched it. We definitely didn't like him. And not because he is a bad artist or an unimportant person... We didn’t like him on screen in the form of Sharapov. We imagined Sharapov, and then described him in our very large novel, and then in the script, as a front-line intelligence officer who walked across the front line forty-two times and returned with a “tongue” on his shoulder.
You don’t have to be a front-line soldier yourself, you don’t have to be a veteran and have seven spans in your forehead to imagine that a scout who captures a fascist on his territory and drags him on his shoulders across the front line must be a convincingly strong man. Volodya Konkin could not look like such a man, he was not born one.
When these tests were shown on Central Television, it turned out that our opinion was fully shared by the artistic council - not a single vote was cast for Konkin, and the director was officially asked to look for another artist...
A few days later he calls: “Please, come, we will test candidates for the role of Sharapov in front of you. I found ten people.”
We arrive at the studio, he introduces us to the dressing room, where the future “Sharapovs” are putting on their makeup. We saw these eight or nine “Sharapovs”, fell to the floor and started crying and laughing. All the signs of hysteria were there.
He brought us ten more Konkins, only worse and thinner. Where he was able to get them in a week is incomprehensible to the mind, but he is generally a very energetic comrade. When we saw this, we said: “Slava, stop. No need to waste the film, no need to do screen tests. Apologize to people, pay them what they are supposed to.”
We realized that in some kind of directorial twist, the image of Konkin stuck with him forever as Sharapov, and if we start to break it, we can break his creative spirit. So the question was closed and, in fact, they didn’t give it to us, but we ourselves took Konkin. The very first material began to show that our fears were not in vain, but there was nowhere to go..."
Here is an interesting excerpt from Stanislav Govorukhin:
"...Konkin played well, who can argue, but I saw a different Sharapov. I intended to call Gubenko first. And then Vysotsky argued: where, we will paint with the same paint... Indeed, it would be Sharapov to match Zheglov , himself with some sneaky cunning. And I needed an intellectual. And only when half of the picture was shot, I remembered Filatov. They would have worked well with Vysotsky, and this would have been the Sharapov I wanted from the very beginning. strength, who does not give in to him. Only the strong are suitable for a strong partner..."
Sources
www.v-vysotsky.com/Vysotsky_v_Odesse/tex t06.html
www.vysotsky.ws/
www.fotki.yandex.ru/users/sura-sid2010-a/a lbum/199624/
www.lgz.ru/article/-48-6489-3-12-2014/iz menit-nelzya/
www.msk.kp.ru/daily/26372/3253655/
www.blog.fontanka.ru/posts/182583/
www.aif.ru/culture/movie/43178
www.1tv.ru/sprojects_edition/si5901/fi23 536
