Why Andrey Myagkov and film critics criticized the continuation of "The Irony of Fate"

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

What is the New Year without "Irony of Fate"? The directors tried to repeat the success of this film more than once, but no one managed to win back its position in the rating of the most popular New Year's films. The decision to shoot a sequel to the legendary movie hit was risky: any new version, as a rule, inevitably loses to the first part. When the film Irony of Fate was released 13 years ago. Continuation”, the opinions of critics and viewers were divided: someone considered it the most successful of all the sequels, and someone was disappointed. Even some of the actors who starred in the film were unhappy with this work.

The creation of a new version of "The Irony of Fate" was announced back in 2005, when the legendary film by Eldar Ryazanov turned 30 years old. The idea to shoot a sequel was submitted by the general producer of the First Channel, Konstantin Ernst. He approached Ryazanov several times with this proposal, but was refused. At the production stage, there were 48 scenarios. Eldar Ryazanov refused to become the director of the sequel, but answered the offer to play an episodic role with consent - he again appeared on the screen in the form of a passenger on an airplane, on whose shoulder a drunk Lukashin is leaning. Only in the first film Zhenya Lukashin (Andrey Myagkov) snored on his shoulder, and in the second - his son Kostya Lukashin (Konstantin Khabensky).

The film was directed by Timur Bekmambetov, known as the creator of the films "Night Watch" and "Day Watch". He explained his plan as follows: "". According to the idea of the producers and the director, the new "Irony of Fate" was not a remake, but an independent film, although its storylines largely overlapped with the first part.

Most of the actors who starred in Irony of Fate have agreed to star in the sequel. At first, Yuri Yakovlev did not want to appear again on the screens in the image of Ippolit, saying: "". But the filmmakers still managed to convince him. True, the actor admitted: "".

The audience no longer saw Zhenya Lukashin's friend Misha - the one who “never gets drunk”: Georgy Burkov passed away back in 1990. Another friend of the protagonist Sasha (Alexander Belyavsky) appeared in the frame, but at the same time he practically did not have replicas. The fact is that shortly before this, the actor suffered a stroke, could hardly move, and by the time of filming his speech had not yet fully recovered. This became one of the reasons for criticism of the film - many accused the director of exploiting familiar images, while not wondering whether the actors were able to play the same roles again, and whether the shooting would negatively affect their health.

Actress Olga Naumenko (Galya) agreed to star in the sequel to The Irony of Fate, but in the end managed to shoot only in one episode - in the future, the actress's work schedule could not be coordinated with the filming of other scenes with her participation. As a result, the episode with Galya was cut out of the final version. The audience also did not see Lia Akhedzhakova in the new film - she refused to shoot, and the heroes mention that her character Tanya emigrated to Israel. Valentina Talyzina agreed to play the same role, but at the same time flatly refused to voice the heroine of Barbara Brylska again - as you know, after filming the first part, she was offended by the fact that the Polish actress did not thank her for her help in creating the image of the main character, the key role in which, according to Talyzina, her voice played. Therefore, in the new version, Nadia speaks in the voice of Anna Kamenkova.

Barbara Brylska has repeatedly said that she is very surprised by the incredible popularity of "The Irony of Fate", because the actress herself did not consider this film to be something outstanding. Nevertheless, she agreed to star in the sequel, explaining it like this: "".

Milla Jovovich was initially invited to play the role of Nadia Jr., but it did not work out with the actress. Timur Bekmambetov said: "".

The work of Elizabeth Boyarskaya was generally assessed positively by film critics, although they noted that her image turned out to be somewhat static and insipid. They noted that for most of the film, her heroine is silent, at times crying or smiling. But the game of Konstantin Khabensky was highly appreciated. Bekmambetov has already worked with this actor, so, as expected, he entrusted one of the main male roles to him. The director also decided on the performer of the role of the fiancé Nadia Irakli pretty quickly - Sergei Bezrukov became him.

Andrey Myagkov was optimistic at first. "" - he said. But after the actor saw the final cut of the film, he could not hide his disappointment. Myagkov was dissatisfied with the choice of the team and admitted that he was trying not to watch the 2007 film. "" - said the actor. He also said that he was very tired of the first "Irony of Fate" and suggested not to show this film on New Year's 40 years: "".

New times dictated new rules. The creators of the sequel to "The Irony of Fate" made ambitious plans: to make the most successful film in the Russian box office. It must be admitted that this goal was achieved: the rolling story was very successful. With a budget of $ 5 million, the film grossed a total of more than 55 million and was recognized as the highest grossing in 2008. But this was also the reason for negative reviews: they say, the filmmakers thought about the box office, and not about a new fairy tale for all time. Therefore, the unique atmosphere of the first "Irony" was no longer there.

The new version had significant drawbacks: there were so many advertisements in the film that it was difficult to call it “hidden”. Timur Bekmambetov was reminded that he used to shoot commercials, and that once again, instead of a film, he created a long "commercial with a good ending." The corporate symbols of one of the mobile operators, as well as the logos of the manufacturers of mayonnaise, chocolate and alcohol, appeared so often out of place and out of place that some critics called the continuation of "Irony of Fate" "a cross between a supermarket with a booth" and "self-parody". The director was also accused of the fact that he, always known for his love of spectacular special effects, this time clearly went too far with their number.

Film critics and viewers were divided into two camps: someone considered the continuation of "Irony of Fate" a complete failure, while someone praised the filmmakers for their courage to experiment, "an ideal family movie" and a well-chosen cast. And most of the viewers were just glad to meet old acquaintances - after all, this is how we perceive the heroes of this legendary film for so many years: How the popularly beloved New Year story was filmed.