Curiosities of "Shirley-Myrley": What's left behind the scenes of the strangest film of the 1990s

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

On September 17, the famous film director, actor, screenwriter, People's Artist of the RSFSR Vladimir Menshov will be 81 years old. When people talk about his works, of course, first of all they mention the legendary "Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears" and "Love and Doves". After their filming, a pause in Menshov's directorial career dragged on for 10 years, and then his new film, the comedy "Shirley-Myrli", was released on the screens, which caused a very mixed reaction from critics and viewers …

Vladimir Menshov's directorial baggage contains only 5 full-length feature films. After filming each of them, he was in no hurry to start a new job, spent a long time searching, re-reading hundreds of scripts, novels and plays until he found worthy material. After the films "Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears" and "Love and Doves" it was especially difficult to do this - the audience's waiting horizon was overestimated, the director of cult films that won popular love would no longer be forgiven for passing works.

After the film "Love and Doves", the pause in his directorial activity dragged on for 10 years. He did not find suitable scripts and did not plan to start filming again, but once scriptwriters Vitaly Moskalenko and Andrey Samsonov asked him to edit a comedy about three twin brothers who were lost in childhood and found themselves in absurd situations. Menshov agreed to read the script and give a couple of tips. Unexpectedly for himself, the director got involved in the work and was carried away by the plot, which, in his opinion, was completely in the spirit of the times.

It was the mid-1990s, a period of timelessness in cinema, when the heroes of Soviet films remained in the distant past, and new heroes had not yet come to replace them. Cinema was practically not filmed then, the search for new ways was delayed, and on the screens, as in life, reign of criminal forces reigned. However, even in such a reality Menshov saw his advantages - then he finally had complete freedom of action, which was not there either before or after that. The director said: "".

The choice of the comedy-farce genre in such conditions was rather unexpected. The film became a reflection of the controversial time of the mid-1990s, the atmosphere of general loss in a newly disintegrated country, where everyone wanted to deceive someone, to crank up their "shirli-myrli". None of the filmmakers explained this strange name, it came from an uncomplicated, meaningless song sung by the hero of Valery Garkalin. According to Menshov, it was absurd, but such an absurdity then reigned around. In America, this film was shown under the title "What a mess!"

All three twin brothers were played by one actor - Valery Garkalin. Initially, Nikita Mikhalkov and Alexander Abdulov applied for this role. The first had successful tests, but Menshov did not dare to approve him because of Mikhalkov's great employment in other projects, and the second, in addition to the same problem, was known for his indiscipline. Menshov even offered the main role to Oleg Tabakov, warning him that he should lose 20 kg for filming, to which he received a reasonable answer: "". As a result, he played Sukhodrishchev's drunkard.

The director took a risk: instead of stars of the first magnitude, he approved the leading role of a little-known theater actor Valery Garkalin. True, he doubted his choice for a long time. At the first meeting Menshov said to the actor: "". Before that, viewers could see Garkalin only in two films, and real fame came to him only after Shirley-Myrli. That is why Vladimir Menshov was often called the godfather of Valery Garkalin in the cinema.

Valery Garkalin was supposed to play three twin brothers, and combined shooting at that time was a rather difficult task - there was no computer graphics yet. The actor in different parts of the frame played his characters separately, then these parts were glued together. Where the heroes appeared together, understudies helped.

The famous comedian of the 1990s. Igor Ugolnikov also claimed the main role, but in the end he played the investigator Piskunov. He performed all dangerous stunts on his own - for example, he climbed onto the hood of a car at a dangerous turn, and during the chase he hung upside down on the roof of a moving tram, tied with automobile cables. On the last day of filming, Igor Ugolnikov and his filming partner Sergei Batalov decided to take advantage of their official position and, without taking off their police uniform, went to the traffic police to restore their rights. Ugolnikov with a laugh recalled: "".

The director entrusted 4 roles in this film to play to his wife, Vera Alentova. Most of all, she liked the role of a blonde American, who appears in the frame in a wedding dress. At one time, Alentova and Menshov did not have the opportunity to arrange a real wedding, and the actress spent several days in wedding salons, trying on many outfits and not missing the opportunity to be a gorgeous bride.

Vladimir Menshov has assembled a brilliant cast of actors in his film, he has starred 8 people's artists! True, not all of them were satisfied with the results of their work. Inna Churikova admitted that at first she regretted this work, but after a while she still gave her due: once she said that she had watched this film several times and came to the conclusion that over the years she was playing it better and better! Film critics smashed the film to smithereens, some of them accused the director of bad taste and vulgarity, the picture did not receive a single award. The director himself considered "Shirley Myrli" his main success as a screenwriter and more than once expressed regret that the film was still underestimated.

This film featured not only famous actors, but also one of Mosfilm's favorite mascots: Invisible heroes of the most famous Soviet films.