Who and why decided to reshoot the cult film "The Meeting Place Cannot Be Changed"

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

At the beginning of 2021, a wide release of the film is expected, which has become, in fact, a remake of the cult film by Stanislav Govorukhin "The meeting place cannot be changed." The new picture was based not only on the famous film, but also on its literary original - the novel by Arkady and Georgy Vainer "The Era of Mercy". The filmmakers, as it turned out, had been hatching the idea of releasing a new picture ever since the film by Stanislav Govorukhin was shown for the first time.

The fashion for the release of sequels to successful films of the past appeared long ago, but in this case, the transformation of the famous and beloved film by millions of viewers turned out to be really unusual. And this gives the creators a reason to be proud of their brainchild.

Birth of an idea

The premiere of "Mitkovo Meeting of the Era of Mercy" took place at the end of November, and at the same time the director of the new film explained what motives the group was guided by when filming a remake of Stanislav Govorukhin's film. The director is Dmitry Shagin, one of the founders and ideological inspirers of the famous creative group Mitki. He said that the idea had arisen back in the years when the film "The Meeting Place Cannot Be Changed" was just released, and Zheglov and Sharapov became popular favorites.

"Mitki" at that time wanted to fix one of the scenes in which the former brother-soldier Sharapova Levchenko dies. Surely, among the fans of the film there will be many who would agree with "Mitki", because the death of Levchenko, in fact, who saved Sharapov's life, seemed very unfair.

At that time, Mitki, together with Nikita Vysotsky, created a photo project called “There was one who did not shoot,” and then they opened an exhibition where, as a result of editing, Levchenko remains alive, because Zheglov did not shoot. A special role in the rescue of the former brother-soldier Sharapov was assigned to the "mitki".

Then the opening was attended by Arkady Vayner himself and, according to Dmitry Shagin, approved of the idea. True, the members of the creative group had to blush a little, because they were not familiar with the literary original. After talking with one of the authors of the novel, they naturally read The Era of Mercy and were very impressed with the power of the novel. It was then that the idea to shoot a new film appeared.

They began to invent a new plot in which Zheglov and Sharapov had a falling out, and as a result, Sharapov ended up in Leningrad. There he had to work on revealing the secret of the gang, but he could not do without a Moscow colleague, and Zheglov soon also ended up in the Leningrad criminal investigation department.

Implementation of the project

The group began filming back in 2018, and ordinary people took an active part in financing the film, sending money in crumbs. But in the end, an impressive amount of 300 thousand rubles was accumulated, and the names of all "good people" were indicated by the creators of the picture in the credits.

With this money, equipment was purchased, editing, color correction and post-production were carried out. Mitki invested in the project and their own finances, but all famous actors were filmed in the tape for free. The role of Volodya Sharapov in the film was played by Alexander Ilyushchenko, the image of Gleb Zheglov was embodied by Vyacheslav Butusov, and the photographer Grisha Ushivin "6 by 9" was played by Oleg Garkusha.

The shooting took place entirely in St. Petersburg, the criminal investigation department ended up in the building of the Institute of Macromolecular Compounds, where there is also a secret laboratory with incredible devices, including even a room collider.

The greatest pride of the creators of the "Mitkovo meeting of the era of mercy" was the St. Petersburg locations that convey the incredible beauty of the city on the Neva. Filming was carried out from rooftops and even from a quadcopter. The film crew managed to find an old communal apartment without a single hint of modern renovation, where there was even a stove that had to be heated with wood.

Despite the fact that the film will be released only at the beginning of 2021, Mitki has already filmed its sequel, Mitki Save the Environment of Finland, which premiered in Helsinki. They are currently working on the third part of the Mitkovo era of mercy, which takes place even before the start of the Great Patriotic War.

The filmmakers of Mit'kov's Meeting of the Era of Mercy are not at all afraid of being compared with the original film. They are not afraid of criticism, which will certainly be. The film crew hopes that critics will be fair to them and their brainchild, and will appreciate the efforts of everyone who was involved in this film.

The Mitki themselves hope that this tape will become a hymn to their beloved St. Petersburg, and that all residents of this beautiful city will discover their favorite places and enjoy the film, which is the result of the joint work of many people.

All viewers know Gleb Zheglov, Volodya Sharapov and Fox performed by Vladimir Vysotsky, Vladimir Konkin and Alexander Belyavsky. But the female characters of the film "The Meeting Place Cannot Be Changed" is probably not even remembered by many. Nevertheless, the most talented and most beautiful Soviet actresses starred in this legendary television series by Stanislav Govorukhin.