"The Incredible Adventures of Italians in Russia" 45 Years Later: How the Fates of the Actors Developed

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

45 years ago, Eldar Ryazanov shot an adventure comedy "The Incredible Adventures of Italians in Russia", which has long become a classic of Soviet cinema. She brought all-Union popularity not only to domestic actors - Andrei Mironov, Evgeny Evstigneev, Olga Aroseva - but also to the Italians involved in the filming. In the 1970s. their names were familiar to many, and later the Soviet audience lost sight of them. Another film could have been made about the incredible adventures of Italians after Russia: the main character, an adult movie star, then disappeared from the screens, and one of the actors committed suicide …

The idea to make an Italian-Soviet film was born back in 1970. Then the Italians owed Mosfilm a large sum for the Waterloo joint project and, in order to repay the debt, offered to make another film. There was a lot of controversy at the stage of script approval, but the final result satisfied both parties.

The main role in the film was played by the Italian Antonia Santilli, who was already well known in her homeland, but in a slightly different capacity: she participated in candid photo shoots for men's magazines, and also starred in action films, melodramas and adult films. When she was offered the role of Olga, she faced a choice: at that moment the Americans invited her to play in the film "Serpico" with Al Pacino. But the Russian script seemed to her more interesting and original, and she went to the shooting, which were the last in her film career.

Since her heroine, according to the script, famously drove a car and a motorcycle, the actress in Russia had to master driving. In close-ups, she appeared in the frame, and her understudy worked on general shots. But the actress never learned the Russian language, and her heroine was voiced by Natalia Gurzo. Despite the fact that this film brought incredible popularity to the 24-year-old Italian, her film career ended there. Returning to her homeland, the actress married a wealthy businessman, gave birth to a son and decided to leave the cinema forever. Since then, she has led a reclusive lifestyle, avoiding contact with fans and journalists.

Italian producers were involved in the selection of foreign actors, and since they did not believe in the commercial success of the film, they chose “who is cheaper”. Once Ryazanov approved one of the candidates, but then he was told that the actor could not act as he was in prison for tax evasion. The Italians tried to save on everything. During filming in Italy, they provided low-level hotels, cut extras, refused to create the necessary decorations. Ryazanov even had to declare a boycott and suspend work.

Italian actors also did not behave quite professionally: they chattered their text so quickly that Olga Aroseva did not have time to insert her lines, refused to perform stunts, while Andrei Mironov did without the help of stuntmen, he went down the stairs of a moving fire engine to the roof of Zhiguli”And played three takes with the lion King, who scratched the Italian actor's back. By the way, the four-legged artist, unfortunately, did not live to see the end of the filming: he was kept in the gym of an empty school during the summer holidays opposite Mosfilm, one of the passers-by began to tease him, the lion knocked out the bars, jumped out the window and attacked him. The policeman who came to the rescue did not hesitate to release a clip at him. The guy was saved, but King, alas, died.

Alighiero Noskese, who played the role of Antonio, was not at all a professional actor - in Italy he was known as a parodist and owner of a pharmaceutical company. According to rumors, he helped the leaders of the Masonic lodge, which was preparing a coup in Italy, - he called public figures and spoke with them in the voices of famous politicians. 6 years after filming, the actor committed suicide - he shot himself, unable to cope with depression.

But the actor Ninetto (Giovanni) Davoli, who played Giuseppe, unlike his colleagues, made a very successful film career. He starred a lot in Italy in films and TV series, worked on television and in the theater. The film "The Incredible Adventures of Italians in Russia", which brought him immense popularity in the USSR, he saw only once, back in the 1970s. The actor did not consider this work successful and was always surprised at the success of the comedy in Ryazanov's homeland.

The role of the Italian mafioso was played by Tano Cimarosa. In his homeland, he never played the main roles and was not very popular. In 2008, the actor died alone and in poverty.

In the foreign box office "The Incredible Adventures of Italians in Russia" did not collect large sums, and in the USSR the film took 4th place in the annual box office, in 1974 it was watched by 50 million viewers. Some went "to Mironov", others - to look at the Italian artists. Despite the popularity of the comedy, Eldar Ryazanov did not consider this film to be successful and did not like to remember filming.

During the filming of the comedy, many interesting curiosities happened: How the plane was put on the autobahn.