To whom did Vladimir Vysotsky dedicated the song "Rock Climber" - a beautiful actress or a fearless mountain climber?

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

Over the years of work in cinematography, Vladimir Vysoky has starred in more than 25 films, and the first film in which his songs were sounded was the diploma work of young directors Stanislav Govorukhin and Boris Durov "Vertical". The songs "If a friend suddenly happened to be …" and "There is no plain here for you …" later became a real anthem of climbers. But not all the compositions written by Vysotsky were heard by the audience - the song "Rock Climber" was not included in the film, since the episode where it sounded was cut out. The poet himself, performing it at concerts, did not admit to whom he dedicated it, and several women who participated in the filming of "Vertical" claimed the role of the muse.

Initially, no one believed in the success of the film - they said that the script was weak, and novice directors had not yet had time to prove themselves, because it was their thesis. Many were convinced that the success of the film "Vertical" was due precisely to the participation of Vladimir Vysotsky in it and the fact that his songs were sung in it. Prior to that, he starred in 11 films, but in them he got supporting roles, and here he not only played one of the brightest roles, but also acted as a songwriter and performer for the first time. After the premiere of the film, as noted by the writer Nikolai Andreev, "Vysotsky's fame shot up vertically." It was then that all-Union glory came to him.

Vladimir Vysotsky was repeatedly asked questions about who inspired him to create the song "Rock Climber". However, he remained silent on this matter. And at concerts before the performance of this composition he said with a smile: "A rock climber is such a woman who climbs rocks …". There were several such “women who climbed the rocks” on the set of the movie “Vertical”. Of course, the names of his partners on the set, the beautiful actresses Larisa Luzhina and Margarita Kosheleva, are the first to come to mind. Although on the general plans the actors were replaced by stunt doubles, on medium and large ones they themselves had to appear in the frame, and therefore they also needed to master the skills of mountaineering. That is why Stanislav Govorukhin, who himself was the owner of the third category in mountaineering and demonstrated his skills in the frame, becoming an understudy of Gennady Voropaev, Alexander Fadeev and Georgy Kulbush, invited experienced instructors for the actors who conducted classes with them on an accelerated ten-day program for novice climbers.

Later, Vladimir Vysotsky recalled: "".

About the episode with the song "Rock Climber" cut from the film, the poet said: "". However, other filmmakers argued that this episode was not cut because it was "poorly filmed." Larisa Luzhina argued that at the artistic council, the director was presented with a complaint - they say that there are too many Vysotsky's songs in the film, their number should be reduced. Since the rest of the compositions were associated with the development of the action, and the plot did not suffer from the loss of "Rock Climber", Govorukhin decided to sacrifice this song.

At this time, Vysotsky wrote not only songs about climbers, but also another very famous composition of his - “She was in Paris”. For a long time it was believed that she was dedicated to Marina Vladi, but at that time he was not yet personally acquainted with her. Years later, it became known that the inspiration and addressee of these lines was the actress Larisa Luzhina, who played one of the main roles in the film. At that time, she was already a real movie star and went abroad to film festivals. They said that Vysotsky showed her signs of attention, but she was married and did not respond to his courtship. For this reason, many were sure that the song "Rock Climber" was also dedicated to her, but later other versions appeared.

Another partner of Vysotsky in "Vertical" was the actress Margarita Kosheleva. Of all the artists, she was the first to master the skills of mountaineering and in all scenes she worked without an understudy. Actor Lev Perfilov and mountaineer-instructor Leonid Eliseev, one of the film's consultants, were convinced that the poet dedicated the song "Rock Climber" to her. Eliseev asserted: "". The actress herself, years later, also said that the poet, having performed this song for the first time, allegedly told her: "".

However, it is believed that the actress was not at all the inspiration for the poet. Among the instructors-climbers who worked with the artists, there was a woman - the master of sports of the USSR in mountaineering, holder of the Edelweiss mountaineering order Maria Gotovtseva. Later she said: "".

Near the filming site, on one of the neighboring peaks, a rockfall occurred, due to which mountaineer-instructor Georgy Zhivlyuk died. When it became known, about 20 athletes gathered at the foot, ready to go to the scene of the tragedy. But the head of the rescue squad said that so many people at the top were not needed, but he did not refuse the help of Maria Gotovtseva. Vysotsky was very struck by this fact - is one fragile woman really worth twenty strong men? According to the climber, it was at that moment that the song "Rock Climber" was born.

Since the poet himself did not leave dedication to this song, one can argue about who became his muse endlessly. Be that as it may, for many fans of Vysotsky's work "Rock Climber", like other songs from the movie "Vertical", remains one of the most beloved.

Actress Larisa Luzhina only years later spoke about what kind of relationship she actually had on the set with Vladimir Vysotsky: How the song "She was in Paris" appeared.