Behind the scenes of "Winter Cherry": How Elena Safonova repeated the fate of her heroine

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

Film "Winter cherry" for more than 30 years, and he not only does not lose its popularity, but also continues to win new viewers: nowadays, the fourth part of the melodrama is being filmed. Few people know that the plot was based on a real story, the main characters were supposed to be played by other actors, and Elena Safonova and Vitaly Solomin repeated the fate of their characters.

The fact that the story of a single mother in love with a married man is based on real facts was first reported by Fyodor Razzakov, a writer and film historian. He claimed that the screenwriter of the film, Vladimir Valutsky, described a plot from his own life: being married to the famous actress Alla Demidova, he fell in love with the young actress Nadezhda Repina, and their secret romance lasted 14 years.

This version was later confirmed by Repina herself, who in 2012 published her autobiographical book Everything is for the Better. The love story that formed the basis of the film "Winter Cherry". The actress admitted that for the sake of Valutsky she left her husband, but he did not dare to leave his wife. When she began an affair with an Italian, he even proposed to her, but, returning her, backed down again. But he promised Nadezhda Repina the main role in a film based on a story from their lives. However, the scriptwriter himself denied the autobiography of the plot: "".

Many actresses auditioned for the role of Olga, among whom were Elena Safonova and Tatiana Dogileva. However, Natalia Andreichenko was approved for the main role. She successfully passed the photo and film tests, the costumes were already sewn for her, but on the appointed day she did not show up for the shooting. As it turned out, she began a whirlwind romance with a foreigner, actor and director Maximilian Schell, and at that time she had no time for filming. Then the actress was removed from the role and began urgently to look for her replacement.

On the photo tests, the candidate # 2 was Elena Safonova, she was summoned to the shooting, but the director was very disappointed on the very first day. "", - says Igor Maslennikov. The hairstyle of her heroine, which was later imitated by half of the female population of the USSR, appeared by accident: a young girl-hairdresser, out of inexperience, made the actress a man's haircut. At first, everyone was shocked by her appearance, the director had already decided to shoot Safonova in a wig, but suddenly realized: this strange haircut is an ideal addition to the image of a 30-year-old "baby", as her lover called the heroine.

Elena Safonova not only did not disappoint the director in the future, but also forced him to rewrite the script: in the performance of the temperamental Andreichenko, Olga was scandalous and hysterical, and Safonova made the heroine lyrical, quivering, forgiving and patient. As a result, the tonality of the film turned out to be completely different - her heroine evoked sympathy and sympathy from both the female half of the audience and the male. What can not be said about the main character - the director was sent angry letters: why so discredit the image of a Soviet man, showing him weak and indecisive!

Another actor was originally approved for the main male role - they managed to shoot several episodes with Sergei Shakurov. But after Andreichenko did not appear at the shooting and Safonova became his partner, he refused to participate in the film. The director recalled: "". With Solomin, Igor Maslennikov just before that worked on the set of a film about Sherlock Holmes, and the actor agreed to help him out, not suspecting that this role would become his calling card. And from Shakurov in the film there were … bare legs - in that very scene with fishing.

For many actors, roles in this film have become fateful. Elena Safonova largely repeated the fate of her heroine: she also had an affair with a married man, she was also a single mother, and then, like Olga, she married a foreigner and went abroad with him. By the way, the audience had the opportunity to see him on the screens in the sequel to "Winter Cherry" - where the French actor Samuel Labarthe played the hero's neighbor Solomin, who came to visit him at his house in France. Their life together with Safonova did not work out, and the actress returned to Russia. But she had to leave their son with her ex-husband - according to French law, a child born in their country had to stay there until the age of majority.

Vitaly Solomin had a lot in common with the hero. As the actor's widow later admitted, during the filming of "Winter Cherry" he had an affair with another woman, and for a long time Solomin rushed between them, unable to make a choice. As a result, he still stayed with his wife. Larisa Udovichenko also admitted that her heroine is close to her: just like her, the actress became disillusioned with men and remained lonely for a long time.

Elena Safonova was not the only actress who tried to find her personal happiness abroad: 8 Soviet celebrities who married foreigners.