Video: Behind the scenes "Romance of Lovers": Novel on the Set, Test of Glory, "Cherbourg Tanks"
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
The film "Romance of Lovers", which was released 45 years ago, is called one of the most lyrical and touching works of director Andrei Konchalovsky and one of the best roles of the actress Elena Koreneva. On the screens, together with Yevgeny Kindinov, they played a couple in love, and behind the scenes she began a romantic relationship with another person. It was simply impossible not to fall in love - a special atmosphere reigned on the set, which made it possible to create a story about modern Romeo and Juliet. However, the heroes also faced trials, and they were all ahead …
When screenwriter Yevgeny Grigoriev brought his "Romance of Hearts in Love" to the film studio, the script was gathering dust there on the shelves for 2 years - none of the directors dared to take on the shooting of this strange story, where all the dialogues were in grandiloquent white verses. Andrei Konchalovsky, too, at first, this idea seemed to be a failure. "", - said the director. And Konchalovsky decided to take a chance.
The search for actors for the main roles lasted 3 months. In the main male role, Konchalovsky saw a stately handsome man, a conqueror of women's hearts, and this is how Vladimir Konkin seemed to him, whom he once saw on the cover of the magazine "Soviet Screen". The actor did not like the script, besides, he was busy filming another film, but Konchalovsky insisted, and Konkin promised him to come after the completion of the previous film. But the actor did not keep his promise, and he urgently had to look for a replacement. Then the director remembered the candidacy of Evgeny Kindinov, rejected by him - he was 10 years older than his hero, but as a result he coped with the task perfectly.
The search for an actress was even more difficult. None of the applicants suited him. The director's assistants, among whom was Elena Koreneva's mother, ran off their feet, looking for more and more young actresses. Once Alexander Adabashyan told Konchalovsky that his assistant had 2 daughters of a suitable age, and the director wanted to see them. When 19-year-old Elena Koreneva came to audition, he realized that he had finally found what he was looking for.
At that time, Konchalovsky was 35 years old, he was married to a Frenchwoman Vivian, but she lived in France, and he made films in his homeland. There were legends about his novels on the set, and Koreneva knew about it from her mother. But she could not resist the incredible magnetism of his charm. Their romance began even before filming. Later, in her autobiographical book, the actress said: "".
During the filming, Konchalovsky came to the film festival in Moscow with Koreneva, presenting her as his companion. In the same period, his wife flew in from France, and he told her about his novel. She knew her husband well and was in no hurry to divorce him. In the meantime, the summer shooting ended, and the director had to leave for Sevastopol to shoot episodes without Koreneva's participation. She said that before leaving, he told her: "".
Then he decided to part, but their romance lasted for about a year, they even lived together. Friends warned Koreneva that the director had had affairs with actresses before, which ended simultaneously with the end of filming. But Elena resigned herself to the situation, accepting as a fact that Konchalovsky's greatest love was cinema, and she tried in her life to correspond to the image of the screen heroine-nymphet, in which the legendary director saw her, "".
Critics took "Romance of Lovers" very restrainedly - many accused the director of excessive pathos, servility and even bad taste. In the West, the film was dubbed "The Cherbourg tanks", hinting at the similarity of plot lines with the "Umbrellas of Cherbourg" - stories about lovers against the background of battle scenes, and besides, in Soviet realities. When Konchalovsky brought the film to Italy, Bernardo Bertolucci accused him of vulgarity: "". But the film was incredibly popular with viewers - during the rental year it was watched by 36.5 million viewers! Many recognized themselves in the heroes. A simple story about a girl who did not wait for a guy from the army, told in a complex cinematic language, besides, in white poetry and to the music of Alexander Gradsky, in fact turned out to be understandable and close to a wide audience.
At the Karlovy Vary Film Festival "Romance of Lovers" won the first prize. And Elena Koreneva was hit by incredible popularity, which became a real test for her. Later she said: "". Yevgeny Kindinov became an idol for thousands of spectators, letters came to him in bags, girls were on duty at the service entrance to the theater. Later he admitted that the increased attention, of course, acted on the psyche, but he got sick with star fever very quickly, because he was busy at the Moscow Art Theater.
It was not for nothing that Konchalovsky was called one of the most cruel directors - on the set he did not stand on ceremony with the actors, seeking maximum dedication from them. This often led to incidents: For which Beata Tyshkevich received a slap in the face from Konchalovsky.
Recommended:
The behind-the-scenes secrets of "Turkish Gambit": Which of the actors had to take risks on the set, and who - to hide the novel
On August 10, the remarkable Russian actor Andrei Krasko could have turned 63, but 14 years ago his life was cut short on the set of the film "Liquidation". His path in the profession was not easy, and he played all of his most prominent roles already in adulthood. Even episodes performed by him turned into small masterpieces. One of these works was the film "Turkish Gambit", which premiered 15 years ago. Only recently were the secrets revealed, which remained behind the scenes of this film for a long time
Behind the scenes of the film "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg": The Romantic Secrets of Catherine Deneuve
October 22 marks the 77th anniversary of the famous French actress, legend of world cinema, Catherine Deneuve. She has played dozens of memorable film roles, but her first big success came after the release of the musical film The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. The love story, told to the music of Michel Legrand, turned out to be so heartfelt and touching, perhaps for the reason that none of the viewers then knew about - the actress herself at that time was in love and was expecting a child
Behind the scenes "Treasure Islands": What scenes had to be cut from the film
RL Stevenson's novel Treasure Island has more than once become material for creating cartoons and film adaptations, and the Soviet film version of 1982 has become one of the best, most complete and most accurate. This film enjoyed the same popularity among adults and children, but the first version, according to the censors, was not childish at all, and many fragments had to be cut out during editing
Behind the Scenes of the 1990s Cult Film The Bodyguard: The Other Side of Whitney Houston's Glory
This film is traditionally called one of the best Hollywood melodramas. 27 years have passed since its filming, the leading performer, the famous singer Whitney Houston, has not been among the living for 7 years, but "The Bodyguard" still does not lose its popularity and remains in the status of a cult cinema of the 1990s. Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston on the screens looked like an ideal couple, but in real life they had completely different passions then, and for the singer it ended in real disaster
Lyubov Orlova and Grigory Alexandrov in and behind the scenes: What was hidden behind the facade of an ideal marriage
January 23 marks the 116th anniversary of the birth of the famous Soviet film director, screenwriter, actor, People's Artist of the USSR Grigory Alexandrov. His films "Funny Guys", "Circus", "Volga-Volga", "Spring" became classics of Soviet cinema, thanks to him the star of Lyubov Orlova, who was his wife and muse all his life, lit up. They were called the perfect couple, although was it really so?