Video: Behind the scenes of "Heart of a Dog": How the film saved Yevgeny Evstigneev and became the beginning of the "film career" of the dog Karay
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
26 years ago, on March 4, 1992, the most popular Soviet theater and film actor, People's Artist of the USSR passed away Evgeny Evstigneev … In his filmography there are more than 100 works, but one of the most famous was the role of Professor Preobrazhensky in the film "Dog's heart", which was released almost 30 years ago. Many interesting details remained behind the scenes - for example, the actor's son later admitted that this film was a real salvation for his father …
Mikhail Bulgakov's story "Heart of a Dog", which formed the basis of the script, was written back in 1925. However, then it was banned, as they saw "" in it. For the first time, the story was published only in 1968, and even then abroad - in England and the Federal Republic of Germany. The first film adaptation was also foreign - it was the Italian-German film Heart of a Dog in 1976. Bulgakov's story was published in the USSR only in 1987, and a year later director Vladimir Bortko took up its adaptation. At that time, censorship problems no longer arose - perestroika had done its job.
Vladimir Bortko wrote the script together with his wife, and for this they decided to use not only the story "Heart of a Dog", but also several stories and feuilletons by Bulgakov. For example, the episode with the summoning of spirits was from the "Séance", and the prophetess in the circus - from the story "Madmazel Jeanne". The director explained this need as follows: "". At the same time, Moscow streets were filmed in Leningrad, since the shooting took place at Lenfilm.
In the role of Professor Preobrazhensky, viewers could see Leonid Bronevoy, Mikhail Ulyanov, Yuri Yakovlev or Vladislav Strzhelchik. However, Evgeny Evstigneev turned out to be more accurate than others on the samples. And this role turned out to be very useful to him. Just at that time there was a section of the Moscow Art Theater, the actor remained in the troupe of Oleg Efremov, but asked not to give him new roles and use the old repertoire, since he had recently suffered a heart attack. Efremov hastily suggested that in this case he go "for a well-deserved rest." The actor took this conflict hard, and it was this unstable emotional state that helped him look the most heartfelt and convincing during the auditions.
The son of Evgeny Evstigneev Denis later admitted: "".
The actor sometimes liked to drink 50 grams of brandy "for courage" before going on the set or on stage. When problems arose in the theater, he began to increase his usual dosage. At the same time, he willingly treated the actor Vladimir Tolokonnikov, who played Sharikov. And the phrase "Don't offer beer to Sharikov!" behind the scenes she was transformed: "Shouldn't I pour Sharikov?" Once Evstigneev miscalculated and went overboard during the break. On this occasion, he had a serious conversation with the director, after which he never again allowed himself too much on the set.
The director had no doubts about Dr. Bormental - he immediately approved Boris Plotnikov, an actor of the Moscow Satire Theater, for this role. But there were more than a dozen who wanted to play Polygraph Poligrafovich Sharikov. Nikolai Karachentsov was one of the brightest contenders, but Bortko “rejected” him: “”. Vladimir Tolokonnikov, who eventually got the role of Sharikov, was found in an actor's photo base in the Almaty Russian Theater. And when he appeared at the audition, the director had no doubts. "", - Bortko recalled.
The role of Sharik was played by a dog named Karai, who also passed tests and bypassed dozens of competitors from the Leningrad Club of Service Dogs. The director was delighted with the work of this "actor": "". From this film his "film career" began: later the dog Karay starred in the films "Wedding March", "Re-examination", "Rock and Roll for a Princess" and "Forever 19 Years".
Surprisingly, Bortko's film received very negative reviews from critics. The director said: "". And the best reward was the incredible success with the audience, which has remained unchanged for 30 years.
Professor Preobrazhensky's experiments were not the fruit of Mikhail Bulgakov's invention. The fact is that this character had several historical prototypes. Sensational rejuvenation surgeries: Who was hiding behind the image of Bulgakov's professor Preobrazhensky.
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