Koschey the Immortal in the movie: Which of the actors became the most terrible fairy-tale villain

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

Koschey the Immortal is one of the main characters and one of the most striking images of Russian folk tales, so practically no movie fairy tale is complete without this character. Many actors have appeared as the embodiment of evil on the screens, and some of them were especially convincing in this image, becoming famous thanks to the role of Koshchei. Which of them managed to cope with this task better than anyone else is up to you to judge.

The main villain of Soviet cinema fairy tales is most often called Georgy Millyar, who got the role of negative characters in almost all films directed by Alexander Rowe. When in 1944 he first offered the actor to play Koshchei the Immortal, he at first refused - he was afraid that he would not cope with such a difficult way, but the director managed to convince him, and the result was impressive: after suffering malaria, the actor was so thin and pale that he it didn't even take a lot of makeup. In a red cloak, he looked intimidating - so much so that the horse reared at the sight of him, and the next time she had to be blindfolded.

Georgy Millyar said that when creating this image he was guided by images of devils captured by icon painters in churches, and by the third horseman from Viktor Vasnetsov's painting "Warriors of the Apocalypse." After 23 years, he returned to this role again, but this time his Koschey was not the embodiment of evil, but an unlucky groom, a comic character. In addition, Koschey spoke in the voice of Millyar in the cartoons "The Tale Affects" and "Rejuvenating Apples". Although the actor all his life dreamed of serious dramatic roles, most of his works are movie fairy tales, and he himself admitted: "". And about the fact that he constantly had to play all kinds of evil spirits, Millyar said: "".

In 1952 in the film "Rimsky-Korsakov" the role of Koshchei the Immortal in an episode from the opera was performed by Evgeny Lebedev, but the scene with his participation was so small that his name was not even mentioned in the credits, and the audience did not remember the actor in this role.

A comic character looks like Koschey performed by Nikolai Boyarsky (Mikhail Boyarsky's uncle) in the movie fairy tale "New Year's Adventures of Masha and Viti".

One of the most terrible and impressive was Koschey the Immortal performed by Alexander Filippenko in the film "There, on unknown paths …". Years later, the actor confessed that his fabulous villain made the greatest impression on his grandchildren and … bandits! "", - said Alexander Filippenko.

One of the most original interpretations of this image was Oleg Tabakov's Koschey in the film "After a Rain on Thursday". In his performance, he not only does not look like a skeleton, but also loves showiness in clothes. This interpretation was far from classical, but the film received the prize "For an original and modern interpretation of a Russian folk tale" at the All-Union Film Festival.

Close to the classical interpretation was the interpretation of the image of Koshchei by actor Viktor Sergachev in the fairy tale "They sat on the golden porch." There was again a skeleton-like costume and frightening grimaces.

Igor Yasulovich played Koshchei in the fantastic film "Purple Ball" based on the story by Kir Bulychev. In this film, filmed 3 years after Guest from the Future, Koschey pursued Alice Selezneva when, in the Age of Legends, she went in search of a purple ball that could make all earthlings hate each other.

In the new century, Koschei have become even more extravagant. In the performance of Nodar Mgaloblishvili in the film Miracles in Reshetov (2004), the fabulous villain is more reminiscent of Woland from The Master and Margarita.

In the first Russian project of the Disney studio - "The Book of Masters" - the role of Koshchei went to Gosha Kutsenko, who made his hero incredibly charismatic and treating himself with irony. The actor said about his role: "".

In 2011, Leonid Yarmolnik tried on the image of Koshchei in the film "A Real Fairy Tale". In this modern interpretation, the fairytale hero looked in a new way - in the form of a decent respected oligarch, Boris Eduardovich Koscheev. “, - the artist admits. - ".

One of the last incarnations of the image of Koshchei on the screens was the Russian film of the Disney studio, The Last Hero, where the role of the main villain was played by Konstantin Lavronenko.

Each of the actors considers it a very difficult task to present a character in a new way, which had already been played in the cinema by dozens of his colleagues. The same difficulties arise when portraying famous historical figures. Lenin in cinema: which of the actors was the most convincing.