Behind the Scenes "Secrets of the Snow Queen": The unrealistic fate of the main character of the film

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

Andersen's fairy tale "The Snow Queen" was filmed more than once in many countries of the world. The most famous Soviet versions were the 1957 cartoon and the 1966 film of the same name. 20 years later, a new adaptation of the fairy tale was released with Alisa Freundlich in the title role. And if for her this role became one of dozens of vivid images in the cinema, then for the actors who played Kai and Gerda, their roles became the pinnacles of their film career. In real life, no one saved Kai, and his fate ended in a terrible ending …

The film takes place several years after the events described in Andersen's tale. Gerda and Kai got older, matured, but the Snow Queen again lured Kai to her kingdom, and Gerda again went in search of him. In this she is helped by a mysterious person who calls himself the Voice of the Fairy Tale. The script was written by the Soviet writer, poet and playwright Vadim Korostylev. His daughter Marina explained the main idea put by her father in this film: "". The author of the texts of all the songs to the music of Minkov was also Korostylev.

In many films, Oleg Efremov was filmed based on his scripts, and only the scriptwriter managed to convince him to perform songs on his own. Marina Korostyleva told: "". In this film, Oleg Efremov played one of the main roles - Voices of the Fairy Tale, and here he also sang songs.

Director Nikolai Alexandrovich invited Alice Freundlich to play the Snow Queen. This choice seemed strange to many - this heroine had to look cold and indifferent, and the actress had so much warmth and charm that it contradicted the very essence of the image. But that was the director's intention - he wanted his Snow Queen to be primarily a woman, and so that the audience would feel this softness and femininity. The singing and dancing queen was not ice at all, a real woman.

The entire cast of the film was truly stellar. Even small roles were played by great artists, whom the director chose by type. So, the role of the Snowman was played by Alexander Lenkov, known from the TV series "Winter Cherry", the role of Prince Narcissus went to Leonid Yarmolnik, and the image of the Lady of Autumn was embodied by the brilliant Latvian actress Vija Artmane, the star of the films "Native Blood" and "Theater".

In the director's presentation, the shoemaker was supposed to be played by an actor with an oriental appearance, and he invited Mikhail Bogdasarov for this role. Later, the actor admitted: "".

For the 26-year-old actor, this role was one of the first films that became a real test of professional aptitude. Among the stars of Soviet cinema, he felt very insecure and very worried. Bogdasarov recalled: ""

Just like in the fairy tale, Gerda in the film saved Kai from the captivity of the Snow Queen. But in real life, a happy ending did not happen. The role of Kai was played by 16-year-old Yan Puzyrevsky. He began acting in films at the age of 14, and by the age of 20 there were already 8 works in his filmography. But his acting career ended as unexpectedly as it began. After graduating from the Shchukin School, Puzyrevsky became an actor in the Moscow Theater of Drama and Comedy on Taganka. He married early and had a son. However, after 1, 5 years after that, the wife decided to divorce him. The actor's sister Olga said: "".

They say that the tragedy happened due to the actor's creative lack of realization: in the 1990s.a crisis broke out in the cinema, and Puzyrevsky was left without work. He got a job at a construction site, started drinking and lost control. The wife did not want to put up with it. His colleagues in the theater said: "". At that time, Yan Puzyrevsky was only 25 years old …

The role of Gerda was played by 14-year-old Nina Gomiashvili, daughter of the famous Ostap Bender, actor Archil Gomiashvili. For her, this work was the second in the cinema. She then studied in the 7th grade, and her parents let her go to audition with great reluctance - they were worried that because of the filming, her daughter would have to skip school, and she would lag far behind the school curriculum. After being approved for the role, Nina really forgot about her studies for a while, besides, she had a very difficult time on the set, which she later told about: "".

But her acting career only lasted 5 years. Nina entered the Moscow Art Theater School, but in the 4th year she dropped out, then entered VGIK, successfully graduated from it, but soon became disillusioned with the acting profession. Nina Gomiashvili went to America, graduated from the university there and became a photo reporter. Returning to Russia, she continued to engage in photography, opened the Pobeda Gallery, which hosts some of the most interesting photo exhibitions in the capital.

Nina Gomiashvili still fondly recalls filming in the fairy tale “The Mystery of the Snow Queen”: “”.

This tale has become one of the bright pages of the creative biography of Alice Freundlich. But there were many tragedies in her life: What Alisa Freindlich prefers not to remember.