Behind the scenes "Sannikov Lands": Why the film was called one of the most scandalous in the history of Soviet cinema

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

118 years ago, on July 4, 1900, the expedition of Eduard Toll set off in search of the mythical Sannikov Land, and 45 years ago a film was made on this topic. From the very beginning of filming "Sannikov Lands" serious scandals and battles broke out between directors and actors, as a result of which the shooting was in jeopardy, and the film was predicted to fail …

The first to tell about the existence of the island lost in the Arctic Ocean in 1810 was the tradesman and polar explorer Yakov Sannikov, after whom he was named. He said that he saw high stone mountains rising above the sea. In favor of the existence of a living oasis in the middle of the icy desert was evidenced by observations of migratory birds that flew towards the island. During his expedition, Toll also saw mountains and land and wrote in his diary: "". Traces of this expedition were lost, in 1903 a search expedition discovered Toll's camp site and his diaries, but the remains of the participants were never found.

In 1938, Soviet pilots proved that this land no longer exists. According to the researchers, the island was not made of rocks, but of fossil ice, permafrost, covered with a layer of soil. And when the ice melted, Sannikov Land disappeared. Nevertheless, it has become a rich topic for scientific and fiction literature. In 1926, V. Obruchev's science fiction novel was published, based on which the film of the same name was shot in 1973. However, he had little in common with the literary source. Directors Albert Mkrtchyan and Leonid Popov said: "".

The shooting of the film from the very beginning took place in a very tense atmosphere, there were constant conflicts on the set. It was not even possible to decide on the final cast for a long time. The directors saw the main roles of Armen Dzhigarkhanyan, Igor Ledogorov and Yevgeny Leonov, but they all refused because of their employment in theaters and participation in other film projects. Vladimir Vysotsky was originally invited to play the role of Krestovsky. Especially for this film, he wrote 3 songs, which later became legendary - "White Silence", "The Ballad of the Abandoned Ship" and "Picky Horses".

Just before filming began, the directors learned that the Mosfilm management had decided to remove Vysotsky from the role. No one explained the reasons, but he himself believed that this was due to the fact that on the eve of his songs sounded on the "Deutsche Welle", which was regarded as a hostile action. In a letter to Stanislav Govorukhin, Vysotsky admitted: "".

As a result, Oleg Dal was approved for the role of Krestovsky. But the scandals did not end there. His partners on the set were Sergei Shakurov, Georgy Vitsin and Vladislav Dvorzhetsky, who immediately entered into a confrontation with the directors, considering them to be amateurs and non-professionals. They even turned to the management of "Mosfilm" with a request to replace the directors. They did not go to meet them, and if Vitsin, Dvorzhetsky and Dal backed down, then Shakurov stood his ground to the last and refused to act with these directors.

As a result, Shakurov was reprimanded and removed from the role. And due to the fact that Dal and Dvorzhetsky made concessions, the actor harbored a grudge against them: "". As a result, Shakurov was replaced by Yuri Nazarov.

But even after that, the atmosphere on the set did not improve. Oleg Dal often disrupted the shooting due to the fact that he came to the site drunk. Director Mkrtchyan complained: "". Due to constant conflicts, the directors decided to re-sound the songs performed by Dahl. To do this, they invited the then popular singer Oleg Anofriev. As a result, "There is only a moment …" became a national hit, although it should be noted that the songs performed by Dahl sounded great.

At Mosfilm, Sannikov Land was predicted to fail and assigned it the 3rd category. And the reaction of the audience turned out to be exactly the opposite: even from the preliminary screenings, the studio began to receive rave reviews. The film was broadcasted by 41 million viewers. Despite all the difficulties and conflicts, the actors played brilliantly, and today it is impossible to imagine anyone else in these roles. The project, doomed to failure, unexpectedly for the creators themselves, became a masterpiece of Soviet cinema.

But the fate of the actors who played the main roles was dramatic. Vladislav Dvorzhetsky and Oleg Dal passed away prematurely. The latter himself was the "star that fell and falls" about which he sang in the film. Ruined talent: What caused the early departure of Oleg Dal.