Mystical role: Which of the actresses played Bulgakov's Margarita in the movie, and how it affected their lives

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

The screen versions of Mikhail Bulgakov's works have long been haunted by notoriety: both the directors and the actors participating in them seem to be subject to evil fate - misfortunes often happen in their lives during or after filming. Which of the actresses was not afraid to embody the image of Margarita on the screen, and whether they had to regret it - further in the review.

Mimsey Farmer

Oddly enough, foreign directors were ahead of domestic directors in film adaptations of the most famous work of Mikhail Bulgakov, and at the same time they did not experience any problems in their work and did not think about mysticism. The first film version of The Master and Margarita was an Italian-Yugoslav film of the same name directed by Alexander Petrovich. The role of Margarita in it was played by the American and Italian actress Mimsi Farmer. This film was awarded several cinematic awards, although it was far from a literary source. The appearance of Margarita also little resembled the heroine of the novel - instead of a witching brunette, the audience saw a pretty blonde with a short haircut on the screens.

It was difficult to scare this actress with mysticism - she often starred in thrillers, noir films and horror films. The role of Margarita had no negative impact on her acting career - before that, Farmer starred in American television series, and after she married an Italian, she played in Italian and French cinema. Although she did not deserve world popularity, her film career was quite successful, however, as well as her personal life.

Anna Dymna

The next Margarita in the movie was the Polish actress Anna Dymna, who played the main role in the 4-part film by Maciej Voytyszko "The Master and Margarita" in 1988. The director was said that he was more attentive to the literary source and brought its content to the screen as close to Bulgakov's text, but not quite well in choosing the actors. As a result, the film did not make much of an impression on viewers. Although we must admit that the actress managed to transform into a witch quite effectively.

Soviet viewers remembered this actress for another role - Marysi from the film "Witch Doctor", which was very popular in the USSR. From the very first steps in the profession in the early 1970s. Anna Dymna gained recognition and success and continued to act in films until 2016. But in her personal life, she was haunted by failures for a long time. In 1978, 5 years after the wedding, her husband, screenwriter and actor Wieslaw Dymny, died tragically, and after his departure the actress lost the meaning of life. She stopped acting in films and melted before our eyes. Anna found her salvation in charity, having founded her own foundation "In spite of everything", which provides assistance to people with disabilities. After 7 years, she remarried, but her second husband did not share her passion for charity work, because of which they had disagreements, and the marriage broke up. This happened a year after the release of The Master and Margarita, but the actress did not connect these events in any way. But the third marriage turned out to be happy and strong: the director Krzysztof Orzhechowski fully shares her views on life.

Anastasia Vertinskaya

The first Russian director to take on the adaptation of The Master and Margarita was Yuri Kara. He was not the only one who dreamed of transferring the heroes of Bulgakov's novel to the screen. Vladimir Naumov, Elem Klimov, Rolan Bykov and Eldar Ryazanov also thought about this, but for various reasons none of them succeeded in carrying out their plans. Yuri Kara also faced an incredible number of obstacles. Filming began in 1994, but the film was released only in 2011. Due to disagreements with the producers and Bulgakov's heirs, who own the rights to his works, the film lay on the shelf for many years. The film version of "The Master and Margarita" by Yuri Kara caused contradictory reviews: someone admired the brilliant cast, and someone said that by the time it was released, the film was morally outdated.

The main roles in the film by Yuri Kara were played by Viktor Rakov and Anastasia Vertinskaya. Vera Sotnikova, Irina Alferova, Anna Samokhina and Elena Mayorova applied for the role of Margarita, but Vertinskaya bypassed all competitors, despite the fact that at the time of filming she was already 50 years old. Later, the director said that, in principle, any of the applicants was suitable for this role: "".

Literary critic Marietta Chudakova, who heads the Board of Trustees of the Bulkagov Museum, believed that Vertinskaya's choice for the role of Margarita was very successful: “”.

Anastasia Vertinskaya considered the unhappy distribution fate of Yuri Kara's film a logical continuation of Bulgakov's mysticism - someone above did not want it to be released. Whether it was an accident or not, after The Master and Margarita, Anastasia Vertinskaya appeared in films only once in 2000 and has not acted since then. She does not regret that she left the acting profession - she was no longer offered worthwhile roles, and she did not want to appear in serials. In addition, the actress never liked publicity and excessive attention to herself. “”, - she says today.

Her personal life can hardly be called happy - Vertinskaya calls her only husband Nikita Mikhalkov, whom she married in her youth. After that, she was romantically involved with musician Alexander Gradsky and actor and director Oleg Efremov, but the actress failed to build a family. “- says the actress. -.

Anna Kovalchuk

In 2005, Vladimir Bortko's 10-episode film The Master and Margarita was released, in which Anna Kovalchuk played the main role. Prior to that, viewers knew the actress only from the TV series "Secrets of the Investigation". The role of Margarita brought her incredible popularity, but then many said that she played a fatal role in her fate: during filming, she divorced her husband. The actress herself admitted that in fact, the discord in their family had ripened for a long time, and the official divorce simply coincided with the filming and had nothing to do with them.

The Bortko's series was also notorious: several actors (Alexander Abdulov, Kirill Lavrov, Ilya Oleinikov, Andrey Tolubeev, Vladislav Galkin, Valery Zolotukhin) died on the screens within several years after the film was released. Oleg Basilashvili, who played Woland, had a ligament hemorrhage, but he himself did not see any mysticism in this: "".

Anna Kovalchuk did not want to think about mysticism either: "". True, the role of Margarita at the moment remains the pinnacle of the creative path of Anna Kovalchuk, who after that continued to appear in the new seasons of the series "Secrets of the Investigation" and did not receive any more bright main roles.

When asked why he chose Anna Kovalchuk for the main role, Vladimir Bortko answered: “She is a witch. But seriously, she is talented, smart and beautiful. Besides, in my opinion, it is very similar. The prototype of Margarita in the novel was indeed the writer's wife: Mikhail Bulgakov and Elena Nuremberg.